Page 72 of Unbound

Normally I would say no and find my way back in front of my computer. But I think maybe Walker needs to take a break. Get away from all the ghosts that haunt him for just a little while.

“I’d love to.” I smooth down the front of his lapel. “Are you going to change, or are we going as the bridge troll and the gentleman?”

Walker huffs out a laugh and the ache in my chest eases a little as a hint of a smile curves his lips. “I’m changing. I don’t love wearing a suit.”

I adjust his tie. “That’s a shame, because you look really good in one.”

As he steps away, Walker makes the low rumble of acknowledgement he does when he hears what I say but doesn’t have a response. “Give me five minutes.”

I check out his ass as he leaves the room, waiting until he’s out of sight before turning to grab my shoes. After collecting my sneakers, I start to head for the door, but stop when I notice I left the nightstand drawer open.

“Sorry.” I’m not sure who I’m apologizing to. Probably the pretty blonde woman I’ll never meet in this lifetime.

I try to push the drawer back into place, but it sticks. If it was my furniture, I’d just shove harder, but I don’t want to risk damaging something so valuable. Not willing to try cramming the thing where it belongs, I crouch down, dropping my sneakers to the floor so I can use both hands to gently wiggle the wood box along the tracks.

But it doesn’t budge.

“Shit.” Did I break it? I sure fucking hope not, because I’ll cry about it for the rest of the day. “Please, please, please go back in there.”

The freaking thing doesn’t listen.

Panic settles into my belly as I scramble to figure out how to solve the issue before Walker comes back. Even on his best day, Walker would struggle to discover something happened to one of his mother’s belongings.

And this is nowhere near his best day.

Deciding maybe a complete fresh start might be the best plan of attack, I pull the drawer all the way out. Maybe it just came off the tracks a little and once everything’s lined back up, things will slide right into place. Right?

RIGHT?

Scooching closer, I bring one hand to the bottom of the drawer for extra control over the angle, and⁠—

“What in the⁠—”

I turn the drawer over to see what’s stuck to the underside, the box of tissues and bottle of aspirin hitting the floor.

I stare at the envelope as the room gets fuzzy around me. Dots dance in front of my eyes, swarming like flies across my vision, making it hard to see.

But not hard enough.

Because I can still clearly make out the emblem printed in one corner of the yellowing paper. It’s one I’ve seen countless times. One that’s always brought warm, fuzzy feelings.

Not this time.

This time it makes me feel like throwing up.

Because there’s no good reason I can think of for Walker’s mom to have hidden letters from my dad.

23

Walker

Ihaven’t been out with a woman in… years.

And while I know this isn’t a date, I am technically taking Sybil out. We’re going somewhere public. Together.

So maybe it’s more of a date than I want to admit. That’s probably why I take a few extra seconds to brush my teeth and oil my beard, giving myself a final once-over before I stride down the hall to collect her.

I think I’ll take her to Deja Brew. Get her a giant coffee to sip on while we⁠—