TWENTY-FIVE
Tulsi couldn’t stand staring at the bathroom door all day. Every day brought new challenges. Until that morning, she had always taken solace in Wreck’s proximity. Some part of her wanted to believe that he found security in her too. That somehow they weren’t alone as long as they had each other.
She had underestimated his need to maintain distance. His physical self might desire her. His emotional and mental self didn’t. A woman meant complications. Meant taking responsibility for someone other than himself. Rowdy could look after himself; Wreck saw his best friend as an equal. He saw her as a liability.
In truth, she was a burden on him. Tulsi could take risks with her own safety. That was her choice. Whether she took the right risks was something of a crapshoot because she
