“And, Kode?” Rain says, her voice a little sadder again.
I open my eyes, staring expectantly, and Rain continues. “Give her back Edward’s letter. She needs the closure whether she realizes it or not. I know I didn’t demonstrate it very well, but I’m glad I read it. It’s done now. As long as that letter is out there, she won’t ever have the closure she needs.”
With that, she walks out, and I curse again while heading toward the bathroom. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to say. This had so better not backfire on me, because I don’t want her thinking I’m just like Pete.
The letter her father left is staring at me when I open the box I hid under the bathroom counter. Rain has never steered me wrong before, but I can’t force her to read it. Tria can decide on her own what to do.
After taking a deep breath, steeling myself with the resolve, I grab my razor and prepare to dull a few blades.
It takes me longer than it ever has to get ready, considering I can’t go to see her looking my absolute worst. And after getting showered, shaved, and dressed, I finally grab my keys and head over to her house.
My hands are practically shaking by the time I reach her home, and I give myself a minute or two to rehearse what I might say. Her garage is closed, so I can’t tell if she’s at home or not.
After finally digging up my balls, I make my way to the door. I knock, but hear nothing. So I knock harder. Finally, the door swings open, but it sure as fuck isn’t Tria looking back at me.
A fucking beast of a man is standing at the door in nothing but his boxers, looking as though he just woke him up from a nap. It’s the middle of the damn day.
His shoulders are broad enough to put him in a linebacker position. And the muscles are rippling all over like he lives in the gym. And he obviously doesn’t give a damn who sees him in nothing but his underwear.
“Can I help you?” he asks, seeming bored or tired. Not sure which. And I really don’t care. My blood is boiling.
“Who the fuck are you?” I growl.
The dude cocks his eyebrows at me, and he tilts his head, studying me as though he’s trying to place my face.
“You’re Kode, aren’t you?” he finally asks.
I nod slowly, still trying to figure out what this dick is doing in her house, wearing nothing but his damn boxers. And how does he know who I am?
“My name is Leo. I’m Tria’s business partner.”
Son of a motherfucking bitch. Hell no. This is sure as shit not how I pictured him. He’s supposed to be old, short, bald, ugly as fuck, and nerdy as hell. He is not supposed to look like this.
“You always answer the door in your boxers?” I snarl.
He snickers as though something is funny. There isn’t a damn thing funny right now.
“I’m staying with Tria for a while. Come on in. She’s in the shower. I need to head to town anyway, and you need to straighten this shit out between the two of you so that she doesn’t keep crying herself to sleep.”
She’s crying herself to sleep?
I visibly relax, and my angry snarl slowly starts to simmer down. He seems a little too amused as he walks down the hall, and I move to drop down on her sofa. My palms are sweating like I’m a kid going out on his first date. Christ. I hope this isn’t a bad idea.
Chapter 26
TRIA
“Hey,” Leo’s deep voice says into the bathroom.
I move my head out from under the water, and peek through the crack I make in the doors. “Yeah?”
He steps in, his body clad in his date-night attire instead of his couch-potato or work clothes.
“I’m going to go meet that guy you set me up with. He’d better be as hot as you say.”
I smile while nodding. “Jamie is definitely the catch of a lifetime, because he’s sexy and nice. Trust me. You look good. Don’t worry about coming in late. I sleep hard.”
He frowns as he leans a hip against the counter. “You don’t sleep at all. It’s starting to worry me.”
Leo and I have had a mostly professional relationship until he needed a place to stay. Now he has taken on a worried brother role. It’s not something I’m used to, and though I appreciate it, it’s not something I need right now.
“I’ll be fine. Just a bad breakup. Go on your date. Jamie is hot. Women and men all over will be pissed at you.”
He grins that full-teeth smile, and he nods. “You sure he wants to do this?”
“Positive,” I promise for the fifteenth time. Leo is more insecure than I am.
“Alright. Have fun. I’ll see you when I see you,” he says in that deep rumble of his.
He winks at me, and I return to rinsing my hair under the water, listening as the door clicks shut behind him. It’ll probably suck to see Leo wrapped around someone when I’m still pining after Kode, but he needs a good guy. He has dedicated his time to school and work, and now it’s time for him to have a life.