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Just watching movies, drinking beer, and moping. That’s what he’s been doing. I didn’t even get the chance to mourn the loss. It weighed heavily on my shoulders, and I knew I couldn’t confide in Adam about it.
“Have you heard from Darius?” I asked. I didn’t bother to look at my phone. “Aside from you getting fired, shit doesn’t seem like it’s melting down for us.” I loosened my tie. “All I’m getting from him is dead air and that’s unusual.”
“When I picked her up, she said she had a fight with Shay,” he said, his attention on the screen. He was ignoring me. “The next day, after all of us got together, her brother showed up. What do you think happened? Shay was pissed that Grace was fucking her brother, so she tattled on her.” He shrugged and took a sip of his beer. “That’s the only other thing that could’ve happened.”
I couldn’t really argue with him. It seemed like a sound theory. I pulled my phone from my pocket. “Have you tried calling anyone? Darius or Grace?” I wanted to mention Kyle, but I already knew that answer. There was no reason to get into contact with Kyle.
Adam grunted. “Nope.”
“Did you do anything about getting a new job?”
“Nope,” he repeated, not looking at me. “I have some savings to get through, so I have time. It’s not something I’m gonna rush to do.”
“And this is what you’re doing with it?”
“When you get shamed for taking a vacation so you never take vacation, yeah,” he said without looking at me. “As grateful as I am to Mr. Blake giving me a job, he was the worst when it came to taking time off, whether I was sick or just needing a day.”
“When was the last time you called in?” I asked. “Because if he gave you vacation time and you have that time saved up, he should still pay you for it. If not, we can talk to somebody.” I didn’t even think about the implications of what I was suggesting, suing what had been my friend’s dad.
“I’m not calling to find out,” he grumbled. “I haven’t figured out what I’m gonna do when it’s time to get my paycheck. I’m hoping he’ll just mail it to me.” He propped his cheek on his fist and picked up the remote, shifting through his movie options. “If I don’t have to deal with the Blakes again, I’ll be just fine.”
That was a lie.
I nodded, deciding that I couldn’t sit here with him. I’d been sitting on my hands all week, hoping that he was wrong, hoping that Grace would call me. “I need to go get some dinner. If you need anything, just shoot me a text,” I said as I went back toward the door.
It wasn’t late, nearly eight. If things hadn’t exploded, we would’ve gathered at a restaurant for dinner as a group. That was something that I was finding myself missing. The only friend I had left to talk to was Adam, and that’s only because we lived together. I was gonna miss my phone constantly pinging from the random bullshit from the three of them.
But it was nowhere near as bad as how I was missing Grace.
The only thing that I could think to do was to go to her apartment. Calling her hadn’t gotten me anywhere. She neveranswered. It’s what gave Adam’s claims some validity. Grace wasn’t making any attempt to defend herself. She wasn’t trying to fix it. She completely disappeared after the initial accusation.
I didn’t even get to hear her side. Fucking Adam ruined it. But I wouldn‘t let her dodge me now.
The door opened after the second knock and Darius’s younger sister was on the other side. Her brown eyes were wide as she looked up at me, confusion clear. “What are you doing here?”
We hadn’t actively hung out, even when Darius got stuck babysitting her when she had been grounded. Often she would just ignore us and entertain herself. But after hurricane Grace, it felt like I should be more wary of my friends’ siblings. “Is she home?”
Shay blinked at me, but didn’t ask me to clarify. “She’s at work,” she said uneasily. She didn’t open the door further, but she leaned on the door frame. It gave me a clue that she wasn’t done. “She got a second job. She’s been working a lot, so I don’t see her.”
I guess that was another reason she hadn’t gotten into contact with me or Adam. I cleared my throat. “I’m gonna assume you know what happened.” I edged forward. “Did she tell Kyle about it?”
Shay visibly hesitated. She bit her lip and looked away from me. “That was the plan in the beginning. She was going to go through each of you then expose it all to her brother,” she admitted. “It was supposed to be a one-night stand with each of you, nothing more than that.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. I choked for a moment and turned, ready to go back to my car. It looked like I’d be joining Adam on the couch.
“But she didn’t,” Shay objected, before I could step away from her door. “During all of it, she changed the plan. She couldn’tfollow through.” She took a breath. “She didn’t tell Kyle about what you were doing. She didn’t want it to end.”
I relaxed, leaning down to the point I needed to put a hand on my knee. Relief flooded me, and I sat heavily on the steps that led to the landing in front of Grace’s apartment. That meant that this wasn’t necessarily over. It wasn’t her fault, and there was still a chance that this could be salvaged.
Except it didn’t give me an answer as to how Kyle found out about us.
I turned to look over my shoulder. Shay was still standing in the doorway. Her brows drew together when our eyes connected. “Did you tell him?” I asked her, because it was the only other possibility.
Shay’s lips twisted up, and she stepped out of the apartment. She closed the door and came to stand just behind me. “Grace is my friend. I wouldn’t do anything to sabotage what she does. Even with the most harebrained, insane ideas.” She looked down at her shoes, simple black ballet flats. “She already accused me of ruining this for her. I didn’t. I wouldn’t do that to her.” She looked at me again. “I didn’t do this to her.”
I nodded. I believed her. There wasn’t any reason not to. But it just gave me more questions. “You said she got a second job?” I asked.
Shay nodded, frowning. “She’s working so much that I don’t see her. When it’s a day she would usually have off, she’s scarce. I haven’t seen her, so if you go see her, let her know she can’t just up and run on me.”
