do with them.”
I grab my things and sit on the bed. The phone is dead. I open my wallet and frown. “I always keep fifty dollars cash in my wallet.” My mom was a piece of shit, but she always told me a woman should keep enough cash in her wallet for a meal and a taxi.
“I’ll pay you back.”
“You took my money?”
His face twists with anger. “I thought you were dead.”
“And that makes it okay?” How did I not see this side of him before? A voice in my head whispers that I did and chose to ignore it. “Forget it.” I set my things on the bedside table. “Keep the money.”
“You act like I just drove away from the mountain that day and never thought of you again! I mourned you, Jordan. I was a mess for days—”
My gaze snaps to his. “Days?”
His shoulders deflate as if the wind has been knocked out of him. “Look, we have a lot to catch up on.” He crosses to me and presses a quick, chaste kiss to my forehead. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk later.”
I watch him walk away and close the door behind him. Seconds later, I hear the apartment door open and close.
I plug my phone into a charger, strip out of my clothes, and put on the borrowed clothes he left me. My first thought is of Alexander’s Burberry shirt and how I’d give anything to swaddle myself in it rather than Lincoln’s To Soy or Not to Soy T-shirt.
I pull the blackout curtains shut and slip into bed. The sheets feel clean, and the pillow is soft beneath my cheek. I nuzzle in with a new appreciation for head support. The scent of dryer sheets mixes with another scent. One vaguely familiar. What is it…? I open my eyes when I recognize the aroma. Roses.
Courtney’s shampoo.
The few times I showered at her place, I remember commenting on the overpowering smell.
I throw off the bedding and head into the bathroom. I pull back the shower curtains and there, tucked into the corner, is the rose shampoo and conditioner, along with a lavender loofah and a pink razor.
Any doubt I might have held about their relationship dissolves.
I rip the comforter from the bed and lie down on the couch. Maybe I don’t miss pillows so much after all.
Seventeen
Jordan
I wake at five o’clock in the morning, and when I go to use the bathroom, I see all of Courtney’s things are gone. Lincoln must’ve hidden it all after he came back to the apartment last night. He shouldn’t have wasted his time.
I take a shower using his all-in-one shampoo, something I would’ve detested before I’d gone weeks with dirty hair. Dressed in the clothes I wore yesterday, I grab my phone without looking at the man asleep on the bed.
The only food in the kitchen is takeout leftovers and condiments, but I manage to fix myself a PB&J. I check my bank account and frown at the measly four-hundred-dollar balance. The eight-hundred-dollar portion of my rent was taken out of my account one week ago. Lincoln clearly doesn’t have issues with taking money from a dead woman. Asshole.
I’ll spend what I have to get some clothes and food, and then I’ll pick up any shift I can at the restaurant. If I save every dollar I earn, I should have enough money to move out in… I do the calculations on my phone and groan.
Two months.
Damn.
Lincoln stumbles out of the bedroom, rubbing his messy hair. “Everything okay?” He yawns hard.
“Fine.” I bite into my sandwich and stare at my phone to avoid conversation.
He bangs about the kitchen, making his morning green tea, and I instantly miss Grizzly’s quiet feet and the smell of coffee mixed with wood smoke.
“How quickly can you get me on the schedule this week? As soon as today would work for me.”
He clears his throat. “You’re coming back to work?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
He takes the seat across from me, and I want to snap that he’s too close but bite my sandwich instead. “I don’t know. You said you had broken ribs—”
“I’m fine. I need to get back to work as soon as possible.” So I can get the hell out of here. “Any shifts, throw me on dish duty, I don’t care.”
He’s fixated on the liquid in his cup. “There’s a little problem. See, I terminated your employment when I thought you were dead.”
My teeth grind together. “Surprise! I’m clearly alive. So reinstate my employment.”
“I