Page 87 of All for Love

Worry pervaded my senses. It was very unlike Kody to remain telephonically unavailable for so long. Very, very weird.

Before I let the worry take root, however, I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and breathed through the panic that wanted to overtake me. After everything that had happened this morning, he probably just needed some time to cool down and think.

Frankly, I could use the same.

That confrontation had become much too heated and it really hadn’t helped anything. Nothing had come of it.

Kody and I were going to keep seeing each other—not just to spite them, but because their insistence that we simply end it and forget about each other was absurd. On the other side of things, Brooke and Kaden were still firmly against us having our inappropriate relationship. I hadn’t made any headway with getting them to understand and they hadn’t gotten anywhere with trying to convince us to break up.

We were at a stalemate, and at this point, it seemed unlikely that it would end anytime soon. The best I could do for myself right now was to get through each day and to take each hurdle as it came.

I wanted to be there for Kody while he did the same, but since he was missing, I only had to think about myself. With that thought in mind, I told my car to call Ellora.

“Are you missing me already?” she teased when she picked up. “Jeez. It’s only been a few hours since spin class.”

Had it really? That felt like it’d happened last year. “I know, but I’m done with work. It’s last minute, but do you want to come over tonight? We could watch a Christmas movie, decompress with a glass of wine, and just relax? I could really use the company.”

“Are you okay?” she asked after a brief pause. “Did something happen?”

“A lot,” I admitted. “I’m in my car right now and I’m driving, so I’d rather not talk about it just in case I start sobbing so much that I can’t see. Physically, I’m fine though. You don’t have to worry about that. Kody and I just got into it with Kaden and Brooke, but I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.” Her voice was filled with sympathy. “On the upside, I’ll see you at your place in an hour. It’ll be nice to have one more night with you before I fly to Chicago on Monday. Josh has already gone back to Montana for the holidays, so it’ll be a good girls’ night.”

I smiled through the moisture I already felt gathering in my eyes again. “I’ll see you soon. Bye.”

“Bye,” she said in a sing-song voice, then ended the call.

I considered trying Kody again. I went a few rounds about it in my head, but ultimately, I’d texted him a few times and I’d tried calling him twice. I didn’t want to come across as needy, and any more attempts at contact than I’d already made wouldn’t just be needy. It would be clingy.

If I hadn’t heard from him by tonight and he still wasn’t picking up, then I’d start worrying. For now, all I had to do was get home safe, put on my pajamas, and uncork a bottle of wine to breathe before Ellora got there.

We’d have our girls’ night and that would be it. I would get through all this, and so would he.

Hopefully, we’d still be together once we had weathered the storm, but either way, we would get through it. One hour at a time. One day at a time.

We just had to do it together.