Jilted Jock - Rebecca Jenshak Page 0,14

right on the beach. Incredible views.”

“Great.” He stood. “I’ll get out of your hair for the evening.”

Sometime in the middle of the night I woke to the sound of scratching. It took me a minute to place the sound. My brain was foggy from the carb coma I’d put myself in after Finn had left. It hadn’t tasted like Flemings and I was irrationally bitter about it.

I unlocked my door and opened it a crack. Kitty raced in. I left the door ajar, despite Richard’s insistence that I lock it, and scooped up the cat and laid in bed.

Richard wasn’t thrilled about Finn staying for the next two weeks, but I’d assured him I could take care of myself.

I wasn’t the type of girl Finn dated. I knew that without even looking up pictures of his ex. I was six years older and lived a completely different lifestyle. But more importantly, Finn wasn’t my type. Maybe once upon a time, but not anymore. His being here reminded me of how gracious people had been when I’d needed a safe place to lick my wounds. I could be that for him. It felt like fate, and I wasn’t sure I even believed in fate.

“Hi Kitty.” She settled on my chest and purred as I scratched behind her ears. “You need a name. What should we call you?”

Her eyes were a bright blue. Even in the darkness they reminded me of her owner’s eyes. Hyper blue. Fitting. “Hyper isn’t a good name. Don’t want you to get a complex. How about…” I yawned and gave up on thinking of anything clever for tonight. “For now, I guess you’re just kitty.”

Adele

In my dream there was someone at my front door, banging and yelling. I wasn’t scared in the dream, more confused and a touch annoyed. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn’t stop. I thrashed and covered my head with a pillow.

A yelp and a small thud finally pulled me to. I sat straight up and looked at kitty lying on the floor giving me a puzzled and betrayed look and the banging… oh my God, the banging was real.

I tiptoed from bed, blood pumping and slowly eased my bedroom door open.

“Woman! Open the doooooooor,” Finn’s voice bellowed, and my fear turned to straight annoyance.

I rushed to the door and pulled it open. He tumbled forward like he’d been leaning on it.

“Are you trying to wake the entire neighborhood?”

“You locked me out.”

“I did not.” The smell of alcohol hung over him like a cloud. “And even if I had, I gave you a key.”

“Don’t know where it is,” he slurred.

I glanced outside noticing his truck wasn’t here. “How did you get here?”

I shut the door and turned to face him, body still buzzing from the adrenaline of being woken up in the middle of the night.

“Walked.”

“You walked here? Are you nuts?” The closest bar was at least three miles away. The palm of my hand met his forehead before I could stop myself. Seriously, what was he thinking?

His glossy eyes widened. “Did you just slap me on the goddamn forehead?”

“Someone needed to.”

He muttered something under his breath and rubbed his forehead with two fingers. I stormed back to bed with kitty and slammed the door behind me.

The next couple days, I barely saw Finn. The door to his room was closed when I woke up and when I got home from work, he was gone. It wasn’t until long after I went to bed that I’d hear him coming in at night.

He might not have been there, but the faint scent of his soap and the closed spare bedroom were constant reminders. After not having a roommate for so long, the comings and goings of another person made me acutely aware of every sound – the front door creaking when he entered. A creak I never noticed but had added to my list of things to fix. The shower in the spare bathroom, the sound of someone undressing. Yeah, there’s a sound for that – shoes coming off with a thud, clothes being tossed to the floor. I even had the unfortunate experience of listening to him puke his guts out early one morning. I was counting down the days until he was gone.

On Thursday, I was pouring coffee into my to-go mug, yawning from another night of fitful sleep, when he entered the kitchen.

“’Morning.”

“Good morning.” My eyes landed on his bare chest and traveled down to his six-pack and that V