To Have It All(74)

“Okay, okay,” he begged before clearing his throat. “Stop stalling your lesson with your dirty mind and your defiling of perfectly unperverted words.”

I wiggled my ass again. “You love how I defiled the word concrete. Admit it.”

“You keep shimmying your ass like that, this lesson is going to have to end while I go jump in the water.”

“My apologies,” I giggled.

“You ready for this?” he asked, his laughter ebbing.

“As I’ll ever be.”





By the time we got back to the apartment, dusk had just begun its eclipse of the bright afternoon, the sun beginning its descent behind the soaring downtown skyline. It had been one of the best days of my life and considering it was quite possibly my last, it offered an odd kind of contentment. I didn’t have any control of what would happen tomorrow, but I did have a choice. I could choose to be thankful for the opportunity to have one last day, or I could sulk about it. I chose to be thankful.

After our walk, I spent an hour trying to teach Waverly how to drive a motorcycle. It was awful and hilarious all at once. Simply spit-balling with my estimate, she must’ve stalled out at least a thousand times and spewed a variety of curse words that would make even the grittiest of bikers blush. My Grams would have called her a pistol. Afterward, when she was pissed, she claimed it was from hunger—apparently, she was hypoglycemic, self-diagnosed—but I knew better than that. She didn’t like that she hadn’t mastered shifting on the bike. We found a restaurant on the water with cold beer and burgers and after a good meal and a few adult beverages, she was herself again.

Pulling into a spot in the apartment parking garage, I’d just cut the bike off when Max’s cell rang in my pocket. Pulling it out, Helen’s name lit up on the screen. After Waverly climbed off, I followed and answered.

“Hey, Hel. We just—”

“Where are you?” she interrupted, her voice riddled with panic.

“We just parked. What’s wrong?” Waverly’s head snapped with my words, her brows raised in concern.

“Just get up here, now,” she snapped before hanging up.

“Shit,” I huffed as I darted toward the entrance, my mind racing. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew my sister would never snap at me like that unless it was something bad. My stomach knotted as I feared the worst. Was Pimberly okay? Had that douchebag work associate of Max’s shown back up?

“What’s going on?” Waverly yelled as she jogged behind me, trying to keep up.

“I don’t know.”

Rushing through the lobby, from my peripherals, I saw Braxton watch us as we bolted by him toward the elevator. Too impatient to wait, I veered to the stairwell. When we finally made it to my floor, the door to the apartment was open, and a man was shouting from inside.

I flew in, prepared to attack if need be, until I lurched to a stop after I realized who it was that was shouting.

“Give her to me now,” Matt demanded.

“I don’t know you, and you’re not taking her. I don’t care who you say you are,” she seethed calmly as she held a crying Pimberly.

“Matt?” Waverly huffed, the shock evident in her voice. She was still out of breath from our ascent up several flights of stairs.

Turning, his body seemed to deflate a bit as he took in the sight of his sister. In two strides, he’d reached her and was hugging her. She blinked a few times, working hard to absorb what was happening before she raised her hands and patted his back a few times.

“What are you doing here?”

Pulling away from her, he scowled. “What am I doing here? You called and left me a message that you needed my help, then you cut your phone off. I called the house, no answer. I emailed you, no answer. I called Ms. Patty, and she said Pim hadn’t been there in days, and the last time she’d seen you, you were on crutches. I’ve been out of my mind worried about you.”

Waverly closed her eyes and exhaled loudly. “I’m so sorry, Matt. I didn’t mean to worry you, and now I’ve ruined your trip.”

Matt didn’t acknowledge Waverly’s apology or anything she said for that matter, as he continued. “Then I come here and find Pim with this lady who won’t let me see her. What in the hell is going on, Waverly?”

Waverly covered her face with her hands as she realized what a big mess that one phone call had created. Dropping them, she raised one hand and motioned to Helen. “Matt, this is my friend Helen. Helen, this is my brother, Matt.”

Helen and Matt glowered at each other, neither of them offering a polite greeting to the other. Apparently, it had been quite the stand-off before we got there.

“Can I hold my niece now?” Matt grunted.

Helen glanced at Waverly who nodded yes.

Matt immediately scooped Pim into his arms and squeezed her to him, bouncing to calm her down. Pim’s wailing began to quiet immediately as Matt kissed her head a few times, whispering to her.

Finally, Pim quieted down.

The room was silent; calm.

Until it wasn’t.

Matt’s gaze darted up and fixed on me. “What’s going on here, Waverly?”

Casting an apologetic look my way before returning her focus back to Matt, she shrugged. “Nothing. I . . . I was drunk when I called you,” she fibbed. What else could she tell him? That she’d thought I was suffering from multiple personality disorder but didn’t think that now because she believed I’d swapped bodies with her ex? I had a feeling out of all the people in the world that might have believed my situation, Matt would be the last.