Cold Foot Komodo (Wreck’s Mountains Book 2)

Sasha wiped the hair from her cheek with her forearm to avoid getting more paint streaks on her face. She leaned over to the stool where her phone sat and checked it again, but the only messages there were from her mother. She’d checked out and stopped looking at those yesterday.

Maybe Reed was having to work late.

She checked the clock on the microwave, and it said 9:15.

Maybe her text hadn’t gone through earlier. Sasha set the paintbrush into the cup of paint and then checked her text thread with Reed.

After her shift, she’d texted him, I had the best day! I even made a friend, I think. I was thinking, you do all this nice stuff for me, but I don’t know what you like. You’ve brought me grape soda, and coffee, and cleaned the entire road for me. What do you like? Brownies? Four-course meals? I can make jerky. Do you like jerky? You shouldn’t be the only one doing nice things. How is work going?

He hadn’t responded, but it showed that he’d read it.

Maybe he’d thought he messaged her back, but had gotten busy and then forgotten. She did that sometimes.

Hey Hot Reed Lizard Boy. You might already be asleep since you woke up at the butt-crack of dawn, but I just wanted to say hello, hi, heyooo. I hope you had the best day today! Send.

She stared at the text for a full two minutes before she gave up on a response and set the phone down, feeling confused. He’d been so attentive and had seemed interested.

But…

When it came down to it, they barely knew each other.

Sure, he’d kissed her, and flirted, and done nice stuff for her, but she didn’t have any right to feel this confused this early. They weren’t even dating.

“Be cool,” she murmured to herself.

But the insecurities were creeping in. Maybe she was too much. That sounded about right. Her ex had said that a lot.

Okay. Okay! She picked up her cup of medium brown and went back to painting along the edges of the living room. It was so close to done. She just needed to focus on herself, and building this life.

She was already having complicated feelings, and was being too sensitive to the changes in his responsiveness.

Honestly, she’d been excited all day to tell him about her first shift at the hospital. Throughout the day, she’d collected little moments to tell him about later. Little funny things, and compliments from the staff, and she’d been excited to share it with him.

Silly. It was too early to be this excited. Clearly.

He could go the whole day without responding to her.

Okay, she was being clingy way too early.

No, she was noticing inconsistencies, and that was okay.

Perhaps he was a hot-and-cold man.

Or perhaps she’d just done something to turn him off.

She checked her phone too much, and once more before she went to sleep that night. There was a notification under her last text that he’d read it.

Read, but no response.

All right.

She lay there staring at the ceiling for the better part of an hour. When her phone vibrated, she just knew on instinct it wasn’t good. It would be her mother, or her family trying to get her to talk to her mother, or it would be Reed.

It was Reed.

It was a simple five-word text that changed everything.

I’m not ready for you.

She read it a few times, and her eyes burned as a tear streaked down the side of her face and to her temple. With a shake of her head, she inhaled deeply and texted him back a lie. I understand. Send.

I’ve got to figure some stuff out.

Reed, you don’t owe me any explanation. Send. God, this hurt. She didn’t want to hear excuses that softened the blow. I like when men are straight-up, and you said it straight-up. You aren’t ready. We will be friends when I visit the Crew. No more, no less. I’m good. Send.

Do you want to talk? We can meet up, or I can call you. This feels wrong over text. I didn’t think this through. I’m sorry.

Don’t be. You don’t owe me anything. Thank you for being so nice to me this week. Have a good week at work. Send.

A couple minutes drifted by, and then he texted, You too. And it was done.

Sasha blew out a long breath and set her phone face-down on the bedside table. Boys were so complicated, and she’d never been able to figure them out. This one disappeared on her fast though, and it hurt. She really liked him.

Feeling overwhelmed, and desperate for something to look forward to, she yanked her phone off her bedside table, sat up, and opened up a text thread to Timber so she could vent. But…she hesitated. Timber was one of the leaders of the Cold Foot Crew, and that included Reed. She didn’t want to cause tension there.

She swallowed hard and backed out of that text, then opened one to Beth, Wreck’s mother.

She didn’t know why she’d just done that. Sasha couldn’t explain any of this to her own mother. She’d asked her to stop messaging her for a few days so she could get her head on straight, and her mother had ignored her request, and been horrible in what she could see of the texts coming through. Usually her tantrums ended after a day or two, but Mom was clinging to the drama right now.

No, she couldn’t talk to her mom, but Beth had been kind the other night. She’d offered to go out to dinner with her if she got lonely, and right now? Sasha felt really lonely.

I know this is late, she typed, but I was wondering if you want to hang out sometime? Oh, this is Sasha. Timber’s sister? We exchanged numbers the other night at the firepit? Sorry for the late text. I hope you are sleeping like a log. Her finger hovered above the send button. She didn’t know Beth very well. All she knew was that the woman made her feel comfortable the other night. She talked low and slow, smiled easy, and seemed so genuine, and something in Sasha had reached for that. Send.

Are you okay, hon? The text back was almost immediate.

Sasha smiled through the tears welling in her eyes. I’m great, she lied. Send.

Dinner tomorrow? Or lunch? When do you work?

I can do dinner after my shift. Just have to run home and change and clean up. Send.

They finalized plans and strangely enough, she did feel a little better. She wasn’t coming home to a destroyed house alone tomorrow. She had plans. Even if she was exhausted after her shift, it would be so nice to spend time with a good-mojo woman like Beth. She wouldn’t have to just come home to the mess in here, and overthink about what she’d done wrong to turn Reed off.

She could use a little break from the chaos in her mind.