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Holy shit. A laugh bubbled out of me.
“What's funny?” She raised a brow.
“Nothing.” He had to be Shawn's friend Phillip. It was too much of a coincidence. He moved in, realized a woman he once had a fling with was his neighbor, it made him uncomfortable, and now he wanted to leave. No wonder he hadn’t let Shawn know exactly why.
Kate rolled her eyes. “My life's funny, right? I'm glad I can make you laugh,” she said sarcastically.
We returned to the couch, and I continued drinking my coffee while we chatted about everything and nothing. Once the conversation lulled, it dawned on me. "No one’s knocking. Eric didn't follow me."
“I guess not.” Kate went to the window and looked up and down the street. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
I sighed, setting down the empty mug. “Thank goodness.” Pulling out my phone to check the time, I caught my notification bar. “Whoa.”
“What?” Kate pulled close.
“A lot of missed calls from Shawn,” I murmured, not quite believing it myself. The way he had brushed me off, I expected to be served a termination letter.
“He must be worried.”
Kate had no idea. "That must be it." I didn't really have any idea, either. What did he want? I'd embarrassed myself by wanting more, but right now, I just felt exhausted after seeing Eric. Seeing him took the cake on my list of shitty things I experienced today. "I think I'll go home now."
Kate nodded. "As long as you're feeling better." The question was evident in her tone.
“I am. Thank you.”
At the door, she pulled me into a warm hug. “Don't worry about him, okay?”
Him, meaning Eric. Not my boss, whom I nearly fucked on the couch. “I won't,” I said, thinking of both men.
“You'll be fine.” She pulled away and smiled.
I smiled back. “Thanks for tonight.” Then just to mess with her, I added. “And try not to peep so openly. He might catch you.”
Kate snorted. “Yeah, right. What would he do? Run off and ghost me again?”
I giggled. If only she knew how actively he was planning his exit. “Goodnight.”
She waved to me, and I walked off to catch another Uber.
Chapter10
Shawn
It was past ten, and still no sign of Violet. She was a grown woman and had the day off work since the boys were at their grandparents. I had no right to dictate her movements. Still, I knew why she left on the pretense of ‘shopping.’ Because I fucking pushed her away. Over the past few hours, the images in my head of what could have happened to her kept getting more gruesome the longer she didn't answer my calls.
I considered calling Troy and Layla to ask if they'd seen her, but then they'd probably ask why I was worried. I'd have to explain that I had kissed Violet but then rejected her. And in turn, I had made her feel bad and she ran off.
Shit.
So I didn't call. I hoped, prayed, and paced my floor, hoping she'd soon come back. Once again, I snatched my phone off the table and dialed her line. Straight to voice mail.
“Fuck.” Was her phone turned off? Something had certainly happened to her.
My heart clawed its way up my throat, and I suddenly felt sick. Something bad happened to Violet, and it was all my fault. If I hadn't pushed her away, she'd still be here.
Where should I start searching? I needed to find her.
Trying her line once more, I headed to the door. If I couldn't reach her, I'd just confess what happened to Troy and Layla. They would help me find her.
