Push

11. He Challenged the Friend

TOBY

The staff room door swung open. Ian sauntered in, all smiles, running late for work as usual.

I was slumped over on the bench by the lockers. My coffee was in one hand. My phone was in the other. Black. Blank. Nothing.

Fuck, I wished Gwen would respond to one of my morning messages. Just one.

The way I missed her scratched at my throat. Made my chest tight. Some people believed soulmates were bullshit, but I never did. Gwen was everything. We were so perfect together. She evened out all my rough edges. Made me want to try harder and be a better man. I made her laugh sometimes. Not lately, of course, but in the old days when things were good.

I just needed one message.

Ian dodged through the cramped space, around boxes and the table shoved against the wall, and headed for his locker.

"Mate." His hand slapped me on my shoulder as he passed. "You did a disappearing act on me all weekend. I've been worried about you."

I didn't look up from the blank screen of my phone. "Sorry, man." I wasn't. "Had a lot of thinking to do."

"You?" Ian smirked. "Thinking?"

"Shove it."

Ian wasn't bothered by my sharp tongue. He grinned at me over his shoulder as he grabbed a white coat off a hanger. "So, did you manage to convince Gwen to let you see the little guy on the weekend?" When I nodded, he asked cautiously, "How'd that go?"

"It was a fucking trainwreck." Understatement of the century. "I didn't exactly help the situation when I rocked up with flowers and acted the damn fool."

"Classic Toby move."

I grumbled, "I think I need some new moves."

"No doubt." Ian laughed. "Want some tips?"

"From you? No."

Ian only laughed louder. His palm splayed across his heart. "Mate, I'm wounded."

"Sorry—no offense—but I'm trying to win Gwen back, not push her further away." And I was doing a bang-up job of failing on both fronts. Didn't tell him that, though. Fuck him. "Your revolving door of women isn't something I'm aiming for."

Ian shrugged on his white coat. "Nah, mate. I don't do that anymore. That shit got old." His usual cockiness was gone. His eyes stayed on his feet as he flicked on each of the buttons. "When you meet the right woman... It's time to settle down. You know that."

True words. I did. But I didn't say anything. Just sipped the last of my coffee and pitched the empty cup into the recycling bin.

Ian leaned against the lockers and folded his arms. His head cocked to the side. Watching. The bastard was always watching. "Mate, is something else going on? With all the shit happening with Gwen, I get that you need some downtime, but..." He shrugged. "I kinda feel like you're avoiding me."

I was. Cluey bastard.

Dodged him at work last week. Steered clear of him at the gym. Dodged his messages all weekend. Ian had no idea where I was staying, so it wasn't like he could just drop over for a beer—even though he offered more than once.

But he'd obviously noticed something was up. Not that it was hard.

Usually, I was the sort of guy who liked having other people around. Felt kind of itchy and restless when I was on my own—like I wasn't quite whole. That thought only made me slump lower on the bench. I was a damn vampire, sucking the life out of everyone, stealing it to make myself half a person.