Page 42 of The Wright Man

But the second my fingers started fidgeting with the same damn stack of paper plates for the third time, I felt it rise.

That question.

I didn't want to ask it. I really didn't. But it was there, pushing at the back of my throat like a song that needed to be sung.

"So..." I said, real casual. "Either of y'all talk to Maleek?"

They both paused. Just a beat. Barely enough for someone who didn't know them to clock it—but I did. I knew every single tell.

Tina raised a brow. Bella's lips twitched. Then came the glance they thought I didn't see.

"I haven't," Bella said, all innocence. "Not since we jumped him on the phone yesterday."

I gave her a look. "You what?"

"Oh, don't act surprised. Somebody had to."

Tina chuckled under her breath, dicing peppers like they were the most interesting thing in the world. "He'll be here," Bella added. "He lives across the street, remember?"

And just like that, I froze.

Oh. Right.

Maleek was across the street.

He could be a literal stone's throw away. Sitting in that house that I knew as well as my own. Breathing the same air. Drinking a beer. Watching TV. Or maybe pacing, like me. Maybe dressed already, walking out the front door.

Or maybe he wasn't thinking about me at all.

My stomach twisted. My hands itched. I didn't know if I wanted to throw up, cry, or start baking something out of pure nerves.

He could pop up at any moment. Just like when we were kids. When I'd blink and he'd be there—on my porch, in my doorway, following me into some dumbass adventure with that same steady voice and careful stare.

I didn't know how I was going to react.

I didn't know how he was going to react.

What if he ignored me? What if he hugged me? What if he looked at me like a stranger? What if he looked at me like I still mattered?

What if I fell apart right there in the backyard with my lip gloss popping and my thighs sticking together under this damn dress?

"Hey," Bella said gently, like she could hear the panic bubbling. "He's still Maleek. It'll be fine."

I nodded. "I know."

I didn't.

Because Bella wasn't there for our last conversation. No one was.

It was just me, Maleek, and a bunch of shit we shouldn't have said... And the one thing we should've.

But the doorbell rang, and I flinched, heart already tripping over itself.

Guests. Not him. Not yet.

I steadied my breath.

It was party time.