Chapter 20
SUTTON
After two years of being here, I’ve come to accept that I love my apartment in Jackson.
Everything about it—from the views to the insanely short commute down to the first floor to the homey feeling of the wood-framed windows and doors—is exactly what I wanted.
When it came to designing the layout of the apartments upstairs, my one request was to preserve the floors and as many of the original doors and windows as possible because I wanted to keep that lived-in character.
It reminds me of the old house I grew up in—the one that my great-grandparents built and that my parents moved into when they started raising the four of us.
If there’s any complaint I have about the place, it’s the stairs.
Not that I mind exercise or strenuous physical activity.
Not at all. I still go to the gym often enough—in town or sometimes at TJ’s.
In the winter, of course I get out and ski at the resorts in Jackson.
But after a long shift in the restaurant, on my feet all night, this single flight of stairs might as well be a mountain.
Even today, I spent all morning at the restaurant with Slade and then walked around downtown Seattle. Then I got to the airport just in time to catch my evening flight home and I had to run across the terminal because my gate was changed at the last minute.
Walking up the stairs now, I’m drained and I know the cycle is just going to repeat again next week. With me planning my sister’s wedding dinner now, I need to go to Sterling Springs again soon to see her and still squeeze in time with Sly at the garage.
After trudging up the stairs, I unlock the door and drop my bag.
The apartment is dark except for the dim light under the shelves above the kitchen counter.
All I want to do is kick off my boots, pour a glass of wine and sit in the chair by the window before going to bed.
I walk through the dark living room, not even bothering to turn on the overhead lights, and to the kitchen counter with the goal of doing just that.
When I grab the bottle of wine, I notice my normal glass is missing.
A subtle grin spreads over my face. Maybe Kelsey did take me up on my offer and make herself at home.
A grab another glass from the shelves and pour a generous glass of my favorite French red.
Judging by what’s left in the bottle, Kelsey was definitely here.
I take my glass and the bottle over to the chair in the bay window and sink into it. As my eyes adjust to the darkness, that’s when I see Felix stretching and yawning. He takes a couple steps until he’s at my side.
I lean down and give him some scritches behind his pointy ears. He must love it because he leans against my knee, soaking up my touch.
“Hey, buddy. It’s good to see you.”
I’ve always liked dogs, but never enough to get my own, especially with my hectic work and personal life.
But ever since Felix tackled me and then started greeting me at the coffee shop whenever I’d come in, I’ve sort of fallen in love with him.
I could get used to being greeted by him.
If only his mom would warm up to me the way he always has.
That thought triggers alarm bells in my head.
“Wait. What—what are you doing in here?” I look over to see the door to the other apartment cracked open. I guess that answers that question, but raises another. Where are Kelsey and Oscar?
I set the wine bottle down on the window sill and look around the dark room, but don’t see anything out of place.
“Help me,” a muffled voice says, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin.
I flip on the floor lamp for some light and see my throw blanket spread across the couch with a conspicuous lump under it. Perched on top of the head shaped part of the lump is Oscar, curled into a perfect little cat ball.
“Help me,” the voice—that I now know is Kelsey’s—says again. “I’m trapped.”
I chuckle and fold my arms over my chest. This is too fucking good. It’s exactly the laugh I needed after the last two days of traveling.
“You’re trapped?”
She must be nodding under the blanket judging by the way Oscar wobbles on top of her.
“It’s an eight-pound cat. Just move and she’ll get off you.”
“I can’t. I’m trapped, and she was punching me.”
“Punching you?”
I lean down and pluck Oscar up, setting her farther down on the couch. She arches her back before climbing back onto what I assume are Kelsey’s hips.
“Yes, she was punching me.” That’s when Oscar starts to slowly kneed the blanket and Kelsey underneath it. “She’s doing it again.”
“You mean making biscuits?”
“I don’t know, you tell me. Is that a cat thing or a chef thing? I don’t understand cats. I thought she was doing witchy shit or something, and I was afraid to move and then I just fell back asleep.”
“You’re afraid of a tiny black cat doing witchy shit?”
I pull back the blanket just enough to see Kelsey glaring up at me with mussed hair. I keep grinning at her until she rolls her eyes and that scowl fades.
Seeing her look at me like that, with tousled hair and kind eyes, instantly reminds me of the morning I woke up in her bed and makes my mouth go dry in a flash. It reminds me of how I just want to be near her and look into those eyes and get lost in her storm.
A moment passes where neither of us say a word, but not because I don’t want to.
I want to tell her that I spent the last thirty-six hours thinking about how badly I wanted to get back here.
All I could think about in Seattle was that since the air has been cleared between us, I feel there’s a chance to start fresh.
“Hi, Shadow.”
“You have a good trip, Pretty Boy?” Her lips tug up into a little smirk.
I take that as an invite to sit down on the edge of the couch.
She wriggles her hips and scoots back, making enough room for me to sit by her waist. When she moves, Oscar hops into my lap and curls back into a little ball.
Within seconds, she’s purring and fading back into a cat nap.
“It was mostly good.” My words are more clipped than I intended. It was a good trip until Slade asked me to uproot myself again. I block that out though because I don’t want anything to ruin this moment where she’s asking me about my day.
My brain and body can barely process what’s happening right now. She fell asleep on my couch, with my cat, and now she’s making room for me to sit with her. It feels like it’s going to take all my remaining brain cells, with enough blood going to them, to form even partial sentences.
Fortunately, Felix has my back. He grunts and nudges my feet with his head. Looking down, he’s laying on his side between me and the coffee table.
“I think he wants you to rub his belly.”
I huff a laugh and reach down to scratch his furry belly, prompting him to kick with his back leg. “You’re a needy thing.”
When I look back over at Kelsey, I notice that she’s watching me, and not her dog.
Even in this light, I can see the flush that creeps over her pale cheeks when I catch her staring, and I take a little bit of satisfaction in knowing that she still likes to look at me.
Her eyes spot something on the coffee table and she reaches out from under the blanket for her phone.
“Shit. It’s almost midnight. What time did your flight get in? ”
“Just after eleven. When did you pass out and get trapped by my tiny cat?”
She sets her phone in her lap and gives me a sidelong glance.
“Probably around ten.” Her eyes drop to Oscar who’s still in my lap, while I absentmindedly pet her. “And she’s nefarious, OK? I bet you trained her to trap me here in some grand scheme so we could talk.”
She doesn’t realize it, but she just told me everything I needed to know. Suddenly, my brain is fully functional.
If she thinks I’m interested in her, she’s dead fucking right. I am.
More importantly, she thinks that, and she's still choosing to be around me.
“So you think I want to talk so bad that I’d plot and scheme to get your undivided attention? What would we be talking about exactly?”
Her eyes widen and this time her cheeks go bright red. I love the way her pale skin does her no favors in hiding the adorable shade of her blushing. She fumbles for words and I can’t help but grin.
“Cat got your tongue?”
Her flustered expression disappears at my tease. “Dork. You’re really going to use a cat pun when you’re holding that troublemaker who tried to smother me in my sleep?”
I shrug but don’t say anything. Instead I just keep petting Oscar with one hand and scratching Felix with the other because I made my point. She knows where I was going with that. I’ll take that little victory for the night.
I let out a long sigh and drop my head. As much as I’m trying to fight it so I can focus on talking with her, the stress of the day is starting to win out. I stop scratching Felix to wipe the sleep out of my eyes.
She sets her phone back down on the coffee table. “Are you alright?”
Her gaze roams over me—from my hands, up my arms, and finally to my face. The look is exactly the same as the one she leveled on me when Felix tackled me in the entrance to her apartment that night years ago.
Just like the night we met, it feels good to have someone look at me like maybe I’m not OK. Maybe I do need someone to ask how I’m doing. And just like that night, I soak it up.
I let out a deep breath and feel my body relax. I lean further back into my couch and notice that she doesn’t move when my back presses against her waist. Outside of TJ, my family are the people I’d normally vent to but they’re also the reason I’m exhausted so that doesn’t exactly work.
“Just worn out. Between working here, catering my sister’s upcoming wedding, and helping with the Seattle restaurant, it’s a lot. Even my family’s business back in Sterling Springs has needed me.”
“Oh.” Her voice trails up in surprise. “What do they do again?”