Page 91 of All for Love

I bit the backs of my lips, releasing them slowly as I closed my eyes and tried to breathe through the ominous feeling in my gut. “You’re probably right. I really don’t think he was lying, but it is a possibility. If there’s anyone he would go the extra mile for to make me believe it, it’s his brother.”

“Well, they are twins. Identical twins. I don’t think there can be a stronger bond than that, but at the same time, I doubt he was lying.”

“Same here, which means I still don’t know where Kody is or if he’s okay.” I rolled my head to the side to rest it on Ellora’s shoulder. “He’s fine, right? I’m just nervous because I’ve never felt this way about a guy before and it’s disconcerting not to hear from him for so long.”

“After the morning you guys had, it must be pretty confusing,” she said. “He’ll turn up. I’m pretty sure he’s just drinking somewhere. His phone is probably on silent or he’s just ignoring the world in favor of getting blitzed without interruption. He’ll sleep it off and be good as new by the morning. Hungover but otherwise fine.”

“That’s the explanation that makes the most sense, but I don’t know. I’m just not getting the sense that’s what’s going on. I feel like he’d have at least sent a quick text to let me know he’s alive after all the calls he missed from me. He has to know that I’m worried.”

“Alcohol does funny things to the brain. Let’s just watch our movie, and if he doesn’t turn up by tomorrow morning, I’ll track him down with you. We’ll form a two-women search party and we won’t give up until we find him. Deal?”

I wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight, but I nodded anyway. “That’s probably the best thing to do.”

“Good.” She released me and lowered her legs back to the floor, then picked up our wine glasses and stood up. “I’ll go top us off. You try him one last time and then I’m confiscating your phone.”

“Another good idea,” I said as I did what she’d suggested. Once again, however, I got his voicemail and I knew that enough had now been enough. I heard Ellora humming to herself in the kitchen and when she came back, carrying our glasses that had both been filled to the brim, I showed her my phone and intentionally put it all the way at the other end of my coffee table. “There. I’m done. If you see me even looking at it again, smack me.”

“With pleasure.” She sat down and handed over my wine. I reached for the remote. Just before I hit play, she put her hand on my arm and gave it another reassuring squeeze. “This will all work itself out. Just wait and see. Kody is going to be fine and so are you. If you’re meant to be, you’ll find a way, and if not, at least you’ll know for sure that it’s because you don’t belong together.”

I knew she meant well, but hearing that we might not belong together wasn’t fun. Realistically, I knew she was right. The same could be said about any relationship. If it was meant to be, it would be and all that.

But at the same time, right now, I really felt like we did belong together. I wouldn’t put my mother’s marriage at risk—though I was now coming around to the idea that there wasn’t really much risk involved—if I didn’t honestly believe that he was the one.

It remained to be seen how it played out, though. Whether it would work itself out or not. As hard as it was, I was just going to have to wait and see and hope for the best.

Ellora and I were right in the middle of our movie when there was a knock at my door. I popped up from the sofa so fast, I nearly spilled my wine. Anxiety fluttered around in my stomach as Ellora looked up at me with wide eyes.

“Do you think that’s him?”

I shrugged, but my entire chest cavity was filled with hope. Rushing over to answer it, I yanked open the door without even checking the peephole, but instead of Kody, I found my mother standing on the other side—and she looked livid.

Her gaze bored into mine, her narrow shoulders held tight. She trembled and hugged the shawl she was wearing around herself.

“Is it true?” she asked, her voice shaking. “Please, tell me it’s not true.”

My breath caught as shock reverberated through me. Uh oh. How the hell did my mom find out about me and Kody?

That had to be what this was about. My heart hammered against my ribs and nausea spread through me. My cheeks heated and my stomach flopped. I wanted so badly to tell her what she wanted to hear. To tell her that it wasn’t true.

Or just to run away and never look back, but I couldn’t do any of that.

All my life, this woman had been my rock. My anchor. I hated seeing the tears shimmering in her eyes, the pained twist of her mouth, and know that I was responsible for putting them there. But regret wouldn’t help me now.

Especially because I didn’t regret what I had done or what I was doing. I simply regretted the hurt I’d caused her in doing so. “Why don’t you come in and we can talk?”

Mom brushed past me without responding and arched a steep brow at Ellora when she saw her sitting on the sofa. “You should go now. I need to talk to my daughter. Alone.”