Page 21 of Shattered Oaths

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a goddamn duck.

So now I’m sitting in my kitchen, a glass of vodka, neat, on the island in front of me as I wait for Justin to walk in the door.

It’s ten-thirty, so it shouldn’t be long now. I’ve been sitting in this spot since Ifound the condom wrapper in the pocket of his suit pants. I’m not sure what time that was but I’m two glasses of wine and three vodkas past tipsy.

My phone vibrates with an incoming call, and I roll my eyes when I see Noah’s name flashing across my screen. I let the call go to voicemail, but it vibrates once more with a text.

Noah: We need to talk.

I ignore it, refilling my glass for the fourth time. I can’t imagine what Noah needs to talk about. He probably wants to know why I ignored him at the ranch yesterday, but whatever it is, I’m not in the mood for it right now.

My phone continues to vibrate with incoming calls and messages, but they all go unanswered until eventually, they stop altogether.

After another hour passes, I give up and go to bed in one of the guest rooms, leaving the empty condom wrapper on the kitchen counter for him to find.

***

The moment I open my eyes I instantly regret the amount of alcohol I consumed last night. I feel like someone threw a handful of sand in my face while holding my eyes and mouth open.

I roll out of bed with a groan and zombie-walk my ass into the bathroom. Flicking the lights on, I wince at myself in the mirror.

I have dark circles under my eyes, and my cheeks look drawn in. Now that I think about it, I can’t remember the last time I ate anything.

I need to get out of this house. Permanently. As soon as I finish up at the café today, I’m coming back here and packing my things although I have no idea where I’ll go now that my old house is occupied.

I don’t particularly want to ask any of my friends if I can stay with them. They all have their own lives and families and having me camping out in their guest bedroom would just be an imposition. I guess I could get a room at a motel until I find somewhere more permanent.

Either way I’ll have to start over. I got rid of everything I had when I moved in with Justin.

I take a deep breath, clinging onto the vanity while trying to find the strength to get me through the rest of the day.

Once I’ve showered, brushed my teeth and tamed my hair a little, I drag my ass into the master bedroom and freeze. The bed sits in the middle of the room, completely made up, just how I left it yesterday morning.

I do another scan of the bedroom, searching the floor for any sign that someone has been in here, but find none.

Did he even come home?

I stand there staring at the bed in disbelief for an unmeasurable amount of time before a laugh bubbles out of me.

He’s not even trying to hide it.

My laugh turns hysterical and within seconds I’m struggling to catch my breath, tears streaming from both eyes as I double over.

Dressed in only a towel, I sink to the floor, my laughter quickly turning into loud sobs as I have what I’m pretty sure is the beginningof a mental breakdown.

CHAPTER 9

NOAH

Ihammer another post into the ground with a little more force than is necessary and step back to admire my handiwork.

I’ve been out in the back pasture most of the morning installing the new fence to ready the space for the herd we’ll be moving up here in a few weeks.

My brows pinch as I scan the fifteen or so posts I’ve hammered in, annoyance flaring when I observe the different heights of each one.

That’s not right.

The faint sound of hooves hitting grass fills my ears and my shoulders tense when I spy Hunter approaching on Luna. I have absolutely no doubt that he’s going to chew my ass out when he sees how royally I’ve fucked up here.