Steve, thank God, had cut their conversation short, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t obsessed about it. She’d thought of nothing else since. Lucky she could escape for eight hours a day and throw herself into her work. Lucky her work kept her sane, as did Steve, because sharing a house with Tyler did not. Wherever she walked there were signs of the man, wearing down her defenses. If he wasn’t around, traces of his aftershave wafted through the air. His toiletries lined the shelf in the spare bathroom. Her fridge was filled with food she never ate, and her dining room table was covered in newspapers and business magazines. The phone rang three times as much as it used to, and mostly, the calls weren’t for her. She’d always known her house was small, but with Tyler staying in it the rooms seemed positively miniscule. His larger-than-life presence filled the empty spaces, and more often than not, like now, Katie found herself confined to her bedroom. As much as she would have loved to sit cozily with him on the couch and share a laugh like old times, it was easier to stay here alone than to face the possibility of him bringing up their relationship again.
