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“Headache,” he admitted. “But I don’t need to hug the toilet.”
“I’ll get you some water,” I said, getting up.
“I want to talk,” he said, and when I glanced back at him, he was rubbing his face with his hands. “One-on-one,” he started, not looking at me. “Without the distraction of my sister, or Adam and Cam.”
“It’ll probably be close to three when I get home tonight,” I said warily. “I have tomorrow off, but I’ve been promising my parents that I would come to their house for dinner.” I fidgeted with the bottom of my shirt, not sure how he would take it. “We could do something afterward? Take some time to talk?”
He nodded. “Sounds like a good plan.”
He didn’t get out of bed, leaving me to go down the hall to the kitchen. I found Cam in there filling the coffeemaker. He gave me a sleepy look and kissed me briefly before he hit the button. I grabbed a few bottles of water. “Is this to treat Adam? Or you?”
“Me,” he admitted. “Though I’m sure some black coffee will help him.” He squinted at me. “You need to go home?”
“Yeah. I can wait for you to get coffee,” I said, gesturing to the water in my hand. “I’ll let Darius know that you’ve got coffee making.”
He nodded, and I went back into the bedroom. I offered the water to Darius and found my jeans. I got dressed with him watching. I didn’t know what to say. Should I broach the subject now? Or should I just take comfort in the fact that he came to join us all in bed?
I hesitated to put my shoes on. I cleared my throat and turned to look at him. “When we were together, it stopped being a game,” I offered, hoping he would believe me. “When it was all of us together, it wasn’t a game.”
“I know,” he mumbled. He rubbed at the back of his neck. “But if I’m gonna do this, with everybody, I don’t want to have a repeat of Kyle walking in on us.” He shook his head. “I don’t get why you would go to all this trouble with everyone and just keepcoming back for more. So I’m gonna trust that it’s not to keep fucking us over.”
“If anyone gets fucked over here now,” I said as I got up, “it’s me. When it started, I had nothing worth losing. Now I have everything to lose.” I swallowed. “Call me selfish, but I don’t want to lose anyone if I don’t have to.”
“Yeah?” he asked, eyeing me. It felt like he was trying out my poker face, like he thought I might be lying.
“Tell me how to prove it and I will,” I offered.
“If you’re really sorry, maybe you can get my sister to apologize for the hand she had in this,” he said as he twisted the bottle of water open. “And you can do the same for your brother. You twisted the knife in his back. We were just casualties in this situation. If you’re serious about making amends with me, with all three of us, you need to do the same thing with Kyle.”
I bit my tongue. Not just because I didn’t want to. but because he was right.
Chapter 20
Grace
Iglossed through work. Pounding music and being shouted at for drinks was the usual. I was so ready to have a weekend off, but the tradeoff of schedules would probably kill me. Being a night owl was something that came easily. Early mornings were definitely gonna be the death of me.
Getting up early on a Sunday morning to meet my parents after church was hard after a late shift. I stepped out of my bedroom and went into the kitchen. Shay was in the living room on the couch. She had a mirror set up on the coffee table and she was currently working product into her thick, black curls.
It wasn’t enough for her to not see me. “You’re up early. Do you have to work today?”
“No,” I said as I helped myself to the coffee still in the pot. I took a cautious sip of it black, needing the kick of caffeine.
Shay paused, a spray bottle in hand. She leaned on the couch so she could see me. “What are you doing up? You got home late, I heard you.”
“What were you doing up late to hear me come in?” I asked as I got the creamer out of the fridge. I doctored the coffee tomy liking. “If today’s a wash day, I would assume you’d need as much sleep as possible.”
“Rest. I am well rested,” she corrected as she sprayed a section of her hair. “I’ve not got plans today outside of taking care of my hair. You could be a friend and come in here to keep me entertained. I’d appreciate that.”
I didn’t answer, but I didn’t come to join her on the couch. I sipped at my coffee as I reached for the remote to turn a movie on. “I’m going to my parents’ house for dinner. You could be a friend and come with me?” I watched her as she braided one section of hair and moved to the next.
Shay snorted as she moved onto the next section of hair. “If my mama didn’t live so close to your parents, I’d say sure. But I knew if I go close to Mama’s house, she’s gonna know, then tan my hide for not visiting her.”
“We could see your mom too,” I offered.
Shay made a noise and shook her head. “I know Darius didn’t say anything to Mama about what we did,” she looked at me, “but if I see my mama, she’s gonna know. Because she knows everything. It’s like a sixth sense.” Her brown eyes went wide. “She’s gonna know I did stuff with Kyle. She’s gonna know that Darius got his feelings hurt with me.” She shook her head as she kept talking. “I don’t even know what she’d do to me. But I know my ass would be in trouble.”
I put my mug down on the table in front of us and bit my lip. My mother didn’t have the same sixth sense as Shay’s. I didn’t have the same kind of fear of my parents. But now I worked with Dad and Kyle. I had a lot more to lose. “I shouldn’t go,” I said after a beat. I looked at her. “If Kyle’s there, there’s no reason for him not to tell both of my parents.”
