Chapter 14

August passed into September before Phin realized it, and as the leaves began to change, he became swamped under a load of work. He was grateful for it, because it gave him a reason to stop thinking about Emily. Each day he awoke, he considered calling her to tell her—what? That he was sorry? That he missed her?

He didn’t call her, though. Josh’s case was still pending, and there was nothing to discuss until his next court date, which was months away. As far as Phin had heard, Josh had been attending school and hadn’t run away again. For that, he was thankful, because Emily didn’t need the stress.

But Emily wasn’t his to worry about. He’d made that abundantly clear when he’d touched her and then driven off. He hated himself for that. Yet when Sterling continued to sniff around him, he knew he’d made the right choice.

Emily didn’t need Phin making her life harder than it already was. Logically, he knew that. In this instance, though, logic didn’t soothe him like it normally would.

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