Even the Score(57)

“Wait. You texted her?” he asked incredulously. “Most people that age can barely work a remote control, let alone a cell phone.”

“Oh no, not June. She’s a total tech nerd. The day a new iPhone, iPad, iWhatever comes out, she’s in line with all the other techies at the Apple Store.”

Andy let out a hearty laugh, tossing his head back just a bit as I watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down. “No shit?”

“No shit,” I repeated, letting out a small giggle, too. “Sometimes when I’m at work, she’ll text me a selfie of her and Roxy at the park or sharing a treat on a bench. She even has an Instagram page.”

He stared at me wide-eyed but didn’t say anything.

“I’m not kidding. She has like five thousand followers, too. It’s hilarious.” We both laughed again and took sips of our beers, sitting at my kitchen island like I imagined normal couples did on a Friday night.

But . . . we weren’t a couple. Not even close to being a couple. We had almost made a mistake a couple of hours before, but the whole car fiasco forced us to sober up and come to our senses. Especially me. I couldn’t have sex with Andy. That would just muddy the waters, and I needed them to remain very, very clear. The minute we went up those stairs together, things would change forever. Word would get out, and shortly after, rumors would start that I only got a job at Shaw Management because I slept with my boss. If I’d learned anything in my life, it was that I couldn’t count on anyone but myself, and I needed to keep it that way. Losing my reputation for a night of sex with Andy just wasn’t worth the risk, as amazing as I imagined it would be.

“Listen, this is fun and all, but I’m really tired.” I stood up and cleared my throat. “I have to be up early to call the insurance company and deal with that mess, so I think I’m gonna head to bed. No offense.”

His shoulders slumped slightly as he licked his lips and stared down at the beer he’d barely had a chance to drink. “Okay.”

I walked up front, hoping he’d get the hint and follow me.

“You have my number if you need anything,” he said, pausing by the door.

“Yep.”

“I’ll call you tomor—”

“I’ll just see you Monday morning, okay?” I interrupted. Being close to Andy like this wasn’t good for either of us, even if he couldn’t see that right now.

“Got it. Happy birthday, Dani,” he said sweetly as he pushed his lips together and nodded, looking completely defeated.

I closed the door behind him without another word, making sure to secure both dead bolts before I turned around and leaned my back against it, sighing loudly. “Yeah, happy birthday to me.”





CHAPTER 21

Andy

“What the fuck? Are you kidding?” Brody exclaimed Sunday morning when I finally called to tell him about everything that went down with Danicka. He’d called a couple of times on Saturday, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, so I let it go to voice mail.

“I wish I was. Her car was trashed.” I sat down on the couch and propped my feet up on the coffee table. “All four tires slashed, back window was broken, and they wrote ‘Happy birthday, bitch’ down the side. It was awful.”

“Holy shit,” he said incredulously. “I can’t believe it.”

“Neither could we. I went from thinking we were so into each other we were gonna end up doing it right there in the car to calling 911, all in the span of about twenty seconds.”

“Wow. Talk about whiplash. How’s she doing now?”

I sighed. “I have no idea, haven’t talked to her.”

“What?” he shouted into my ear.

“I texted her a couple times yesterday, but she never responded. She was really weird after the police left, totally closed off, so I’m not sure what the hell is going on.” My jaw clenched as I ran my hand through my hair. “I haven’t dated in a long time, is this what it is now? All this ‘I want you, no I don’t, yes I do’ shit?”

Brody let out a hard laugh. “Um . . . you saw how hard I worked to get Kacie to give me a shot, right? It comes with the vagina, dude, and they know it. If they have one, they get to make the rules. Period.”

“It was so much simpler ten years ago.”

“Yeah, but look what you ended up with,” he jabbed.

“Touché, my friend. Touché.”

Brody had dad duties to tend to, so we ended our call, and I did something I hadn’t done in a long time. I put my feet up on the couch and took a nap.



A few hours later I woke up disoriented, not sure whether it was morning or night. I grabbed my cell phone from the coffee table to look at the time and realized Blaire, or her driver more likely, would be dropping the kids off in just a little bit. A knock at the front door echoed through the house, and I realized that was probably what woke me. I jumped up and ran toward the door, excited for the kids to be home early for once. As I got closer to the door, Dani’s face came into focus.