Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
The door slid open, and Jordan Wright stood before me with an arched eyebrow. He was in a button-up and slacks, as if he was about to throw on his jacket and head out to the office. But it was a Saturday in the middle of the summer. Where the hell would he be going?
“Hey,” I muttered.
“No solicitors,” he said and then moved to shut the door in my face.
I slapped my hand down on the door. “I just need to talk to Annie.”
Jordan sighed. “Must you?”
“It’s important.”
He released his grip on the door, and I pushed it all the way open, following him inside when he retreated into the depths.
“Annie, you have an unwanted visitor,” he yelled into the house.
“Thanks, Jordan.”
“Don’t thank me yet.”
I just shook my head at him. There was no point really. He was always going to be this way. In some ways, it was reassuring. Things would change; Jordan’s dislike of me would always stay the same.
Annie stepped out of the bedroom in scrubs. Her hair was mussed, and her eyes were bloodshot. She yawned. “What’s going on?” Her eyes snagged on me. “Oh, Chase, what are you doing here?”
“Did you just come off a shift?”
“Yeah. I got called in and spent the last twelve hours working an extra shift. I was about to shower and crawl into bed for some much needed TLC.”
“Whiskey instead?” I offered.
She narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Need to talk to you. I tried to text, and you didn’t answer.”
Her eyes flicked to Jordan, who still hadn’t moved from where he stood in the living room.
He raised his hands. “I don’t have anything to do with this.”
“Can I shower first?” she asked.
“By all means. I’ll just hang out with your husband.”
She frowned and then pointed at Jordan. “Don’t kill each other.”
“You’re no fun,” he teased.
Annie pointed stronger. “Jordan Wright.”
He winked at her, and she just rolled her eyes, disappearing into their bedroom. A minute later, I could hear the water running in the bathroom.
Jordan turned to me then. “You said whiskey?”
I was wary but nodded. “That kind of night.”
Jordan headed to the liquor cabinet. “I’d ask if you have a preference,” he said, pulling out a bottle of Basil Hayden, “but I really don’t care.”
“Basil Hayden is fine,” I said.
“Pity.”
He passed me a glass of the whiskey and poured himself one as well. This was as close as Jordan and I had ever been to civil. Almost, dare I say it, friendly.
“Don’t stay too long,” Jordan said as he strode back across the room. “I had other plans for Annie tonight.”
Okay. Maybe friendly was too far.
“Noted,” I muttered, giving him a two-finger salute as he disappeared.
Fifteen minutes later, my drink was empty, and Annie had returned from her shower. Her red curls were wet and hanging past her shoulders. She’d replaced her scrubs with cotton shorts and a tank top. After I poured myself another drink, she grabbed the bottle out of my hand and set it back in its place.
“What’s up? You never come here,” she said.
“No, but I figured I should talk to you.”
“About?”
I glanced back to make sure Jordan was still out of earshot. “Harley.”
She sighed and sank into a seat at the bar. “What happened?”
“Harley and I were going to have dinner with my dad.”
Her green eyes rounded to the size of saucers. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
“I wanted for him to meet her.”
“Did he want to meet her?”
“Well, he didn’t know who I was dating.”
Annie’s mouth popped open. “You ambushed your father with your Wright girlfriend?”
“It wasn’t an ambush,” I grumbled.
She held her hand up. “Wait, wait, wait, what did you think your dad was going to do when you showed up with a Wright? Because I can tell you what I think probably happened.”
“What do you think happened?”
“That he blew a gasket, Chase. Of course he did. He was humiliated by Wrights at a public event and lost the favor of the mayor. He doesn’t even work with us anymore because of all of it. He hates us.”
“Us,” he muttered.
She shrugged. “Hate to break it to you, but I’m a Wright, too.”
“I know,” he said. “Jordan wouldn’t let me forget.”
“Anyway, did he blow up?”
“Yeah.”
“Is Harley okay? I’m sure he wasn’t kind.”
I frowned and downed the rest of the whiskey. “She’s upset with me.”
“To put it mildly?”
“She walked out.”
Annie sighed heavily. Then, she reached back for the bottle of whiskey and refilled my glass. “You probably need that. I can’t imagine it’s easy to see her hurting.”
Jordan cleared his throat behind us. I jumped. I hadn’t been paying attention to him. I’d figured he’d left us alone. Fuck.
“Did you say Harley is hurting?”
“Jordan,” Annie warned.
“That’s not what happened,” I told him.
“You do remember me telling you that I’d kill you if you hurt her, right?”