Wanted Man (Loki Fanfiction - Book #1)

Chapter Twenty

For McKenna, adjusting to life returning back to normal took some doing. Sleeping became a rarer and rarer occurrence, as she often found herself wide awake at three in the morning, staring up at the ceiling, Cinder curled in a ball beside her.

And there were times when she thought she was going crazy. She'd swear she saw Loki from the corner of her eye, only to find that when she whipped around, he was never there.

The nights were the worst. Not only was she not sleeping well, but when she did manage to doze off, she would dream of Loki and when she woke, her pillow would be wet with tears she hadn't realized she shed and her head would ache and she'd lie awake until the sun streamed in through her windows.

"Where are you?" Scott asked one Friday night, about two months after her return, when she inadvertently poured peppermint schnapps instead of apple schnapps into what was supposed to be an apple martini.

"I'm sorry, Scott. I just... I don't know. I'm not feeling so well."

"Well then go home. I can't afford to have you ruining any more drinks."

"I know... I just..." Her throat squeezed shut and her eyes filled with tears. Damn it, she cried so easily now, and all the time. Why, just last night, she burst out bawling over some stupid commercial about back to school shopping.

"Look, I get it, Kenna," Scott's hands cupped her shoulders and he bent to meet her eye level. "Shay told me about the boyfriend. It sucks, but you have to let it go. He's in jail and you can do a lot better than some guy in jail, right? Maybe it's time to cut your losses and move on."

Move on. In theory, perhaps, but in reality, it was not quite that simple. She absently ran her thumb along the band of the diamond ring still on her hand. "That's much easier said than done, Scott." She drew in a shaky breath and reached up to rub her forehead. "I'll be all right."

"You know, why don't you go home? Take a few days because I need you come Friday. Labor Day weekend? We're gonna be packed."

"Well, I've already missed—"

He waved off her protest. "I know. And maybe I'm going soft in my old age, but go home and get yourself sorted out, Kenna. Take a couple days and hopefully it'll help."

She nodded and dumped the ruined appletini and grabbed her purse from under the bar. Then, she pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it to Scott. "For the drink."

He waved it away, but she tossed it onto the bar and made her way around it to leave. Shannon stopped her just short of the door. "Go home and get some rest, Kenna. You look kinda green."

"I know. I am and I'll call you in the morning." She kissed Shannon's cheek and stepped out into a godawful, hot, steamy August night.

Her car was parked down the street from a CVS and after a quick peek over her shoulder to make sure Shannon didn't follow her, she ducked into it. It only took her a few minutes to find what she wanted and paid for it, and then hurried back to her car.

Cinder did his best to trip her as she came into the apartment, yowling for food. "Okay, okay," she said, tossing her purse and bag on the counter and hurryied into the kitchen before the cat attacked her.

He dove into his food, his yowl becoming a contented purr, and she crouched to scratch him behind the ears before stretching across the counter to grab her phone and the bag.

She locked the bathroom door, although she didn't know why, and her hands shook as she opened the box. It took three tries before she got the instructions unfolded, and on the third try, she ripped it along a fold.