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CHAPTER 11
Tap, tap, tap.
“Just five more minutes.”
Tap, tap, tap.
“Mom, get up. You’re going to be late for work.”
“What? Ow!” I struggle to sit up, my back reminding me that I’m not twenty and sleeping in a car comes at a price. “What happened?”
“You slept out here. Again. You have fifteen minutes to get ready and go,” Reese tells me.
Rubbing my eyes, I squint into the bright daylight flooding the space. “How’d you even know I was out here?”
“Sheridan sent me a text.”
I look towards Sher’s house to find her peeking through the window with her oversized cup of coffee in hand, waving at me.
“Of course.”
Reese grabs my arm and pulls. “Hurry. You have fifteen minutes. I left your shake on the counter.”
“Aw, thanks, kid.”
“I’ll see you later.” She kisses the top of my head and rushes away in her car.
A quick shower, and a hundred stretches later, I’m out the door, downing my chocolate protein shake. It’s not a workday, but Saturdays are my workout buddy days. Sheridan, Liz and I get it out of the way early.
Speak of the little demon spawns, Sheridan meets me at my driveway, just as Liz pulls up. Both Sher and I jump into Liz’s car.
“Don’t tell me you slept in the car again,” my sister asks through the rearview mirror.
My mouth drops open. “How do you always know?”
“It’s the limp. It gives you away every time you have sex, or sleep in the car,” she says matter of fact, inciting a giggle from Sheridan.
“Why didn’t you guess sex, then?” I ask her.
“Because you look tight as shit. Maybe you can get that boyfriend of yours to loosen you up a little.”
Sheridan laughs even harder and I glare at her. “I think he’s playing hard to get.”
“Too hard, actually,” I remark. “Maybe he’s not worth the effort.” The words come out of my mouth, but even I have a hard time believing them when I see the blue Jeep parked near the entrance. “He’s just not…” My heart leaps to my throat, strangling off whatever dumb shit was about to come out.
“You were saying?” Liz asks, and both she and Sheridan laugh.
It’s been two entire days since I last saw him, and I am far too aware of it. I wonder how many days it’s been since I last saw Tony as I walk by him. “Hey Tone. How’s it going?” I ask him.
He gives me a high five. “Buddy workout today?”
“Yup.” No matter how hard I try, I can’t recall what the last thing I said to him was. Nope. No recollection.
The same goes for Julie, who’s standing with Jose over the reception desk. Even Jose, with his extreme good looks has failed to make an impression on my mind the way Dean has. But with Dean….
My breath catches when I see him come around a corner, dressed in his white fit Maxx shirt and cargo pants. This image will remain in my brain, filed away to review over and over again, just like I have every other encounter.
“This isn’t good,” I tell Sher as she signs in.
