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“But you introduced me as a childhood friend.”
I glanced at the ground and shrugged before looking back at him. “I wasn’t sure what to call you exactly.”
His eyes seemed to be reading my thoughts, and that made me nervous.
“The guy you gave your number to tonight is a bastard.”
A laugh bubbled out of me. “I’ll be sure to let Quinn know when he calls her.”
Bowie raised his eyebrows with an amused expression. “I see.”
“Yeah. It’s a thing I do. She’s used to it.”
He shook his head and glanced away, smiling. “You’ve not changed much.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that so I stayed silent.
When he looked back at me, he seemed nervous. “Any chance you’d give me your number? I don’t need Quinn’s.”
Whoa. I had not been expecting that.
I blinked several times, making sure I had just heard him correctly. Finally, I managed to nod my head. “It’s the—” I almost told him it was the same one I’d had four years ago, but my guess was, he’d deleted it from his phone. “Yeah,” I replied instead. “I can just text you it … unless your number changed.”
“It’s the same,” he replied. “You still have it in your phone?”
I lifted a shoulder in a small half shrug. “Never thought about deleting it,” I admitted.
“Do you still see Kye when you’re home?” he asked me.
I knew it was best to be blunt. If he had an issue with it, then he didn’t need to text or call me.
“He’s my best friend, Bowie. Still.”
His lips pressed together, and he nodded. “Okay. It’s, uh, good you could remain friends after the kiss.”
I laughed. “Yeah, well, he was drunk, and I think, looking back, I was just curious. Maybe he was too. Regardless, it cleared up any question we might have had in our heads about us feeling something more than friendship.”
Bowie chuckled softly, a crooked grin on his lips. “Yeah, well, guess I should have stuck around longer to see that play out.” He dropped his gaze to the ground for a moment, then raised his eyes to lock on mine. A serious expression was now on his face. “I miss you. I’ve missed you for four fucking years.”
Three
Kye
July 14
Dropping the last box of Gage’s stuff in the back of the truck, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see if Genesis had texted me back yet. Nothing. Fucking nothing. She’d texted me that she was on a date and couldn’t talk, then hadn’t texted me the rest of the night. Now, it was three in the afternoon, and I’d sent her five texts, and she wasn’t responding.
I slipped a cigarette between my lips and lit it. I was trying to cut back, but fuck that. I needed a smoke—or three.
The truck that Gage was driving pulled around the house. He’d had a new road put in that led back to the house he’d had built for him and his girlfriend, Shiloh. It wasn’t completely finished, but they had enough done that they could live in it while it was being finished. He was determined to get her all to himself because I’d mentioned once that she was loud when they fucked. Crazy ass almost killed me. Huck and Levi had held him back. I wasn’t upset they were moving out. Gage was insane.
“That all of it?” Levi called out as he climbed out of the passenger side.
“Yeah,” I replied, shoving my phone back in my pocket with more force than necessary.
Levi frowned. “What’s up your ass?”
I started to say nothing, but I needed someone else’s opinion. I should probably go to Huck for an opinion since he had a fiancée and Levi fucked around with women as much as I did, but he wasn’t here. I took a pull from the cigarette, letting it blacken my lungs while giving me some relief.
“Genesis went on a date.”
I hated that saying it pissed me off. She was allowed to date. She’d dated before. But she always texted me back on dates. She had even called me on dates.
“And?” Levi asked.
“She isn’t texting me. She told me she was on a date and couldn’t text me.”
Levi looked at me like I was talking in riddles. “So?”
I ran my hand through my hair and growled, frustrated. “She always texts me back. Even on dates. If I call her and she’s on a date, she answers. It’s been nineteen hours, and she’s still not responding to my texts.”
Levi shrugged. “Must have been a good fucking date.”
That was not what I wanted to hear. Genesis didn’t get serious with guys. She dated. That was it.
“She’s not like that.”
Levi chuckled. “Like what? She doesn’t go on dates with guys and have sex? Dude, if you think that, you’re fucking delusional. I don’t know her, but I do know that any female who can be your best friend isn’t sweet and innocent.”
