Surrounded (Unsettled Series Book 2) by S.C. Ellington Page B

question,” I huffed. ”He emailed me a while ago. I’m just not ready to deal with him right now.”
    “How long are you going to be gone?” she asked.
    “I don’t know. It’s not like I have anything to hurry back to at the mome nt, so maybe a week or two. My mom just bought me a one way ticket.”
    “A few weeks? I’ll kill Jay by then,” she whined. She slid her feet out of her shoes and curled up on my bed, staring at me. I knew I’d miss her too, but I’d be back before she knew it. I needed this time for me.
    “You’ll be fine. I just want a break. Plus it’s my dad’s birthday so I’ll be able to go to his party.”
    “Just don’t try to call and say that you decided to move back there. I’ll fly out there and cart you back myself.”
    “I won’t. I miss my family occasionally, but not enough to move back. I’ve made a home here for the most part.”
    “Good. When do you leave?”
    “Tomorrow morning. Do you think you can drop me off at the airport on your way to work?”
    “Are you really even asking me that?” she asked, curling up deeper into my pillow. She looked comfortable enough to fall asleep right there on my bed. “All I have to say is you better be back within two weeks or I’m going to be one bitter chick that’s missing her bestie. And Jay will have you to blame.”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t try to act like you two won’t enjoy having the place to yourself for a while.”
    Alex smiled widely and then promptly told me to shut up.
     

    Logan
    “Have a great evening, Mr. Zhao” I said in Cantonese.
    It was five AM on Tuesday morning and I’d been up since three on a conference call with a company in China. Not that I’d gotten much sleep after reading Brooklyn’s email yesterday. Her note left me thoroughly confused. I had absolutely no idea why she’d told me to call Elizabeth. I had every intention of finding out. Had I not been in an architect’s meeting yesterday I would’ve drove straight to her house to figure out what the hell was going on. Now I had another meeting holding me up. But this one would be over soon and Brooklyn would have to pay the piper. I wasn’t letting her off the hook on this.
    I was done with all this back and forth nonsense. If she wasn’t going to answer the phone, and insisted on sending cryptic messages that I had no idea what they meant, then I’d just have to make her talk to me face to face.
    I closed the top of my MAC and leaned back in my office chair. I only had four hours before the meeting with Copple. Scott and I decided to pass on the marketing proposal Copple presented for Colton Capital, and while I could’ve just broke the news over the phone, I hoped by doing it in person, I’d get Brooklyn alone somehow.
    Needing to clear my head, I decided to go for a jog. I slipped into my closet and pulled a t-shirt and sweats from a rack. I snagged my running shoes from the corner and walked into my bedroom. Aside from baseball, running was cathartic for me. I always thought things through the best when I jogged around the falls.
    I changed into my workout gear and grabbed my keys and phone off the counter.
    I didn’t have to drive far to get to the lake outside of the city. I’d discovered the spot purely by accident, but now it was one of my go-to places. I pulled the car near the curb underneath a tree and set my stop watch.
    I began at a slow pace to warm up. As I ran, I thought about what I’d say to Brooklyn. I knew she wouldn’t be crazy enough to pull the shit at work that she’d pulled on Saturday. In fact, I was betting on it. She’d want things to be contained, so all she really had to do was answer my questions. We could figure out where to go from there. All I had to do was get her alone for a little while, and away from Trent’s prying eyes.
    Gravel crushed under my feet as I shifted into a steady pace. I lapped the lake twice before I really began to get my stride. Sweat pellets dripped down my back as I