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“Oh wait! Was he the guy who stopped acting to be with his ex-girlfriend from like his college years?”
Nora snapped her fingers in the air, trying to remember. “Yes! He was on vacation, and she was the maid at the resort he was staying at. I swear, I devoured their story when I read it. I was following their socials like my life depended on it.”
The women laughed, and I slowly drifted off, unable to keep up with the conversation. I was leaning back, and Haley had moved enough that I got my one leg up so I could lay all the way down. She settled in again, but this time she laid the blanket over both of our feet. She put a pillow in my lap and rested against it. I idly toyed with her hair until I drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Haley wason my chest when the sun filtered in through the far wall, all made of glass windows.
Eyes sill shut, my arm still around Haley, securing her to me; I tried to act like I had no idea that Nora was awake and whispering about us.
“There’s something going on. I swear I heard them banging upstairs.”
Cole scoffed and then whispered back, “Let it go. I’m sure they’ve grown close but there’s nothing going on there. He was gone for almost ten weeks. Plus, hasn’t Haley been hanging out with Jeffery quite a bit?”
What the hell?
She was spending time with JefferyfuckingAkers again? I thought we were past that. Why was she spending time with him, and on what level? Must be enough that my best friend assumed his sister was dating him.
Rage made my head swim, and my hands grow tight around Haley’s hips. How many times did I need to remind this girl that she was mine?
Leaving for nearly ten fucking weeks might have made her question that.
“They’re not dating, at least I don’t think—” Nora whispered back.
I wanted to roll my eyes. No, I wanted to open them, stare at Nora, and tell her she was right, there was nothing going on with them. There couldn’t be. Haley wouldn’t do that to me.
“Stop worrying about them,” Colson said then launched into something about California and next week.
I dozed off, pulling Haley impossibly closer, which included having her hike her leg up against my waist. It might have been ten minutes, or an hour later, but eventually Haley woke and seemed to freeze when she realized where she was.
By then, thankfully, we had the room to ourselves.
She sat up, leaning against my chest, brushing against my hard-on with her knee, until she was able to straighten enough to get free of the blankets.
“Oh good, you’re awake!” Rae beamed from the kitchen.
Guess we didn’t have it to ourselves.
I slowly sat up, feeling every ache and creak in my neck and back as I went. Being thirty-two meant sleeping on couches with another human lying on top of you caused neck problems.
Haley gave me an indifferent expression before stretching and walking into the kitchen.
Okay, fuck. I didn’t love how that felt.
She’d slept on my chest all night, and fucked before that. Why was she looking at me like I was the awkward tag-along friend that no one wanted around?
Now that I was back, I was needed at the gym as soon as possible. I had a friend of mine covering for me while I was gone, but he was retired and probably wanted to get back to that.
Once I was standing, I could see the backyard through the windows. Past Davis’s massive porch, there was a hen enclosure, a goat pen, and something else there along the edge of his property for animals. I did a double-take when I realized he had three small helpers clomping behind him in their pajamas and little rain boots. It was the tail end of spring, probably a chill in the air, but Haley had made sure they wore thermal pajamas.
As if I’d summoned her into action, suddenly Haley opened the back door, while cradling her mug and yelled, “Maddy, watch out for Mila! She’s going to try and climb that enclosure again, like she did last time, and she’s going to fall in the mud, also like last time!”
I saw Maddy wave at Haley, then turn back toward the goats.
Why did it feel like I was suddenly in the backseat of my own life?
Haley came back in, but her eyes remained on my kids, which now that I was back… I guess, that would all change now…or would it?
