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“What did he say?” I asked.
“That you had been smiling like a little boy who just found his first porno mag when you met me, but now you’re even broodier than usual since you screwed things up with me.”
I might’ve smiled. Instead, I just felt an overwhelming urge to punch Grant in the dick.
I turned to shoot him a poisonous look. He was standing on the opposite end of the lobby but smiled cheesily and waved when he saw me looking.
“And you believe him?”
“You did fly to Florida just to check on me. A normal person would’ve tried a phone first.”
“I texted you,” I said. “And I didn’t just go for you. I had business to take care of there.”
“You basically growled at me via text one time. That doesn’t really count.”
“I didn’t growl,” I said tightly. “I asked where you were.”
“Where are you,” Andi said in a mockingly deep, scratchy voice. “Also, Grant told me you’d try to claim you were there on business. But he told me that you came because of me. Curious,” she said, stroking her chin.
The whole time we’d been talking, there was a faint air of amusement in Andi’s voice. Except I could feel that it wasn’t the same light, carefree kind of way we’d talked before she knew the truth. She was reserving part of herself.
“What happened with Tommy?” I asked. I wanted to kick myself in the shin for being such an idiot. I’d told myself a hundred times not to ask. There were ways she could’ve answered the question I absolutely wasn’t prepared to hear.
“It’s not your business,” she said. Finally, the humor in her voice was all gone. I could see the coldness and anger in her eyes now, staring right back at me.
“No,” I said. “You’re right. But there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Another secret?” Andi asked. “Are you going to tell me you’re also distantly related to my cousin, Gator, too?”
Despite the gravity of the moment, I felt my lips threatening to spread into a smile. “Gator?” I asked finally.
“Yeah,” Andi said. She looked up, then bit her lip slightly. It was a relief to see that she could at least forget to hate me in small spurts. “He’s from Alabama. When Grandpa Willy died, he actually said if I needed a lap to cry on, I could come up to the cabin and if we needed some time alone, he could take the batteries out of ‘momma’s’ scooter. Apparently, she might shout and make a fuss, but she wouldn’t be able to get us.”
I winced. “Isn’t the expression a shoulder to cry on?”
“Unless you’re hoping for a little incestuous bonding session,” Andi said.
“Well, no,” I said. “I’m not related to… Gator. I came to give you this.” I held out the USB stick the lawyers had given me when I transferred the hotel and club to Andi.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Another video from William.”
“Why now?”
I smiled tightly. “Don’t know. This came from the lawyers. I haven’t watched it.”
She squinted down at it. “Both our names are on it.”
“I should go,” I said.
Andi looked like she was about to argue, but then her features hardened. She let me leave.
I took one last look over my shoulder because if everything played out the way I imagined; it’d be the last time I saw her.Mom and I were watching a TV show together when a knock came at the door. It was getting late, and it was strange to think I didn’t need to worry about getting to the club in time for it to open.
“Expecting someone?” asked my mom.
“It’s probably Grant. Maybe James,” I said, standing to get the door. I hadn’t told either of them what I’d done, and I wouldn’t have been shocked if they had found out by now.
I opened the door and saw all five foot nothing of Andi standing in the doorway. She was wrapped up in a scarf and coat against the cold and her nose was red.
“Andi…”
“Can I come in?”
I swallowed. I had never told her that James and I shared an apartment with my mom. I also hadn’t told her about the cancer my mom was fighting. I knew how it would look if I let her in now. It’d practically demand her pity. So I slid out into the hallway and shut the door behind me, hoping my mom wouldn’t have a coughing spell for however long it took me to handle this.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Andi shot a curious look at my door, and then she seemed to think of something that made her angry. She held up the USB stick. “I decided you deserved to see this, too. Even if you are an asshole.”
“You haven’t watched it? And how did you know where to find me in the first place?”
