whose index finger was super pointy. “What?”
“We’re here, princess,” the driver said.
Ellery peered out the window at the town house she and Josh had signed a yearlong lease on. He’d taken a few things with him when he left that morning. He said he’d come back when she was at work to pack the rest of his stuff. Like she might get crazy if he came while she was there. Crap, how was she going to pay for the lease now? The fairly expensive town house was in her name, cosigned by a father who was no longer paying her bills. “I’m not a princess. I’m a pauper.”
“Great. Looking forward to my tip.” The driver unlocked the door and took off as soon as Ellery managed to shut the door behind her.
Ellery stood for a moment, watching the taillights fade into the darkness. A tear plinked onto her sweatshirt. Huh. She didn’t realize she’d been crying until that moment. She wiped her cheeks, and a wave of nausea rose within her. She barely made it to the bushes out front before the tequila made an encore performance in the worst possible way. After her body finished its last heave, she used her sleeve to wipe her mouth, which was totally gross but all she had. It occurred to her drunken brain at that moment that she had, in fact, hit rock bottom.
Uncurling from a standing fetal position, she staggered toward the front door. It was upon staring at her cute red door that she realized she had no idea where her keys were. She tried her pockets, but they held only a gum wrapper and a hair tie.
“Great,” she said to the door.
A strange sound emerged from the azalea bushes to her right. A yowling that could best be described as a dirge to the hopeless and forgotten.
Ellery peered at the bushes, hoping there wasn’t a rabid raccoon ready to attack. Because that would be the cherry on top of her rock bottom. A rustling of still-green leaves yielded the ugliest cat she’d ever seen. Mottled fur of gray and black, one ear definitely missing a nice chunk. The feline hotfooted it toward her, making a racket that made her oddly sympathetic considering she’d never liked cats much. The lean cat twined about her feet. “You like my kitty-cat slippers, huh?”
Sinking down onto the stoop, Ellery extended her hand. The cat bumped up against it, twisting around so that she could tell it was an unaltered male. His purr was loud in the silence of the night around her. She shivered and wondered where Josh had hidden the spare key. They had one, but Josh had been insistent that it be hidden in a place no one would think to look.
Mission accomplished, because she had no clue where it was.
A single headlight swept over her, and she peered at the brightness hitting her square in the face. The loud rumble died at the same time the light turned off.
A motorcycle sat in the parking spot in front of her town house, and a figure clad in black, helmet covering his face, climbed off.
For a brief moment, Ellery wondered if this was how it was going to end for her—her mangled body found in the most hideous of clothing, hair matted, vomit on her sleeve. But then she realized it was Gage, and he was carrying a box.
She didn’t get up because she didn’t trust herself not to fall. The horizon still tilted back and forth, like she was in a fun house with crazy mirrors and optical-illusion floors that made her walk with her hands out. He pulled off his helmet and shook his hair, which was really too short to worry about, but it was probably a habit or something.
“Hey,” she said.
He stood, helmet tucked under his arm, box in hand. “Hey.”
“What’s in the box?” Stupid question. There were so many better ones, like: Why are you here? Or: How did you know where to find me? Or: Do you have some wet wipes, because I really would like to wipe my face . . . and shirtsleeve? But she didn’t lead with any of those.
“Your wineglasses.”
“Wow, that’s service. You came all this way to bring my glasses?” She knew it was another stupid question, but she’d made asking dumb questions the theme of the night. Might as well continue the streak.
“No. I came because you texted me and told me you were in trouble and needed help.” He