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“You know what? I’m going to go for a walk. You two…yeah,” Tab says.
The door closes behind her, and I walk toward Raeann. A line appears on the bridge of her nose. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know.” Pressure builds in my chest as I stare at her. Her hair is up in a messy bun, and she’s wearing one of my too-big-for-her Wildcats shirts and a pair of gym shorts. “I just knew I had to get to you.”
She lifts herself from the couch, and I move around it to face her. She smiles. “Is it what I said about the therapist?”
My jaw clenches. I should find out where she lives and have Athena take a dump all over her lawn. Or call Joey and have him research what kind of credentials this crack has.
Speaking of Athena, she nudges my hand, licking my fingers. I absentmindedly pet her head.
“You’re anxious?” Raeann guesses, moving her stare from me to Athena.
Damnit. The dog outed me.
Athena paws at my hand and nudges me until I sit, then places her head on my knee. Raeann looks on lovingly at the two of us, and confusion sets in.
“Micah, what is it?” she asks, laughing. “What would make you leave your team right now?”
“Listen, if I am a crazed lunatic?—”
Raeann presses her lips together.
“—then I am because of you, and I don’t think anyone who says that about us should be your therapist because she clearly doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
“Wouldn’t you dropping everything and coming here only solidify to her that you are a crazy obsessed lunatic?”
“Oh, so she said obsessed too?” Anger boils inside me. It’s not because I don’t know that I am, but I don’t need anyone to tell Raeann to leave me.
“I mean, you did give me your credit card after having only met me for maybe ten minutes. Maybe, and I’m being generous.”
“You told her about that?”
“And then you made me spend a hundred thousand dollars to buy you away from a cougar.”
“Well, that was a necessity. Jasmine and her husband are deplorable people.”
“Showering me with gifts like flying my grandfather in a private plane for a surprise visit.”
“You wanted to see him, and he loved the whole experience,” I counter.
She tsks. “Sounds kind of crazy to me. Abnormal, maybe.”
“Nothing of what I feel for you is normal. It’s extraordinary. It defies logic. And apparently years upon years of psychologyeducation from a small-minded woman who’s probably never felt one ounce of what we feel can understand that.”
Raeann grimaces playfully. “I don’t know. It sounds kind of stalkerish.”
“If you think all of that was bad, watch what I do if you try to leave me.”
She breaks out into a smile. “I’m tempted to push you to see what that would entail.” Her shoulders relax. “Micah, I was just telling you what she said because I thought it was funny. You should’ve seen her pen scribbling in her notebook. I’m pretty sure she took pages of notes after I left.”
“Any chance she’s taking notes because she’s obsessed with someone and needs to get educated on how to deal with it?”
Raeann shakes her head. “No, pretty sure it was the typical therapist thing. She’s worried for my safety because you’re unhinged, overbearing, and?—”
“Keep going.” I smirk. “I like it when you talk to me like that.”
Athena gets bored and trots off to Raeann’s room. I hear her blow out a breath when she settles into her bed.