Rescuing the Bad Boy (Second Chance #2)(97)

“You done?” The guilt train could station any time now.

“Still convinced you’re better off alone?”

“I am better off alone. I like being alone.”

“Keep telling yourself that and you will die alone. Unloved.”

Pissed, he ground out, “Deal.”

But Connor wasn’t done. “You’re a runner. I don’t think you’d have any friends if not for Evan, Asher, and me flushing you out of hiding every so often.”

“Yeah? Then quit doing it.” Donovan didn’t need anyone. Wasn’t that what he’d been trying to convince people for years?

“Gonna tell you what I know.”

Great.

“I know plants. I know roots. And I know you don’t have ’em. Know how I know?” Again he didn’t wait for a response. “Because you can’t get roots if you keep taking off and not letting them grow.”

“I have roots.” They were gnarled and tangled and buried beneath Pate Mansion.

“Yeah, you do. Me. Evan. Asher. Hell, Evan’s wife, Charlie, likes you. Faith liked you, too, or did, anyway, before you bailed on her best friend. Bet if you quit being a dumbass, you could have Sofie, too.”

Patience thin, Donovan was seething by the time Alyssa stepped outside with water. The glare he shot her must have been glacial. She handed over the plastic bottle and scuttled back inside without so much as a bat of her fake eyelashes.

“You want to talk about running away?” Donovan turned his back on the house and watched the ocean. “Let’s talk about Maya. Let’s talk about you serving back-to-back-to-back stints in the military because you couldn’t face the reality that was your life.” If Connor thought he was the only one capable of doling out holier-than-thou, pot-calling-the-kettle-metal insights, he had another thing coming.

“You’re right,” Connor surprised him by agreeing. “Difference is, I’m back. I’m staying. I’m done running. About time you stopped being a * and did the same.”

The line went quiet, and the only sounds Donovan heard were his pulse beating in his eardrums and the gulls crying as they swept over the beach below. He wrapped his hand around his phone hard enough to crack the screen.

With anger fueling his work, he stayed at Alyssa’s house until the sky grew dark. He skipped dinner, finished the fireplace, and left her house for the last time.





CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT




Sofie took the end of the leash from her best friend’s hand.

“I’m so sorry,” Faith said. “Skylar checked with everyone she knows. I checked with everyone I know. No one can take her, even temporarily.”

Gertie was panting, her mouth smiling. Ironically, she looked happy. Her tail wagged back and forth, knocking against the desk.

“Skylar would keep her longer if she could. My mom’s new model boyfriend is allergic to dogs.” Faith rolled her eyes. “But if you can keep her somewhere for two or three days, he has a photo shoot in New York. I can take her over there.”

At the mention of New York, Sofie’s heart clutched. She had been trying her hardest not to think of the state, or the man in it, at all.

“Thanks? but I’ll figure something out. Don’t worry about it. Maybe she can stay here at the shop…” Not the best plan, but it’d be near impossible to sneak a dog Gertie’s size into her cramped apartment. Especially since her neighbor had recently been asked to get rid of her oversized dog by request of the landlord. She could ask her parents… of course, then she would have to explain why she had a dog. And that would mean telling them about Donovan. Maybe she could fudge the details…

“Are you sure you don’t need me for anything today?” Faith wrung her hands. “I can work if you need me to.”

“It’s Sunday. Take the day off. Gertie is not your problem. She’s not a problem at all, are you girl?” Sofie bent to nuzzle the top of the dog’s head. “You’re just a dog without a home.”

Without a mansion, she thought sadly. In a weird way, Sofie felt as lost as Gertie. She hadn’t been in her apartment much while Donovan was in town, so when he went to New York, staying there felt… strange. “I’ll figure something out,” she promised the three of them.

Faith started to leave, then turned and pegged Sofie with a look of concern.

Uh-oh.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it, but…”

Uh-oh, times two…

“Are you okay?” Faith scrunched her cute nose. “I mean with… Donovan leaving and everything?”

They hadn’t talked about Donovan leaving, about how Sofie was dealing with the loss. She was impressed Faith had kept quiet this long. Typically, they talked about everything. But since Michael’s awkward departure from the charity dinner, Faith remained stoically silent. And Sofie, not wanting to talk about her own recent heartbreak, didn’t bring up Michael for fear the conversation would lead to talking about Donny.

“I’m not okay,” Sofie admitted aloud for the first time. Picking up on her mood change, Gertie leaned her weight into Sofie’s leg. Absently, she stroked her fur. “Are you… okay?” she asked Faith.

“I don’t think so.” Faith sighed. “I never told you—”