Page 155 of Buy Back My Love

A few seconds later, I heard Holly barking her little head off from somewhere inside. At least somebody was awake.

I waited another minute before hitting the bell again.

“Hold on!” Lee yelled from inside.

I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket and waited. It took her long enough that I started wondering if she had gone back to sleep just to be petty. Finally, the lock turned and the door opened halfway.

Lee stood there in pajamas looking like I had definitely woken her up. Holly was tucked under one arm, still trying to act like she weighed enough to protect somebody.

Lee frowned at me. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Why do you have me blocked?”

Her eyebrows went up. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“I heard you. I’m trying to figure out why you standing on my porch at damn near midnight asking me that.”

“Because I called you. Went straight to voicemail. Then I texted you, and that didn’t go through either.”

Lee shifted Holly higher against her chest and shrugged. “Maybe my phone was off.”

I just looked at her. She knew I knew better.

“You blocked me.”

“Looks like you solved the mystery. Good night.”

She started closing the door.

“Lee.”

She stopped long enough to look at me again. “What?”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why the hell did you block me?”

“Because I wanted to.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you getting tonight.”

She tried closing the door again, and I stepped back instead of giving her a reason to slam it in my face.

“I’m not about to force my way into your house,” I told her. “But I came over here because you called me three times sounding like something was wrong. Now you’ve got me blocked, and I want to know what I did.”

“You ain’t do nothing.”

“Then why am I blocked?”

Lee looked down at Holly like the dog might answer for her, and when Holly licked her wrist, I almost laughed.

Lee looked back at me. “Because I felt like blocking you.”