Page 31 of Dueling Flames

Thorne

Lissa was in the captain’s office, and I wanted to know why. I waited a few minutes before I walked over to the captain’s office to eavesdrop.

After over a month wearing that boot and using crutches, having the cast off felt like I’d reached a new level of stealth. I used to sneak around my house all the time growing up. It stemmed from having so many siblings growing up. I never knew when I needed to scare my brother or sisters.

I stopped when I could clearly hear the captain.

“Why are you competing now?”

“I thought it would help Trevor relax,” Lissa said. “He’s so uptight these days.”

I held in my laughter. She’d protested using my suggested method, but now she was having fun with it. Seems like she didn’t mind competing at work if she competes against a sore loser.

Captain Cole sighed. “I know what you’re doing, and I’m not going to stop you. He’s only here on a temporary basis. There is something else I wanted to talk to you about.” There was a brief pause. “About your request for a new partner, I can probably make that happen now.”

I stared at the door. New partner? What?

“Thorne, someone’s here for you,” someone called. I silently speed walked as best I could away from the door, not able to hear the rest. Lissa didn’t want to be my partner anymore? Why would she make that request? Didn’t she agree to not let our relationship affect our work and vice versa?

I was still thinking about what I heard when I looked up to see Milo.

“Hello Hawthorne,” he said. He smiled like he did the first few weeks we dated, before his mask began to fall.

“Milo.”

The guys looked at each other behind Milo. I heard a few “Oh, Hawthorne” from them.

“I’d like you to have breakfast with me. Today. To catch up.” Milo wore a tailored suit and shiny shoes. His watch cost more than my monthly rent. He wanted something, but I didn’t know what. I really didn’t want to know.

I looked behind me and thought about what I heard. About your request for a new partner.

“Sure,” I said, hoping breakfast would distract me before I had to reevaluate the last two months of my life. “Let Lissa know I don’t need a ride,” I told the guys in the lounge.

We ended up at a little breakfast place a few blocks away. We sat in silence as we ate. I’d prefer going to Rise and Shine, but it was undergoing repairs. This place, however, knew how to plate food, which is probably why Milo picked it. I couldn’t tell if it tasted good. My mind was still on Lissa and her new partner.

“I want to try again with us,” Milo finally spoke.

“Try what?” I put down my fork. “To belittle me in front of your friends again? Try to make me feel small? Try to fit me into a himbo mold that I’ll never fit into?”

“We were good together. Surely you remember how good we were together.”

I looked around the little bistro wondering if anyone was listening in on this insanity. “When were we good?”

He pursed his lips and looked me up and down. “In bed. We were great in bed together.”

Realization hit me. “So you don’t want to date me, you just want to fuck me?”

“You make it sound so crude.”

I took a deep breath and stood up. “Pass. Not interested. See you around.”

I handed our server some cash, telling them it was only for myself and left. The next hour, I slowly walked around the area trying to get my head on straight. One hour wasn’t enough. I couldn’t get Lissa out of my head or understand why she requested a new partner. Honestly, I was scared to know the answer.

When the Uber dropped me off at my apartment building, I turned toward the elevator and went to my own studio apartment. I’d never walked into a room and felt so alone before. One of the lights near the kitchen was out and the room smelled stale.

Ignoring the thin layer of dust on the shelves, I walked over to my bed and plopped down. I reached up for my pillow and pulled back the shabby one I only kept to cuddle with. My other pillows were downstairs. I rolled over and stared at the ceiling that refused to help, and I couldn’t bring myself to go back to Lissa’s place.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called the one person I always talked to when things were going south. Joe.