Page 107 of Under Pressure

“That’s amazing news! I brought some food and coffee. Consider it a giant thank you for everything you’ve done.”

Maybe I should have gotten into construction when he offered to teach me.

“I’ll take it.” He lets Quinn sidestep him into her apartment and snags the box from me. With his voice quieter, he says, “She spank you for paying her bill?”

“I bet you’d love to know.”

“Of course. I’ve gotta get my laughs somehow when I’m surrounded by grumpy fucking guys all day long. You’d be surprised how hangry a bunch of muscled guys can get when they don’t get their morning hash brown.”

“You can make yourself laugh.”

Concern sparks in his eyes. “You good?”

“If I asked you to, would you accidentally have one of your guys tear a pipe out of the wall?”

He snorts roughly. “No. I’m afraid not.”

“What good is family, then?”

I reach behind me to flex the brim of my hat. His curiosity isn’t what I want to deal with right now. Quite honestly, just being here at all is making my skin itch. I need to get some fresh air or something.

“Let her know I took Bodi for a walk,” I say, already heading down the stairs.

“You brought that dog here? To a café?”

“Bring it up with her.”

And with that, I’m gone.

37

Brielle takesa long sip of her coffee and then sets the cup down in the only available space on the cluttered table. The array of notebooks and printed-out Pinterest photos is overwhelming, but I wisely keep my mouth shut as she continues explaining her vision for the party.

“I’m going with pink and gold, obviously. Heavier on the gold. I’m talking splatters of it all over everything. Kellan’s brother is dating the most sought-after wedding planner in the city, and he’s working his magic on convincing her to take the wedding on. The colours we use for the party will be the ones in the actual wedding, too.”

“Got it,” I say while glancing at the door for the twelfth time since we sat down together.

Beck’s still gone, and I know that if I check my phone again, I won’t see his name. My stomach is eating itself with sharp monster teeth. I obviously upset him earlier, but how? He’s never taken off like this before. I’m not used to him getting this mad at anyone, let alone me.

Did I finally push him too far?

“And for the pink, I’ve got two different shade ideas. This ismy personal favourite, but I don’t know how easy it is to actually make happen with the chocolate. What do you think?”

If I call him again, maybe he’ll answer. I could just be overthinking. There’s a chance that he really did decide to take Bodi for a walk since he didn’t get one this morning. I could easily come up with a long list of reasons for why he’s been gone for the last few hours.

Fans found him and trapped him in a photo circle.

He got lost on the way back.