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No. What happened here was my fault, not anyone else’s.
“He’d run circles around your ass,” I teased.
“He wouldn’t, because Destructy’s not capable of turning in a circle, and that’s what makes him terrifying,” Eddie countered. “Seriously though, how’s forty?”
“So far, same as thirty-nine, but with more nostalgia.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Eddie’s shift toward melancholy was tangible even though I couldn’t see him. “Look, I need to get back to work soon, but I wanted to see how things are going. Wish you happy birthday.” He’d been promoted to Brigadier General a year ago—one of the youngest—and he was always busy. Not that he’d been anything but before that.
As for how things were going… I’m about to lose the family store and I don’t know how to fix it because I was thinking with my heart and vagina instead of my brain. “Things are great here.” The last thing I needed was his disappointment, or worse, his sympathy. “Happy birthday to you too, old man.”
There was a pause. Was he distracted? Did he hear me?
“Next time I see you in person, you’re going to tell me how things actually are.” Eddie had always been able to read me too well. “Give Gage my wishes as well?”
“Of course. I’ll tell him you called. Don’t get hurt out there, and don’t shoot anyone who doesn’t deserve it.”
Eddie chuckled. “You neither.”
I hung up, trying not to let my mind wander down the path it was tugging me toward. Because Eddie had to bring up Gage. Of course he would. When we were really little, we were called the triplets, because we all had the same birthday.
But Gage and I were definitely not siblings. Even before this weekend, but especially now…
We were still just friends though. He’d said the sex didn’t change that, and though there was a part of me that liked the idea of more, I didn’t want to lose his friendship.
I didn’t want him to become another Don. High school friend I hooked up with after I was discharged. A guy I thought was my best friend, until I found out he was keeping our relationship secret so he could fuck Alys, too.
I thought I’d learned after him. I was single for years after.
And I really didn’t want Gage to be another Travis. The man I convinced myself for years that I was with, despite the fact that he said over and over all we had was sex.
No, I had to go and convince myself that Travis and I were more to each other, because we kept hooking up. He kept coming back and so did I. Hell, I even loaned him money when he asked. Let my cash reserves drop lower and lower until there was nothing left to account for slim months at the store.
When I pushed back on both—when I asked Travis about paying me back, about taking our relationship to the next level—he reminded me we weren’t in a relationship. We were fuck buddies, and he pointed out I’d helped him financially because I could.
There were never strings attached to either agreement.
Travis’s words, my idiotic misunderstanding.
So, I’d figure out how to fix the floundering store myself, and I’d take Gage at face value when he said the sex was just sex, because doing either thing differently would be a disaster.
I resumed my walk of the shop, making the occasional note here and there based on the sparse business we did Saturday while I was out. In the background was the occasional sound of someone coming or going. The voice of the employee working the register would drift back sometimes. A person in another aisle. The whirl of a cart’s wheels on tile.
As I turned a corner, my brain stalled at what—who—I saw in front of me. “Sawyer?” My bitch of a body reacted instantly, heating at memories of Saturday. My brain veered off in a much cooler direction. It was definitely him. “How did you find me?” Why did he find me?
He wore the same smirk I thought was alluring before, that struck me as disconcerting now. “Not sure if you realize this, but your store address is listed online. On your website. Eowyn Young?”
I didn’t like this at all. If I screamed, someone would be here in a blink. Sawyer wasn’t advancing, but his posture was too casual. Too laid back.
“Let’s try this again. Why did you find me? Couldn’t stay away?” I kept my tone cool.
“Definitely couldn’t do that, no.”
What was he playing at?
He shrugged. “I’m not here for the reason you probably think. Let’s start from the top. I’m Sawyer Rawlings. I’m here to make you an offer on your property.”
“My what?” That was less than brilliant. How did he keep scrambling my mind?
