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Panic started to set in when I moved my hands upward to find that there was a wall above me, too.

Was I in a box?

That’s when the hyperventilation started.

Thirty

Badly want to sit on something, and it’s not a chair.

—Text from Jessamy to Black

Black

I tossed my arm around Shelby’s shoulders, still stunned she was so damn tall when she’d been the shortest percentile for the majority of her childhood, and said, “You ready to grab lunch?”

“Yep,” she said. “Where’d you leave my new stepmom?”

I snorted. “Near the coffee shop. Let’s go.”

She walked with me, her steps in line with mine, as we headed toward where I’d left Jessamy.

“What do you think that you want to do with the rest of your life?” I asked. “Are you going to stick with criminal justice?”

“It was a career path,” she said. “I had no clue what I wanted to do. The only reason I chose that in the first place was because Mom thought I’d enjoy it. I’d already taken a half a semester’s worth of classes, but wasn’t super intrigued. I’d already thought about breaking the news to her that criminal justice might not be for me.”

“No one said you had to figure it all out the moment you’re out of school,” I said. “Not to mention, you could find a trade and go into that. Maybe someone that works on air conditioners. I had to get mine fixed last summer, and it cost me four grand.”

“Why didn’t your landlord pay?” she asked. “Isn’t that how landlords work?”

“Yes.” I chuckled. “Except mine is old as dirt, and is on a fixed income, and can’t afford it. She probably would’ve sold the house a long time ago had it not been me renting and covering all the shit that pops up.”

“Did she ever express the desire to sell?”

“No.” I paused. “But I never thought to ask. It’s not really somewhere I’d wanted to stay forever…”

“But you stayed for me.” She smiled and said, “Do you think she’d rent it to me instead?”

My brows rose. “You?”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to make this awkward, but I’m an adult now. I don’t want to live with my parents. No offense, because you’re great, but Mom was really hard to live with. The moment I was able, I moved out. I’ve been on my own for a while now, and I really like it.”

I sighed. “I guess I should’ve expected that.”

She winked. “Looks like you have a new place to move into, anyway.”

She had a point.

Speaking of the woman that held my heart…where the hell was she?

I pulled out my phone and pressed it to my ear.

Her phone rang and rang, but she never picked up.

“Maybe she’s talking to someone?” Shelby offered.

I dialed her phone again and got the same results.

“There’s some seating down there.” She pointed.