AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She doesn’t look convinced. “Think about it. He might surprise you.”
We both take the opportunity to drop the touchy subject and move onto something less heavy. If it wasn’t for the small physical changes and the scarf that covers her bald head, I wouldn’t realize how sick she is. We talk about the list she and Hayes are creating of all the things she wants to do, and how he ruled out skydiving before it even finished coming out of her mouth. She tells me how much he hates Devin’s new boyfriend, despite never meeting him. And she lights up with pride while she gushes about the bar. To anyone else, you’d think she has two sons, with the way she talks about Cam, too.
And I hang on every word she says, knowing how missed she’s going to be when she’s gone.
WRAPPED IN LACE HASnever been my favorite place to be. It always feels so awkward to me. I would never be able to help someone pick out something that is going to be sexually peeled off them later. But Mali? She has no shame. She’d sell a pair of crotchless panties to a ninety-three-year-old woman and personally show her the best position to get it on without hurting her hip.
“Thank you! Oh, and tell your husband I said you’re welcome,” she tells the customer with a wink as she hands her the bag.
The woman chuckles, promising she’ll pass along the message. Once she leaves and the store is empty again, she turns to me.
“Honestly, I’m a bit surprised she didn’t spit in your face,” she tells me as she leans against the counter. “Or at least get you kicked out of the place.”
When I told Mali that I went to see Hayes’s mom, she choked on her drink. Literally sputtered the whole thing all over herself like a baby still learning how to swallow. Turns out, she didn’t even know Hayes’s mom was sick, let alone in a nursing home and on hospice. She knew something was up with him, but she never imagined it was something so serious. I think she’s also a little mad he didn’t tell her. That’s between them, though.
“I wouldn’t have blamed her if she had,” I reply. “She has every right to hate me. But I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t such a relief to know she doesn’t.”
“And she told you that you should fight for Hayes?”
I nod. “Yep. Though I don’t think she realizes how much he hates me.”
Her eyes roll. “I told you; he doesn’t hate you. He can’t. He might really dislike you right now buthate? Nah.”
“The three of you are adorably naive,” I tell her. “If looks could kill, he would have hadanotherbody to dispose of last night.”
She throws a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh, and I’m right there along with her. I can’t believe I just said that, as if that night wasn’t hell for all of us. But it’s still true.
“Shut up,” I groan playfully as she cackles. “You know what I meant.”
Taking another sip of water, she closes her eyes to mentally shake it off. “Oh, that was so beautifully fucked up.”
“Whatever.”
Mali goes to the other side of the counter and hoists herself up on it. “Do you think maybe he wouldn’t hate you if you told himwhyyou left?”
“I thought you said he can’t hate me.”
She glares at me. “Use my words against me like that again andImight hate you.”
A bark of laughter shoots out of me. “Okay, if there’s anyone who can’t hate me, it’s you.”
“And Hayes,” she adds. “In all seriousness though, youcouldtry telling him. You know, actually talk for once instead of fucking like a couple of nymphos.”
Ugh. Images of all the times we spent wrapped up in each other run through my mind, reminding me of how he would smirk as he made me scream. I can’t help but press my thighs together as I clench around nothing. I’ve craved that feeling since the day I left.
“Oh my God, my point exactly,” Mali whines. “Stop thinking about you two fucking!”
“Sorry,” I mumble, but I’m not. Not really, anyway. “I get what you’re saying, but I can’t. You read what was on the back of that picture. I’ve already broken two rules. You want me to break the third?”
She shrugs. “I mean, you’ve been back here for three days now, and I haven’t seen anything explode. Maybe they moved on with their lives.”
“Or maybe that’s what they want us to think.”
“Could be. But if you leave now, you’ll never know. And you can’t tell me that there’s not a big part of you that wants to do exactly what his mom said and fight to get him back. For that to even be slightly possible, he can’t think you left because you didn’t want to be with him. You have to tell him the truth.”
A heavy sigh flows from my mouth. “As if that’s going to make it any better.”
“It might not,” she says honestly. “But you’ll never know unless you try.”
