Page 9 of Wildly Yours (Owl Creek #3)

I t seems we’ve found an equilibrium, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I want to be angry at him for what he did all those years ago.

Is it stupid to want to hold onto anger?

My therapist would ask me what point I am trying to prove. What does it earn me?

He’s noisily rummaging through the files two cabinets away, and I sense that even though we seem to be on friendly terms, he’s stewing in something.

The old me—the one who was close to Cody—would ask what is wrong.

But he hasn’t earned it. Because it’s work getting a man to talk about something and we aren’t there anymore. We aren’t who we used to be.

“Huh.”

“What?”

“Did you know that there was a disciplinary action taken against a member of the council…twenty years ago?”

“No. Why would I? We were just kids.”

Cody pulls the file out and lays it on the table.

“Oh shit.”

“What?” I race over and lean in to see the paper he’s holding up.

“It was Blake Johnson. He was on the council.”

My mind starts racing faster than a jackrabbit being chased. One file on the table. Ten cabinets against the wall. One muscle-bound man in a green tee-shirt who drives me crazy with lust.

“Don’t show me any more.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know how this will look.”

“Hang on. What are you saying?”

“If I have information about him that makes him look bad, what if people think I went looking for it to benefit my campaign?”

“But you didn’t. You were down here helping a citizen,” he points at himself, “and the whole city with this park issue. Listen, it says here that he sexually harassed the admin who was working at the time. He agreed to step down, but…”

Cody suddenly looks ashen, like all the blood has drained from his body.

“I have to go.”

He grabs the files from the table and bolts toward the stairs.

“Cody what is it?”

“I have to talk to someone.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll be in touch.”

And just like that, he takes the stairs two at a time and races out of my life without an explanation.

Again.