Page 115 of King of Pain

“Yeah.”

She exhales sharply. “First of all, my eyes didn’t even know where to look. They’re both hotter than the sun. Secondly, that man wants to do very dirty things to you.”

I feel the heat rush to my face instantly. “Shut it.”

Jen gapes at me, then grins. “Oh my God, are you blushing?”

“Go back to work.”

She just laughs, and I sink back into my chair, pressing my palms against my eyes.

Jen heads back to work and I prepare the summary for Jason’s contract on my tablet to present when they call me in.

Hours later, I’m finishing the last edits that came out of the meeting with Jason. I run my hand through my hair and glance at my phone. 5:07 p.m.—time to pick up my Guinness and continue work at home. My date had cancelled earlier in the day, which was a relief. Saved me from being the one to cancel. I wasn’t feeling it.

Leaning back in my chair, I think about the meeting. It went well. Meg seemed pleased with my Marketing and PR review, as well as my ideas for the campaigns. Jason, on the other hand, had been… distractingly flirtatious.

“You have great ideas,” he’d said. “I'd like to take you to lunch soon and talk about them further, if Meg doesn't mind.”

Meg had smiled encouragingly. “Please do, it will be great experience for Anthony.”

I’d agreed—what else was I supposed to do in front of Meg? Now I have to follow through, and I know Jason is going to flirt with me the whole time.

If he’s queer, is he out? Did he confide in Meg? He was so brazen in front of her. If he’s closeted, that’s something I should know while working his account.

Shaking my head, I grab my bag, and head down the elevators to the parking garage. I click unlock on the key fob to my new cobalt blue electric sedan—the first expense I allowed myself since my promotion. Well, that and my new apartment. I slide into the driver’s seat, start the engine, and pull out of the garage. Time to pick up Little G from doggy daycare before grabbing some food and heading home to finish some work.

TRACK FORTY•TWO

Broken Wings

Chance

The wind howls outside the cabin, rattling the windows like it’s trying to claw its way in. I sit near the wood-burning fireplace, staring into the flickering flames, my hands wrapped around a mug of coffee that’s long gone cold.

It’s been a year.

A year since my life tipped upside-down.

One year since I disappeared from Arizona, leaving everything—and him—behind.

The cabin is small and simple, tucked deep in the woods somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. I stopped asking where exactly I was the day I got here. It didn’t matter. My world shrank the moment I stepped inside this place, reduced to a handful of square feet and the trees that surround me like a cage.

The isolation should’ve gotten easier by now. Days blend into each other—an endless repetition of chopping firewood, reading, and listening to the wind scream through the trees.

But ithasn’tgotten easier.

I miss Ant.

I think about him every day, his face etched into my mind like a photograph I can’t stop staring at. I can still hear his voice, sweet and sincere. I still see the way he’d roll his eyes when I said something stupid, the way his lips would twitch like he was fighting a smile.

I miss the way he made me feel—like I was living out loud.

I miss Little G, too. That big, goofy bundle of love with his wagging tail and wide, slobbery grins. I miss his warmth, the wayhe’d curl up between us on the couch or nudge us with his nose when he wanted attention.

I miss sharing my space with them both. The smell of Ant’s cooking, the music he’d hum to as he danced around the kitchen, the sight of him stretched out on the couch with Guinness snoring at his feet. And then, in those final days… him stretched out in my bed.Ourbed.

Hell, I even miss Devil Records.