At the end of the day, I had a brand-new package of fifteen pens—all like the ones I’d told Bayou were my favorite—but no original pen. I also had a box of food that I refused to eat because he was right, the likelihood that they spit in my food was a high one.
I made myself a sandwich when I got home and tried not to think about the man that refused to stray far from my thoughts.
I failed.
I did nothing but think about him from the time I went to bed, to the time I went to work again at seven on the dot the next evening. Even my dreams were all about him.Chapter 5Sometimes I feel like I have my life together. Then my windshield gets foggy and I can’t figure out whether I should turn on the A/C or the heat.
-Phoebe to Bayou
Phoebe
I’d been working at the prison for six months, and in those six months, I’d royally questioned my sanity.
Each day that I worked there was like a lesson in control.
Not because the job was hard—it wasn’t. It was actually quite easy and fun.
No, because I had to see him every day, and it was beginning to wreak havoc on my brain.
We’d never done dinner again—and that wasn’t for lack of trying on my part. I’d asked him, multiple times, if he wanted to grab something to eat after work and he’d shot me down.
Though, most of those times it’d been three in the morning and hell, I didn’t blame him for not wanting to go out to eat that late at night.
I’d found the perfect time to work in the prison infirmary, and I’d taken to the late-night swing shift with relish.
The only problem was that Bayou wasn’t able to work that swing shift with me all the time, and I was considering being the float nurse that went through all the shifts where she was needed. At least then I might be able to catch more glimpses of the man.
But, the thought of having to work with Diane again wasn’t a good one. Diane, it turned out, was even crazier than she first appeared. And I knew that only because I’d worked with her a handful of other times, and each of those times she’d either almost gotten herself killed, or me.
“All I’m saying is that it’s only fair,” I said for the third time. “I’ve known her longer.”
Hoax, my sister’s husband, looked at me like I had a screw loose.
I did, but he didn’t have to acknowledge the fact.
“These are my children,” he said. “I should be in the operating room when my babies are born.”
My sister, who was watching us both with amusement from the porch swing as we waited impatiently for the time to leave, started to snicker.
“How about we play rock paper scissors,” I suggested, holding my fist out to him.
He shook his head. “No. I refuse.”
“That’s selfish,” I told him. “Pure selfishness.”
My sister giggled, and I shot her a glare. “You’re not helping.”
“He’s right, though,” she said. “He did have a part in making them. He probably should have a part in bringing them into this world, too.”
A motorcycle pulled up across the street, and my heart started to pound.
To hide my elation and nervousness of seeing the man of my obsessions, I turned to study the neighborhood, trying to keep my gaze from the man that was now dismounting his bike and walking our way.
“Hey, do you think that house right there is for rent?” I asked.
“Which one?” Hoax asked, his eyes following mine.
“The one with the tall grass.” I pointed to the end of the road at the house that was in the turnaround part of the cul-de-sac. “I think it’d be nice to be closer…and I’m tired of living in my apartment. My downstairs neighbor lets his dogs shit next to my truck and I have to dodge poo-bombs every morning. Not to mention I’m tired of carrying my groceries up six thousand stairs.”
“Maybe if you didn’t eat that much you wouldn’t need to haul that many groceries up the stairs,” Pru said.
I pointed at her. “You can’t keep this body looking like a back road if you don’t fuel it.”
“Sam Hunt has no place in this conversation,” Pru countered.
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Bayou,” Hoax’s voice said in welcome. “How’s it going?”
I looked over to see Hoax facing Bayou, and Bayou looking curiously between Pru and me.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“We’re talking about who’s going into the operating room with Pru,” I explained, my eyes hungry to take Bayou in. “I think I should go because I’ve known her longer. Hoax thinks he should go since he’s the father.”
Bayou’s gaze came to mine, and I swear to Christ the smile on his perfect lips sent my heart rate through the roof, and my excitement to have him so near into freaky levels.