Chapter 9 Autumn #2
“Fine,” he added. “If you stick around long enough, I’ll take you there myself.
Mrs. Sutton makes a killer soup, although she’s most famous for her pies.
But her latest summer hit?” He gave me a look like he was about to confess to liking scented candles.
“Honey-garlic glazed meatballs over garden veggie rice. That dish could start a cult.”
Yuuuh. I was already tempted.
“You’re not eating?” I asked.
“I had pie earlier.”
I gasped. “And you didn’t get me one? What kind of monster eats pie alone?”
Dom smirked. “Sick people eat soup.”
“I’m not sick, Dom.”
He gestured at my IV. “You’re literally hooked up to hospital juice. Trust me, the soup’s just as good, if not better.”
I scoffed dramatically, lifting a spoonful to my lips. “Doubt it.” Then I took a cautious sip, and…holy hell. Even my mom would’ve asked for the recipe.
Dom chuckled. “Uh-huh.”
I huffed but gave him a side smile, almost an apology. “So, were you born and bred here?” I asked, blowing on the soup.
“No.”
“Thought so. You’re too sharp to be a small-town lawyer.”
His brow lifted. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You talk about morally gray areas like a guy who’s been in the trenches. That’s not exactly small-town thinking.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’d be surprised. But fair enough. The crowd here isn’t like the one in L.A.”
I paused with the spoon halfway to my mouth. “So you’re not even local, and yet you talk like you’re the mayor?”
He smirked. “I’ll have you know, I’m a valued member of this community…”
I squinted at him.
“…Okay, fine. I hadn’t even spent a full night here after deciding I’d officially moved.”
I laughed. “So you’re from L.A., and you retired young. You moved here but didn’t settle, went hiking instead, and followed a dog into the wilderness. Yeah, you’re weird.”
“I have a lot of friends here. Really good friends.”
The words should have been reassuring, but they weren’t.
My mind jumped straight to the wrong kind of friends. The kind lawyers always seemed to attract.
Was Stiff-Neck one of them?
No. No way.
I shot him a look before I could stop myself.
Dom frowned. “What?”
“Nothing.” I shoved a crouton in my mouth. Stop it, Autumn.
He let it slide, though the twitch in his mouth said he knew damn well I was lying.
“Can I call anyone for you?” His voice was careful, as if my answer might come with complications.
I swallowed against the dry burn in my throat. “Actually, I’d like to call my mom.”
Without hesitation, he handed me his phone. Then he stood and stepped out to give me privacy.
I stared at the screen for a second, my thumb hovering over the keypad. The urge to just sit in silence was strong, but I forced myself to take a breath and dial.
It rang twice before Mom picked up.
“Hello?”
Of course, this would be an unknown number for her.
“Mom, it’s me.”
“Oh, hello, love. Where are you?”
The window to tell her the truth was wide open. But if I did, she’d panic and call the cops. She’d make it a whole thing, and I couldn’t afford that right now.
“I’m still hiking. Just taking a break in a village nearby.” My voice came out even. Lie smoothly. Lie well. Though Mom usually had a sixth sense for unpacking my lies.
“Why…well, I saw Jimmy this morning,” she said, her voice shading toward suspicious. “Who’s with you then?”
“Another friend,” I said quickly.
“Okay. Another girl?”
My brain scrambled. “Uh, yeah. She’s very skillful. I learned a lot from hi—her.”
Mom made a pleased noise. “That’s good. Glad you’re still enjoying yourself despite…well.”
“He didn’t show up or tell me,” I huffed.
“Huh. What a dick!”
I let out a laugh because that was so Mom. Never one to mince words.
“He is.”
Luckily, we were in our last year of college. Just a little longer, and he’d be in my rearview for good.
Then, Mom added, “I saw him with Julia.”
Julia?
Of course. Her.
Miss Popular, always the center of attention. The one my friends had warned me about. The girl who always needed help with her paper, but only from Jimmy. The secret glances. The convenient little moments they always seemed to share. I should’ve seen it coming.
But more than anything, I should have felt something.
Anger. Betrayal. The bitter sting of humiliation. Just more ammo for the list I was building for Jimmy.
Instead, there was…nothing.
Nothing except the realization that Dom had settled into the space Jimmy left behind. And more.
God, I shouldn’t be thinking about him like that.
He was in his thirties. Probably married or engaged. At the very least, he was not mine.
But he had saved me.
And a girl who’d been dumped by her boyfriend, chased by a criminal, and left stitched up, feverish, and clinging to an IV in a hospital bed?
Yeah, that was prime material for falling for a guy like him.
I opened the map app to check the distance from here to home while Mom dished out more relationship wisdom. Maybe I could get her to pick me up after the hospital lets me go.
But there was another man I should really be worrying about. Whatever I did, I couldn’t lead Stiff-Neck to Mom.
So I closed the map and decided quickly. “Look, Mom. I’m gonna be away for a while, okay?”
“A while? How long? What about swimming?”
Ah, geez. Swimming.
I had trained so hard for the championship. It was supposed to be everything.
“I’ll think about it, Mom.”
“Don’t let that bastard ruin your dreams.”
Of course, Jimmy would be in the squad. Our history spanned years. When I started college, I had to choose between gymnastics and swimming. Everyone said couples who trained together stayed together, so I picked swimming. No regrets there. I just regretted who I’d shared the lane with.
If I kept going, he’d stay in my periphery. I could handle that. Probably. But without Dom grounding me, being stuck with that human fungus might do more damage than I cared to admit.
“I know,” I said. “But I’m enjoying it here, and there’s still time. I’ll call you later when I get a new phone.”
After I hung up, I erased her number from Dom’s phone. Not because I needed to. Just because it was his phone. His life. His world.
And if he had someone waiting for him, the last thing I wanted was for her to see a random call to my mom and start asking questions.
Even if there were nothing between us, it would save him the trouble of explaining.
I set the phone down on my lap and stared at it for a moment. Then, keeping my voice low, I called out, “Dom?”
The door cracked open almost immediately. “Everything all right?”
I nodded, handing his phone back. “Thanks.”
“You need anything else?”
“Actually…when you get a sec, could you buy me a new phone? Just a prepaid one. I’m not picky.”
“Sure. You might have to wait till Monday, but I’ll get it for you. Don’t worry.”
A nurse appeared in the doorway. “Visiting hours ended a while ago,” she said, leveling Dom with a look.
He sighed but didn’t argue.
I forced a small smile. “Take care of Lulu for me?”
“Of course.” Before he left, he added, “If you need me, the hospital has my number.”
“Okay.”
I wasn’t used to anyone fussing over me, but some reckless part of me ached for it—that spousal kind of care. God, if this was foolish, it had never felt so damn good.