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“Nah, he’s gotten a little better. It’s not so bad anymore.”
“You sure? Because you know Carson and I are more than willing to help you financially until you can find something else. We don’t want you stuck in a job you hate.”
That was exactly what Ididn’twant. Those two had helped me too much already; I couldn’t take anything else from them. I needed to do it on my own. “I’m good, I promise.”
“Okay,” she spoke hesitantly. “But you tell me if something changes. We’re here for you, sweetheart. Even with the miles between us.”
“I know. And I love y’all for it.”
“We love you, too.”
The backs of my eyes began to burn with unshed tears, and my throat became hoarse with emotion. “You talk to Carson. Convince him to come up here.”
“I’ll do that, babe. Take care of yourself and we’ll talk soon, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I sniffled, needing to end the call before I turned into a sobbing mess and made Cassidy worry that something other than homesickness was the issue. “Bye, Cass. Give everyone my love.”
We hung up and I had to suck in a deep breath to stem off the rest of the tears that wanted to fall. I really hoped she could convince Carson to make the trip. I needed to see them, even if it was just for a weekend.
A loud knock came from my front door, startling me as I dashed away the rest of the wetness on my cheeks. Just as I stood to answer, a loud voice called through the battered wood.
“Open the damn door, Navie. I know you’re in there.”
My head fell and my shoulders slumped. I don’t know why I was so surprised that he’d tracked me down. After the way he’d blown up my phone earlier, I should have known his persistence knew no bounds.
“What do you want?” I asked through the door, feeling somewhat mollified by the protective barrier it created between us.
“I want you to open the damn door.” Just the sound of his rough voice sent shivers through me. Memories of his lips so close to my ear ran through my mind as desire assaulted my senses. No way in hell was I opening that door.
“I’m sick, Rowan. You should go. I bet I’m contagious.” I fake coughed for good measure.
“I’m willing to risk it. Open the door.”
Damn it. I tried a different approach. “How do you even know where I live? I never gave you my address.”
I could hear his frustrated sigh and hoped that was enough to get him to go away. Yeah, not so much. Karma seemed to hate me.
“Open up! I’m not leaving here until I see you.”
Okay, he wasn’t the only one starting to get pissed off. Every time that bossy attitude of his kicked in, it made me want to junk-punch him as hard as I could. I slid the chain lock into place—mainly because I knew it would make him even madder—and opened the door as far as it would allow.
“There, now you can see me. What do you want?”
“You don’t look sick.”
“And you don’t look like a doctor. Now, if you’ll kindly leave, I’m going back to bed.”
I moved to push the door closed, but he stuck his big, dumb foot in the way. “Let me in,” he demanded, making the urge to punch him even greater.
“No. Go away.”
“Come on, Navie. Just let me in for a second, okay? It won’t take long, then I’ll go.”
I raised a brow skeptically. “You promise?”
“Cross my heart.”
With a roll of my eyes, I let out a heavy breath. “Fine. Move your foot and I’ll unlock the door.”
