Saving You (Love in June Springs Book 1)

Saving You -23-

           

Chapter 23

"I really don't get her," Declan rambled. He wished he had the excuse of being drunk, but he hadn't been able to let himself do it. If Katelyn needed him, he wanted to be sober enough to get to her. He'd finished his one shot and one beer over an hour ago. "She doesn't contaminate crime scenes or run into buildings alone, but I suggest a phone tap and instead of saying 'what a great idea, Declan!', she calls me controlling?"

Mark sighed, having been listening to him talk for almost two hours now. "Yes, apparently. But ranting to me won't make you feel any better about the whole thing."

"How would you know? I'm feeling better already."

Mark shook his head. "No, you're not. You're pining, it's getting irritating."

Declan looked up. "I'm not pining."

Mark laughed. "You're definitely pining. Seriously, don't worry so much about it. Y'all are going to be fine. I can guarantee she just needs to cool off and then she'll call you."

Declan pulled out his phone. "Or I can call her now and get this shit sorted." He had just enough of a buzz - okay, it was more of a low tingle - to have an excuse ready if she answered.

Mark made a half-hearted attempt to stop him, but Declan dialed her number. After a few rings, it went to voicemail.

He frowned. "That's never happened before." He tried again to the same result. "Okay. That didn't ring long enough for her to not be hearing it. That's a straight-up 'Decline Call' ring. She's ignoring me. Why is she ignoring me?"

Mark dropped his head back. "Jesus, if this is how you act around her, no wonder she thinks you're controlling. You're actually losing it."

Declan glared. "She has a psychopathic ex who has already shown signs of being incredibly violent. Even if she's mad at me, she shouldn't ignore me at a time like this. I don't think she would. Something feels wrong."

Tipping his bottle of water in Declan's direction, Mark conceded. "Alright, so text her. Maybe she's just caught up talking to Hannah and the boyfriend."

Declan nodded. "Fine."

Declan: Hey, trying to call you. Call me back. Just let me know you're okay and you can go back to ignoring me in peace.

He sent the message, then placed the phone screen-side-up on the table. When ten minutes passed in silence, he turned to Mark. "Why is she ignoring me? Because she's definitely ignoring me."

"Seriously? It's been ten minutes. It doesn't mean she's ignoring you," Mark argued.

Declan sighed. Stared at his phone. Stared at the ceiling. Tried reading the titles on Mark's DVDs. Went back to staring at his phone.

"What if she's ending it and doesn't know how to tell me?"

"Oh, for fucks sake." Mark pulled out his own phone and scrolled through it. "I'll call her, you can talk to her, and I can maybe finally get you to shut up. If I'd known how much of a baby you'd turn into, I'd never have encouraged this." He tapped the 'call' icon below Katelyn's contact information then set the phone to speaker.

Declan watched it eagerly, waiting for her to answer.

It went to voicemail.

This time Mark frowned. "Okay, that's a little weird. Why would she be ignoring me?"

Declan stood up quickly. "I told you! I bet she is trying to end it, and she probably knows I'm here so she's not answering your calls either!"