AllFreeNovel
Share Us
For years I’ve lived on the wild side. I don’t have a real reason why, except for that it felt good. I don’t know if that’s because at a young age I knew it could all disappear quickly or because I was the commitment phobe that everyone thought I was. I can’t run from it anymore. I can slow the speeding train down and try to savor every last ounce I can. In a moment, any moment, it’s all going to change.
I’ve tried to articulate my fears to Hayley, but she has so many of her own. I don’t want to lay this at her feet. I don’t want Eli to think I’m not paying attention or doing the right thing, so I do the best I can on my own without a gut check. Eliminating conflict is the name of the game. One I’ve become expertly skilled at.
Hayley and I are nursing a couple of light drinks at the bar when I hear a familiar laugh zero in on me from about fifty feet away. She’s here. I set my empty glass down on the bar before doing a casual scan of the room and clock her behind me, to my right. If Gabs was looking this way, she’d stare right into Hayley’s face.
“Hey, Babe. You still want that air?” I ask, clearing my throat after. I can feel a subtle shake to my speech I don’t want her to pick up on.
“Yeah, sure. It’s chilly in here anyway.”
“You’re cold? I could give you my jacket.”
“No, I’ll be okay.”
She wraps her arms across her chest, rubbing her hands up and down the long thin sleeves of her dress. I step in close behind her not only to block the view a bit, but to help in her warming process.
We cross the threshold into the garden area and a few taller vining plants make the outside feel more private. “Is this better?”
“I needed a few. All that conversation started to blend together.”
“I know. I was even starting to get a little lost. You know, we don’t have to stay. We could get an Uber and go back to the house.”
“No. I’ll be okay. It’s good for you to be here, you’ve got some contacts to make yet and Eli and Dylan need the exposure. I can be a gracious tagalong until they’re ready to go.”
“You’re a guest, just like anyone else tonight. You’re not a tag along. Have I told you how beautiful you are?”
“No. You didn’t, but thank you.”
“Your look is a vibe. I like the whole fifties style with the plunging neck in the front and the long sleeves. It leaves a lot, and a little, to the imagination.”
“That’s the point, isn’t it?”
Hayley
Wes pulls me back against his body as we look across the Sound. The sun is lower in the moody sky. There are a few rain clouds off in the distance. Even through the many layers of my skirt, I can feel his cell phone vibrate about three times in the matter of the thirty seconds he’s had me in his arms.
“Aren’t you going to check that?”
“When I have you in my arms? No. I don’t care.”
“What if it’s important, Wes?”
“I promised you I wouldn’t be on it, so I’m not. Simple as that.”
“If only it was that simple.” Wes’s arms tighten around me. I can feel his lips press to my neck. As they make a path down the side of my neck to the start of my exposed collarbone, I start to hear voices just around the corner. “Wes? Wes, do you hear that?”
His hands grip tighter around me. Wes’s left hand lies flat against my torso. His right continues to play with my hair. “I can hear your heartbeat. I can feel it too. It’s racing like mine.”
Just then, a tall, curvy, beautiful woman with the thickest brown hair that I’ve ever seen comes around the corner chatting away into her phone, catching us in our private moment. “Hey, Sully, I’ll call you back.”
The sultry drawl of her voice not only engages my attention, but Wes’s as well. He finally realizes we have company. His hands that were gentle just a moment ago, now cling to me. I hear an audible stutter to his breath.
“Hey there, Taylor. Sorry to interrupt. Should I come back?”
Wes exhales in my ear as he releases his grip on me. He steps out from behind me to position himself in between me and our third wheel. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Chapter Fourteen
Hayley
