Adore Me (Austin Singles 3)

I needed a few minutes alone to gather my thoughts. To figure out what in the world was going on in that head of hers.

She walked off, but instead of going to the restroom, she walked up to the hostess. I frowned when she reached into her purse, took out some money, and then turned to walk out the door.

What in the hell? She’s leaving?

Reaching into my wallet, I pulled out two twenty-dollar bills to toss onto the table and quickly made my way through the café.

When I pushed the door open and got outside, I saw Morgan walking to an Uber.

“Morgan!” I shouted.

She didn’t bother to turn around. She opened the back door and got in.

Running toward the car, I called her name. “Morgan!”

The car pulled out of the parking lot and across Lake Austin Boulevard.

“Shit!” I cried out, scrubbing my hands down my face. “Aw, hell. Fuck!”

“Sir, excuse me, but the young lady paid for your breakfast before she left.”

The hostess was trying to hand me back my forty dollars. “Tell the waitress to keep it.”

She smiled and nodded. “Will do. Thank you!”

Her voice was chipper and full of life. I forced a smile before heading to my car.

I had no fucking idea what had just happened. None. The only thing I knew was that I had hurt Morgan Barrett, and I hated myself for it.

“Blake? Earth to Blake?”

Lifting my gaze from the glass of beer up to Tucker, I said, “Did you say something?”

He laughed. “Yeah, I said a lot, and you haven’t heard a damn thing. Dude, what is going on with you?”

With a sigh, I answered. “I don’t know. I haven’t really slept well the last few nights.”

He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Everything, maybe? I’m hating my job. I can’t seem to make my father happy. My sex life has been dead for the last few months. Fuck, I’m even thinking of getting a dog to keep me company.”

Tucker stared at me with a look of disbelief on his face. “A dog?”

Looking back at Tucker, I nodded. “I know. And that isn’t the worst.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Yeah. Can we head back to your office?”

“Sure. Let me let Lou know. I’ll meet you in there.”

I watched as Tucker walked over and let his manager know he was stepping away. Tucker had been an old friend from college who had finally followed his dream almost two years ago and opened up one of the hottest bars in Austin. Sedotto. His wife, Charlie, was the CEO of her family’s billion-dollar consulting company. We’d all gone to the University of Texas together, and Tucker and Charlie had a weird relationship back then. After spending one weekend together, they’d spent the next seven years hating each other. Made it a little awkward for our group at first, but we all got used to it fast enough. Luckily, they got their heads out of their asses and got back together and married.

Five minutes later, Tucker walked into his office to find me pacing back and forth.

“You look like you’re trying to solve world peace. What is so heavy on your mind?”

I stopped walking and faced him. I knew no other way to say what had happened with Morgan to not make it sound so bad, so I blurted it out.