Washed Up (Bayside Heroes)

The accusation stuns me, and I frown, shaking my head. “Why would you ask that? Of course, that’s not what I want to hear. I want you to be happy, Amanda.”

She snorts. “Yeah, well, I’m beginning to think that’s not in the cards for me.”

She tries to pull away again, but I stop her.

“Talk to me. What happened?”

She shakes her head. “Please, Greg. I just want to go to bed.”

“Did he hurt you?”

She doesn’t answer, and my next breath is nothing but fire, my hand curling into a fist.

“If he hurt you, I swear to God—”

“Mom?”

David’s groggy voice sounds from the living room, and I bite back a curse. I have no choice but to let her go, to step back and put space between us.

David ambles in, stretching and yawning, his hair a mess as he runs a hand through it. He looks at the clock on the microwave. “You’re home earlier than I thought you’d be.” His smile slips when he looks at his mom. “What happened?”

“Nothing. I’m just tired, I asked him to bring me home and he did. And now, I’m going to bed.” She attempts a smile but fails. “Turn off the lights and lock up when you leave, please.”

“You sure you’re alright, Mom?”

“Mm-hmm,” she answers over her shoulder, already trotting up the stairs. “Just too old to be dating.”

She tries to laugh, to sell the joke, but it falls flat.

David chuckles, shaking his head as he opens the fridge to retrieve a water.

My eyes don’t leave Amanda.

Go after her.

The thought is so intense, so consuming that I jerk forward, body moving without waiting for permission from my brain.

She glances over her shoulder at me, her eyes sad, pleading — like she wants me to come after her, too.

But then her eyes flick to her son.

And we both know I can’t.

“You alright, man?” David asks when he shuts the fridge door and leans against it, frowning.

I let out a frustrated breath, closing my eyes before I force myself to turn and walk back into the living room. “I’m good. I’m pretty tired, too, though. Better head home.” I pause. “Actually, why don’t you take me? That way your mom has the car tomorrow if she needs it.”

David yawns, nodding. “Alright, man. Thanks for doing that, by the way. I’m looking at a car this weekend. Hopefully it’ll all be over soon.”

My heart thuds hard in my chest, but I just nod instead of responding.

I fume the entire drive home, knee bouncing, eyes blurring as I watch the lights outside the window with my thoughts tormenting me. I want to know what happened. I want her to talk to me, to let me in, to tell me I don’t need to track down that fucking firefighter and strangle him with a water hose.

I say a quick thank you and goodnight to David when he drops me off, and as soon as I’m in my building, I call Amanda.

But she doesn’t answer.

And I have another sleepless night.

CHAPTER TWELVE

GREG

Amanda ignores me all week.

She doesn’t answer my calls or texts, no matter how I plead with her to. She also wouldn’t accept that I left my car for her. She drove it over Saturday morning, dropped my key at the front desk, and got an Uber home before I could even get downstairs to try to talk to her.

I’ve never felt a week drag on at such a miserable pace, every workday feeling like a year, every sleepless night feeling like an eternity. I debate just driving over to her house several times, but decide I don’t want to be a stalker, nor do I want to disrespect her wishes to be left alone.

David texts me on Friday.

Hey, man, we’re going to kayak at Weeki Wachee Springs tomorrow for Tucker’s birthday. Mom mentioned you’ve never been? I thought maybe you’d like to join.

My heart kicks in my chest.

It may not have been a direct invitation from her, but it was close. It was her mentioning something to David in the hopes that he might mention it to me. It was her remembering that kayaking was the first thing we put on our list.

I’ll take what I can get.

“Shit,” I murmur, staring at the text.

“What?” Stacy asks, looking up from her stack of paperwork. We both needed a change of scenery, so we brought our cases down to the café with us.

I shake my head, slumping back in my chair. “Nothing.”

“Uh-huh…”

I smile. “I just got invited to a birthday party for my friend’s kid, but I’m on call this weekend.”

“So? Just go anyway. Not like you can’t leave a birthday party if you need to.”

“They’re kayaking at Weeki Wachee. That’s an hour and a half away.”

“Oh…”

I nod. “Yeah.” With a sigh, I start typing back a text, but Stacy stops me.