Page 32

It’s fall, so gone are her little shorts and dresses, replaced with another pair of black leggings showing off her taunt and toned legs. A Hawkes sweater drapes the top half of her body, and I notice she has the sleeves rolled at her wrist.
“The doctor told him he had to make some changes, as his heart wasn’t good.” Kaylee sighs. “He hasn’t. Today, at work, they called an ambulance.”
My hand reaches for her, and I stop it just in time, running it through my hair. “Not good. Think this might scare him?”
I don’t look at her.
I can’t.
If I do, I’ll want to take her hand and pull her into my arms, and I can’t because I’m fucking driving... and because she’s not mine.
Regardless, I wasn’t going to let her sit out in the car on her own. When I walked out of the building, I saw a shadow inside her vehicle and went to check it out. I knew she’d left twenty minutes earlier as I’d watched her leave.
When I got closer I saw it was Kaylee with her head on the steering wheel, my instincts kicked in and without a second thought, I was knocking on the window.
Because I’m her friend.
Whatever, liar.
“It scared us. Mom and me,” she replies and wraps her arms around her middle.
I go quiet. Memories of losing my mom just a few years ago come flooding back. I know the fear, the panic, and the deep grief. It never goes away. They say it fades, but it’s still raw.
I don’t want her to feel the same pain I did.
Do feel.
“Did you call Stephanie?” I ask, knowing I can’t be there for her, and I really don’t want to ask if she has a boyfriend.
“Not yet.”
I turn off the highway and head toward her parent’s house.
As we get closer, Kaylee glances up. “Thanks for the message.”
I nod, then laugh because I sent it at two in the morning. Just after stroking my damn cock. She deserved my apology, and we have to work together so I wanted to clear the air.
“Yeah, random time. I just...you know. I was rude, and that wasn’t okay.”
We share a smile as I turn onto her parents’ road. When the car glides to a stop outside, I turn, trying to ignore her toned petite frame I once loved throwing over my shoulder...and pleasuring.
So much fucking pleasure.
Her body purred like a kitten—hence the nickname—the moment I touched her.
“I can wait. Or come in.”
“I don’t deserve you being this nice.” Kaylee’s eyes dip.
I reach out and squeeze her fingers. “Hey. Your dad got rushed to the hospital. I lost my mom not that long ago, remember? This is grown-up stuff.”
She snorts out a little laugh.
“Yeah. It is. Levi...I’d really like the chance to explain one day. But—”
“No need.”
This is not the time, and I don’t want to hear that she wasn’t into me anymore. That she never thought we would work and didn’t feel the same way about me.