Page 37

ALDER

The townhouse feels wrong without her in it.

After training, I walk through the rooms, cataloging the empty spaces she's left behind.

Her toothbrush is gone from the holder in the guest bathroom.

The dresser drawers are empty, the closet is bare, and the bed is made with military precision as if she'd never slept there.

Gordie follows me, sniffing around corners, clearly searching for her scent. He looks up at me with confused eyes when he can't find her.

"I know, buddy," I tell him, scratching his ears. "I miss her too."

In the kitchen this morning, I found a note propped against the coffee maker. A plastic baggy of marijuana—our stolen booty from Brad's apartment—sits beside it. I pick up the note, recognizing Lena's neat handwriting:

Don't forget to floss. - L

That's it. Just four words and an initial. As if this summer meant nothing more to her than a dental cleaning. Staring at it now, I crumple the note in my fist, and unexpected anger rising in my chest.

Then, I smooth it out again and read the words once more. Is there something more here? Some hidden message I'm missing? Or is she really that detached, that clinical about what happened between us?

I shove the note in my pocket and grab my phone, my thumb hovering over her name in my contacts. What would I even say? "Come back"? "I miss you already"? "I think I might be falling for you"?

The last thought sends a jolt of panic through me. I'm not falling for Lena. I can't be. It's too soon after Adam. Too complicated with our professional relationship. What we had was physical, convenient, and mutual comfort during a difficult time. Nothing more.

I set the phone down without calling. It's better this way—cleaner. We had our summer fling, brief as it was, and now we move on. We focus on our careers. We are adults about the whole thing.

Gordie whines at the back door, and I let him out into the yard, watching as he half-heartedly sniffs around the grass. Even my dog is moping.

"Get it together, Stag," I mutter to myself. I have a charity gala to attend tonight, and I need to be professional, polished, and completely unaffected by the sight of Lena across a crowded room.

I can do this. I have to.