He really was gone.
She deleted the message. What was wrong with her. She’d known him for such a short time. This was on her. She’d allowed him to touch her body when she’d known damn-well she wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of woman. She had a heart. She got attached. She’d fallen hard for him and wanted more and more and more.
It was wrong to want a shifter like him, she knew it was. Tammy was still having to convince her heart of it, that was all. It would take time.
He’d left so damn easily, and she had to absorb that. And while a part of her understood his reasons, what value was an easy-leaver to a woman like her? She was on a path. She was aimed at a good future. She was working hard to get to a dream-spot, and here, on what should be one of the happiest days of her life, she was pouting over the absence of a man. That’s what men did—they ruined big days.
Fuck. She squeezed her eyes tightly closed and winced. That wasn’t fair of her. He’d told her about his dad and his mom, and she could understand him not wanting that for her. She could also understand not wanting more out-of-control moments around Jess.
He was trying to do the right thing.
No, hewasdoing the right thing, not just trying to.
She gave a test-smile to the rearview mirror, then turned off her 4Runner and got out.
She could do this.
She checked the parking lot for Tawk’s truck and wondered how long she would do that for—look for him. She wondered how long this disappointed hole in her chest would exist when she realized he wasn’t where she was.
A memory of him kissing her washed across her mind. “Goodness, get ahold of yourself,” she muttered as she pulled open the door to Pepper’s.
Everything was going to be okay.
Chapter Thirteen
Yeah, he’d come back, but not to see Tammy. Not really.
There was one loose end he couldn’t wrap his head around leaving untied.
The auto parts store was connected to a shopping center, and the parking lot was full, so Tawk had to park down the street and walk up. He’d almost reached it when he heard someone call his name. Well, it wasn’t really his name. Some dude had called out, “Hey, Asshole,” and Tawk had just known he was talking to him.
When he swung his gaze over his shoulder, the guy who had been posting the rental flyers was jogging to catch up with him.
“Hey,” he muttered a greeting, half-wary that the guy was going to throw a punch or something. He’d been hard to read when he’d seen him in that bar the day he’d met Tammy.
“I thought you left,” the guy said as he came to stand in front of him. He rested his hands on his hips and looked around, breathing heavily. “I’m just realizing I need to focus more on cardio and less on weights,” he huffed out. “You walk really fast. Whoa dude, look at your eyes. Red, huh? You look evil AF.”
“AF?” Tawk asked, confused.
“As fuck. You look evil as fuck.”
Tawk pulled his sunglasses off the neck of his shirt and slid them on. “Who are you again?”
“Dylan. Hoffman. I’m Garret’s brother.” He waited there, smiling an empty look. “Garret is the one you’re renting the house from?”
“I know who Garret is.” Tawk twitched his chin toward the auto parts store. “I have an errand.” He turned and walked away, and to his eternal annoyance, Dylan followed at a fast clip.
“Hey, do you want to grab a quick drink?”
“I like chicks,” Tawk said without turning around.
“Not like a date, fucker. I was headed to that bar right there when I saw you. I was supposed to have a lunch date, but the girl cancelled last minute.”
Tawk didn’t know why he did it, but he halted. Normally, he wasn’t a question-asker because he didn’t give a shit about other people’s lives, but something inside of him was curious. “Why did she cancel?”
“Aw, I met her on some online dating site. I guess she was talking to other guys too. She said she’s in a relationship now.”
“What the hell? But she was talking to you?”
