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The doorbell rang, making me frown. Everyone who had been invited was told to just come on in. Shaw glanced at the door then at me. “Maybe it’s the neighbor?”
I lifted Emerson out of her arms and kissed her cheek before passing her to my sister. “Let’s see who it is, Dimples.” Taking my girl’s hand, I opened the door with her beside me.
“Kayla, hi,” Shaw greeted the curvy brunette with a smile. I glanced between the two women standing at the front door and tightened my hold on her fingers. Kayla, the brunette, was a stranger to me, but the other woman, I knew, and I really didn’t want to tell Shaw the how, when, or why of our meeting.
Fuck, all I needed now was for Cannon to show his damn face and see her too and start running his mouth.
The brunette was gorgeous, but the blonde was on a whole other level of hot. As in porn star queen hot. She wasn’t a porn star, but between Cannon, her, and me, she could have been one with the video we’d made together a few years ago. A video I’d destroyed the second I’d realized what Shaw meant to me.
“Shit,” I heard the blonde mutter. Our gazes locked and I tried to covertly shake my head, but Kayla heard her and the smile dropped from her face.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” she asked, putting her hand on her girlfriend’s ass. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“We really shouldn’t stay long,” the blonde said, her jaw clenching as she looked anywhere but at me. “We have reserv
ations.”
“Since when do you care if we’re on time or not?” Kayla asked, her voice sharp. “We can take five minutes to get to know our next-door neighbors.”
“Can I get you two a drink?” Shaw asked, her smile tight as she kept glancing between Kayla’s girlfriend and me. Fuck, what was her name? I couldn’t remember it, but her face and that body were something I wasn’t likely ever to forget. “We don’t have anything alcoholic, but there is a full selection of mocktails.”
“We’re good,” Kayla said, her tone softening when she spoke to Shaw. “We really do have reservations. I just wanted to introduce you to my better half, even if she is acting like a grouch all of a sudden. I swear, Dana isn’t normally like this. I guess she’s just had a hard week at work. Although, she was fine until we got here,” she muttered the last part under her breath, shooting Dana a frown.
“It’s nice to meet you, Dana.” Shaw tried to break the tension. “If I’m being honest, I nearly swallowed my tongue when I met Kayla yesterday, and I was beyond jealous that such a hottie lived next door to Jagger until she told me she had a girlfriend.” She and Kayla laughed, but I couldn’t even force a smile because I was shaking too badly.
This wasn’t fucking happening. Everything had been going so perfectly with Shaw. She was starting to trust me. The night before had left me seeing stars, and then I’d woken up that morning feeling complete for the first time in my life. Because Shaw was cuddled up against me.
Now, this girl from my past, a girl whose name I’d forgotten, was standing just inside my new apartment, and I knew in my gut if Shaw knew my history with her, she was going to run.
The door was still open, and a movement behind Kayla and Dana pulled my gaze to the newcomers. Terrified it was Cannon crashing the party, I nearly moaned with relief when I saw it was Arella and her best friend Palmer.
“Hey, sorry we’re late,” Arella murmured an apology to the couple as she squeezed between the four of us to kiss my cheek then squeeze Shaw. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. We’ll catch up later.” She gave a wave, grabbed her friend’s hand, and disappeared into the masses.
My heart was just starting to calm down after the scare, when I heard a hard laugh. My head snapped up to find Cannon standing in the hall with our drummer, Smith. His eyes were on Dana, who was turned half toward me and half toward the door, as if she’d been contemplating making a run for it.
As his eyes raked over her, nausea started to roll in my stomach.
“Jags?” Shaw touched my arm. “Hey, are you okay? You look like you’re going to be sick.”
I knew if I looked down at her, I would break. My gaze stayed locked on Cannon, knowing he held my future in the palm of his hand.
“Jesus, sis. Leave the poor dumbass alone. There’s a virus or something going around.” Cannon eased past the two women, not even giving Dana another look. “Dude, what do you have to eat? I’m starving.”
Relief hit me so hard, I nearly dropped to my knees. Knowing I owed him one, I pulled Shaw close and pressed a kiss to her temple. I breathed in her scent slowly, waiting for my heart rate to slow to something resembling normal while I thanked all of Ma’s gods for not taking my everything away.
“Babe, we really do have to get going,” Dana told Kayla. She gave me a hard look before taking a step back. “I’m sure we can get to know the new neighbors another time.”
“I’d like that,” Shaw told them. “Maybe we could do dinner or something?”
“I’ll let you know,” Kayla told her. “Work can get crazy. Next time I see you, we’ll exchange digits.” With a wave, the couple started for the elevators.
As the door closed behind them, I pulled Shaw closer and kissed her hard. “I love you,” I rasped against her lips.
Her concerned baby blues skimmed over my face. “Are you okay? You’re not nearly as pale as you were, but you’re still sweating a little.”
“As long as you’re right here beside me, nothing could ever be wrong.” I pushed a few strands of her honey-blond hair behind her ear. “I just had a stomach cramp earlier. I’m good now.”
She wrapped her arms around my waist and tilted her head back. “As soon as everyone goes home, I think we should head to bed. A little cuddling always helps with just about anything.”
