Just Kidding (SWAT Generation 2.0 #1)(4)

I gave her an instant replay of my night, ending with how he’d followed me outside.

In fact, as I turned to survey the parking lot, I saw him leaning against his department-issued vehicle just staring at me.

I put the car into drive and drove off, happy when he was no longer in my line of sight.

“I’m done, Katy-did,” I said softly. “I’m not going to swim in that particular pool anymore.”

Katy snorted. “Theo’s a good guy, but I’ve been telling you for a while that he’s a bit of a dick. I never realized it before, but holy shit. Logan’s really shown me what it’s like to love someone unconditionally. I didn’t even feel a single bit of that when Theo and I went on our first couple of dates.” She paused. “When Logan took me out, I had these butterflies. They just filled my stomach so completely whenever he looked at me or was near.”

“Do you still get butterflies?” I wondered as I made my way through the still-busy streets of San Antonio.

“Yes,” she said. “Sometimes I just find myself looking at him, or thinking about him…” She sighed.

“You’re kind of disgusting,” I admitted.

She snickered.

“How many more days do you have?” she asked then.

I looked at my watch.

“One, officially,” I admitted. “I was going to give them the cursory two weeks’ notice but… I don’t think I want to stay here anymore.”

My sister’s swift inhale had me smiling.

“Can we come up this weekend and help you move home? Please say yes,” she practically begged.

I rolled my eyes.

“Yes,” I said. “I’m on a month-to-month lease at this point anyway. There’s nothing keeping me here anymore.”

With Theo out of the picture, things were definitely much simpler when it came to staying in San Antonio.

“Congrats on the Bar,” she whispered. “I’m so proud of you, Row.”

I felt my heart leap at her words.

My mom and dad had called earlier in the day to congratulate me, but having it come from my smart as hell sister? That meant the world to me.

“Thanks,” I said.

We continued to talk while she gave me a play-by-play of what she was doing my entire drive home.

It was only as I was pulling into my apartment complex that I said goodbye.

“I going to have to go. I’m here at the apartment,” I said. “My hair needs washed in the worst way.”

Grabbing everything in the seat and shoving it into my large purse, I made my way up to my apartment and barreled inside, still juggling the phone as I listened to Katy about when to expect her.

“Bye,” Katy said. “I love you. Give Boz a kiss for me. See you this weekend.”

After replying with much the same words, I tossed the phone onto the couch and headed for the shower.

I stripped in the laundry room before eyeing all the things I would have to pack up before my sister arrived this weekend.

Honestly, I didn’t have much stuff.

I’d been living out of boxes as it was, not wanting to unpack for some reason.

It was as if my sixth sense somehow knew that I wasn’t going to be staying here that long.

Whatever the reason, I only needed to pack up my closet, some dishes, and blankets.

Other than that, the apartment had come furnished, and none of it was mine.

Other than some household items and everyday shit, I could possibly get by with only four to five boxes from Lowe’s.

Grinning and excited, I headed to the bathroom and turned on the shower.

I frowned at the empty shampoo bottle.

Shit. I’d forgotten to go get more.

I’d meant to stop by on my way home, but Theo’s actions had left me a bit frazzled and confused.

I looked at the small bottles that I’d gotten from Macy that were spilling out of my purse that I’d brought with me from my car, then at my empty shampoo bottle, then decided… fuck it.

I brought it into the shower with me and then cranked the knobs up as high as they would go.

Sadly, it wasn’t much.

I couldn’t afford the nicest of apartments with my internship at my current lawyer’s office, but thank God that my internship was coming to an end.

I literally only had one more day to go until I was finished.

Until I could find an actual job that would pay me actual money instead of a joke of a salary while I tried to get experience for a job that required ‘on the job experience.’

And, seeing as I couldn’t get that kind of experience without actually being a goddamn lawyer and practicing, I’d had to revert to interning to get the experience that the one law firm I wanted to work at required.

The shampoo smelled off, but I put it out of my mind as I considered what I was going to do next.

Should I apply to the lawyer’s office in Kilgore? I knew that there were a few in Longview, which was a twenty-minute drive from Kilgore. Then there was always Bear Bottom where my sister lived, which was in the opposite direction.

I could make it work.

I knew I could.

Feeling much better about my options, I rinsed my hair free of the shampoo, then lathered the conditioner into my hair.

Sadly, I ended up using about half the damn bottle on one shampoo.