Page 23 of Calling a Cease-Fire

I typed an address into my phone, but hesitated before hitting send. Would she think it was stupid? It really helped me after a hard day to release pent-up frustrations.

Fuck it. I hit send before quickly typing out another text.

Me: Meet me here after work.

Raven: I’m really not in the mood to run around to seventeen different places tonight when we can just call. I’ll take care of it.

Me: It’s not for that. It’s for you.

Me: Trust me. Please?

Over the next two hours, we got a few easy calls. A possible gas leak that was nothing, a building alarm that was easily dealt with, and a wellness check.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out, smiling as I read the text from Mia.

Raven: What the heck is Wreck It?

Me: It’s what I do after a hard day. Give it a try, Raven. I think you’d like it.

“You like her.” Adam’s smug voice penetrated my thoughts, and I glanced up at him. We sat across from each other in the crew seats of the truck. He shook his head with a sly grin. “Goddamn it, Miles was right. This is Savannah all over again.”

I wasn’t going to lie to my best friend. But this was different. I wasn’t denying I liked her. “It’s not the same.”

Was I attracted to Mia? Fuck yes. But did I think there could be anything real between us? No. And that was why I had no intention of letting anything happen between us.

He pointed a finger at me. “That wasn’t a no.”

“What do you want me to say, man?” I knew he was concerned I was going to cause problems with Lyla. But I had no intention of doing that. “I’ll admit I like her. I’m not denying that. But I’m not going to cross that line with her. And not just because of Lyla. Mia is the definition of emotionally unavailable.”

Adam cocked a brow, like that surprised him. For as well as we knew each other, he really didn’t get me sometimes. He thought I got bored easily and that was the reason I hadn’t had any serious long-term relationships. And for a while there, I thought he was right. But in the last couple of years, I’d started to understand it had more to do with the women I dated. I just couldn’t picture a future with them.

“And since when is that a quality you want?”

I sat back, crossing my arms over my chest, pinning him with one eyebrow raised. Had he been so wrapped up with Lyla that he really hadn’t noticed? “Dude, it’s been almost a year since I dated someone.”

His eyes widened, and then his brows pulled together comically as he thought about what I’d said. “Wait… really?” His brows creased a bit more. Hopefully he didn’t blow a fuse thinking that hard. “What about that redhead? Courtney?”

“I ended things with her last May.” And given that it was currently February, we were coming up on nine months since that relationship had fizzled out.

I wasn’t going to tell Adam this and give him more fuel, but, in a way, Mia had been the catalyst. We were all hanging out at the bar the night Izzy brought her group of friends out to join us. One look at Mia, and I was falling over myself to talk to her. To be close to her. Her presence that night was all-encompassing, and it pulled me in, needing to be in her orbit. I quickly realized that Courtney didn’t pull that kind of intensity out of me. Did I enjoy her presence? Sure. I just didn’t crave it.

He shifted in his seat, glancing out the window, and I could almost see him warring with himself. Finally, he sighed and looked back at me. “I think she could be.”

“What?” Somewhere along my internal musings I’d lost what he was referring to.

“Mia.” He clarified, like that helped. “I think she could be emotionally available. You just need to get past her walls.”

Fuck. I tensed. Why had I even said anything? I shook my head. “No. I’m not going there.”

He crossed his arms and shot me a stern look. “What the fuck did you say to me when I was dragging my feet with Lyla?”

“Not the same, man.” I smirked. “You were being an idiot. I’m being smart.”

He laughed. “Or you’re the idiot now.”

“I thought you and Lyla didn’t want us to muddle everything, remember?”

He shrugged. “You’re my best friend. If Mia’s who you want, I’ll have your back.”