***
“My feet are killing me!” Belle groans as she takes a seat next to me, and I chuckle as I hand her a bottle of water while a light breeze drifts around us.
“Busy morning?” I confirm, and she grunts.
“Between your brother constantly pestering me to try and convince you to let him take Willow for a few hours, and the woman in room eight, who seems to think she’s royalty, I’ve had enough of today. And it’s only my second day back.” She huffsbefore taking a bite out of her sandwich, then looks out toward the small pond by the hospital parking lot and I wince.
Belle took a gap year last year, traveling and I’m so goddamn proud of her for doing that, though apparently my brother wasn’t happy about it. She tried to end things with him after he had Trick tap her phone and didn’t shove Nova away from him quickly enough for her liking. Apparently, her heart was too hurt. But, of course, my brother wouldn’t let her leave their three-year relationship. He fought tooth and nail to keep her and when she traveled, you could see the tension in his shoulders.
I call it a ‘screw you for being a dick’move but I know they’re okay now, she’s forgiven him and he hasn’t let Nova within ten feet of him.
“I’m sorry he’s trying to put you in the middle,” I sigh, but she just shakes her head.
“He doesn’t know you know about us. If he did, he probably wouldn’t put me in the middle, but I just, he’s fucking with my head,” she says, and I hum a little.
After my brother told me he was dating my friend, I was mad, that is for sure, but over the years, he’s tried to act like they aren’t a couple, I just don’t know why.
“Sorry,” I say, and she smirks my way.
“No, you’re not, you love that they are suffering for what they’ve put you through,” she sasses, and I grin wide.
“It does help,” I retort, and she grins widely as she shakes her head.
“I can’t wait for our relationship to be out in the open,” she says. “At first, I was okay with the secrecy. I wanted a normal life, I didn’t want to look over my shoulder. Butyearsis a long time to keep things quiet, plus it would be nice to call him by his given name. And your mother is still determined to set him up with Nova.” She scrunches her nose up. “Did you know she hired the girl at the diner without even speaking to Crash?”
I blink then blink again because what?
There’s no way…
“Seriously?” I snap, and she hums as she takes a bite out of her sandwich.
“Yep, and every time I’ve gone in there, Crash is trying his hardest to dodge her advances and is always tense, but the girl is relentless,” she mumbles over food, and I just blink again.
Mom doesn’t like Belle, and it’s not because she’s with Crash. She doesn’t know—they’ve kept it secret, and only I know. At one point, Mom did like Belle to some extent. She knew her background and wanted to help her. But then Nova got in her ear and told lies about Belle using me to get a property patch and that’s when the glares started. Then I had Willow and would only allow Belle near her.
The hatred stuck after that.
I open my mouth to explain once Mom knows about them she might back off but her phone rings before I can say anything, and she sighs as she checks it, then mutters, “Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” before answering, “Hey.”
“You on break, shorty?” I hear his reply, and she hums in confirmation and says, “I am. What are you up to?”
“The books,” I hear him sigh, “I wanted to see how your day was going.”
I smile slightly at the way my friend melts, and I take a bite of my sandwich as she confirms, “It’s going good,” then confirms, “You’re home tonight, aren’t you?”
And by home, she means her two-bedroom house a mile from the hospital. They can’t officially live together in the house he built on club property, though I don’t think my brother is ready for that step yet.
“Yeah, I’ll be home. I feel like I’ve barely seen you this week, between the club, the diner, Mom trying to push Nova on me,and your shifts now that you’re back at work, there has been no time,” he grunts, and I hold in my laughter.
He sounds like a child throwing a tantrum.
Belle sends me a grin before she asks, “What do you want to do then?”
“Take a little break,” he instantly replies, and Belle rolls her eyes.
“I just started back at work, Crash,” she reminds him, and I hear his sigh through the receiver.
“Belle, I swear to fuck, I need time with you, and until we finally tell everyone, which you know we can’t do until Cage returns, I’m running out of patience. I just want some time with my girl,” he grunts.
