Tamed (Torn #5)(59)

Once he was dressed, he turned back to me. “Hey.”

I looked over at him, surprised to see such a calm expression on his face. If I were in his position, I would be freaking the f*ck out.

He grabbed a pen and a piece of paper off the dresser. Then, he scribbled something on it before walking over to me. He put the paper in my hands and gave me a small smile. “You have nothing to feel guilty about, Amber. In fact, last night was one of the best nights I’ve had in a long time.” He hesitated. “If you want to meet up again, call me.”

Then, he was gone.

I looked down at the paper in my hands. His phone number was written on it. I sighed before shoving the paper into my nightstand drawer. This was all kinds of screwed-up. I’d been drunk and vulnerable last night. I’d wanted someone to comfort me, and Alex had been there, so I’d let him. From what I could remember now that the fog was starting to clear, I’d let him comfort me several times.

“Fuck!” I shouted into the empty room.

My life was so screwed-up anymore. I’d slept with a married man, knowing that he belonged to someone else. That was low, even for me. It didn’t matter that he was on shaky ground with his wife. It still wasn’t right.

I sighed. I was pretty sure things couldn’t get much worse for me.





“Hey, you okay?”

I looked up at the sound of Denise’s voice. She stared down at me with a concerned look crossing her face. She was one of my coworkers at the law firm. Our cubicles were side by side, and we chatted daily. Denise was probably the closest thing I had to a friend anymore.

“Peachy,” I said before I broke out into a rattling cough. God, I hated being sick.

“You don’t sound or look okay,” she said. “You’ve been like this for three days. Have you gone to the doctor?”

I shook my head. “No. I didn’t want to miss work.”

She frowned. “You need to go to the doctor. No offense, but you look like hell, and I don’t really want your germs.”

I considered this sickness a punishment for sleeping with Alex. I deserved nothing less.

“I don’t want to miss work,” I told her again. I shivered and wrapped my sweater around me tighter.

“You have sick and vacation days, Amber. Go to the doctor. I’m not kidding. If you don’t leave, I’m going to sick Nancy on your ass.”

Nancy was our boss. She was a nice woman, but she didn’t f*ck around.

I glared at Denise, but it didn’t seem to bother her at all.

I finally sighed and gave in. “Fine. Will you let Nancy know I’m leaving?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Feel better, Amber.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled as I gathered my things and walked to the elevator. Today sucked.



Three hours later, I was back home with a prescription for an antibiotic and strict instructions to rest. I sighed as I popped one of the antibiotics in my mouth. I wouldn’t be allowed back to work for at least a week. I had enough money saved that bills wouldn’t be an issue, but I hated the thought of staying home all alone. When I wasn’t busy or around other people, my mind would go south fast.

After a quick call to work to let them know I wouldn’t be in for the rest of the week, I heated a can of chicken noodle soup. I wasn’t the best cook out there, but surely, even I couldn’t screw up soup too badly. Once it was done, I sat down at my kitchen table and sipped it. It felt good against my sore throat.

I tossed my empty bowl in the sink after I finished, and I grabbed the bottle of medicine that was supposed to make me feel better and knock me out. I drank more of it than I should have, and for extra measure, I took a shot of whiskey, hoping it would help me sleep, too.

I took a quick shower before climbing into bed and snuggling down into the covers.

Within minutes, I was out.



I was miserable and tired of shivering all the time. I was surviving on soup and Gatorade, too exhausted to make anything else. Just as I’d feared, my mind wandered to things I didn’t want to think about. I hated that. I was thinking more about Adam than I had in a long time.

Thankfully, my fever broke on the second day, but it took until the third day for me to feel human again. I still wasn’t one hundred percent, but it was a start.

Once I was up and moving again, I washed my sweat-soaked sheets and cleaned up my apartment. I was itching to get back to work, but I knew Nancy would tell me to stay home until my doctor cleared me.

In my boredom, I was stupid enough to go on another Internet search. As soon as the image results pulled up, I wanted to toss my phone across the room. Adam was still the same Adam he’d always been. Page after page showed images of him out with women—lots and lots of women. I felt tears slide down my cheeks as I looked through them. I shook my head before dropping my phone down onto the bed. There was no use in missing someone I’d never really had.

The following day, Chloe called me. I hadn’t heard from her in a couple of weeks.

“Hello?”

“Hey! What are you up to?” she asked cheerfully.

“Sick. I’ve been home most of the week,” I grumbled.

“Ah, that sucks. I was just calling to check in with you.”

I nodded even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “Yeah. I’m just glad I feel good enough to shower. Trust me, going three days without a shower isn’t advised. I’m pretty sure I smelled like ass.”