Page 92 of Filthy Twisted Devil

“If you must know, it’s my boss. She was asking about some paperwork I owe her today.”

I put my phone face down carefully, just to make Wade think I’m hiding something. That’ll drive him crazy for the rest of the day.

The sad truth is, I wasn't lying. The two people I most wanted to hear from are radio silent. Brinley’s not texting because she’s mad at me. As for Luke…well, I suspect he’s not texting me for the same reason I’m not texting him.

There’s no reason to torture ourselves when we know in a month, we’re over.

38

LUKE

May

I’ve reached a new level of pitiful. It's Friday night, and I'm eating Chinese takeout alone in my sweatpants.

Scratch that: not completely alone. With Pippa joining Ryan for a poker tournament in Miami, I got roped into spending the night with her cat.

“Waffle gets separation anxiety,” Pippa begged me days before. “She needs more than someone stopping by to change her litter. She needs company.”

“Come on, you’ll have the whole place to yourself,” Ryan said. “You can even use my Playstation 5.”

“I have my own Playstation 5,” I pointed out.

“Fine. If you really need me to sweeten the deal, I’ll make you some brownies.”

“No!” I blurted out. “I mean, sure, I’ll stay with Waffle while you’re gone.”

The truth is, I could use the company. Since Eden left for Sundre, life has felt weird. I’ve been single for my whole life, and I never had a problem with that. I was always content in my own company, pouring my excess energy into building Twisted Devil. Now, being alone hits different. I keep noticing things that I want to tell her about, like the first all-company tasting for the cherrywood cask whiskey. I served all my employees the whiskey to get their feedback, and got raves from almost everyone, except Leonard, of course, whose idea of praise is “pretty good.”

I think of her again when I’m out for a run in the park and come across a wildflower patch that looks uncannily like the flowers in the Sundre prairie. I want to send her the picture of a slice of country in Toronto, but I don’t.

When I looked at Eden and imagined a family with her, I knew how supremely fucked I was. You can’t fantasize about a family when your relationship has a hard expiration date, one that’s never getting moved. Without Brinley’s approval, Eden and I have no future.

Maybe I’d feel more confident if Eden was texting me, but my inbox is empty. I like to think she’s going through the same thing I am, constantly picking up her phone to write messages she ends up deleting. Part of me feels sure she’s missing me, too.

Or maybe she’s not. Maybe, surrounded by family and in her element preparing for the wedding, she’s realized she doesn’t need me to be happy.

That’s a depressing thought. I shove an egg roll in my mouth to make myself feel better. Just then, a black blur jumps onto the counter and tries to snatch the egg roll out of my mouth.

“Waffle, no!” I scold, even though I’m pretty sure “no” means nothing to cats. Waffle ignores me, jumping at my hand for a second egg roll attack. I hold the egg roll up as far as I can reach, and the black cat makes a noble effort of trying to jump that high.

“You’re insane,” I mutter. “Are you always like this?”

Waffle pauses to give me a look that seems to say, duh. It’s so adorable that I can’t help but give in. I break off a small piece of my egg roll and give it to her. She primly accepts it, like a princess taking a gift from a suitor she dislikes.

Chuckling, I pull out my phone to snap a picture of her. A picture I want to send to Eden.

Would it be so bad if I did? Worst case scenario, she doesn’t respond. Maybe, though, she’d actually start talking to me again. I’m dying to know how she’s doing in Sundre, if Rose is having trouble with her wheelchair, how close she is to killing Wade for annoying her.

I send the picture to Pippa instead.

Luke

Are cats allowed to eat egg rolls?

Pippa

They definitely aren’t. Resist the begging eyes, Luke!! Stay strong.