“A girl?” West demanded, eyes wide.
“A girl!” My mom gasped. I rolled my eyes. The dramatics in this family.
“It’s not a girl. We’d know about it,” Ruby said with confidence. As if I told my every secret to them. In reality, they were just nosy. Mention the tiniest thing to any one of them and all of a sudden, it was headline news. West had been my confidante until he started to be a little too loose with his lips. Especially where Ruby was concerned. The two talked more than they led on. Everyone knew the only vault in this family was me.
“I’m waiting to hear from Hazel,” I said.
“Oh.” Ruby gave a sigh of disappointment. Like me harboring a secret girlfriend might be the most interesting possible turn of events.
“You’re still in the thick of that?” Mom asked.
“She’s been living with him,” Regan said.
“What?” Mom’s eyes went wide as saucers, and I shot my sister an accusatory glare.
“It’s nothing. The creep who took her cat is still out there, threatening her. She’s just crashing in my guest bedroom until we can figure this out.”
“Sure, she’s staying in theguest bedroom.” West waggled his eyebrows. I elbowed him in the ribs.
“How is this the first I’m hearing about this?” Mom demanded.
My dad rolled the dice, taking his turn—incorrectly—without looking up. “Let Reid be. You all are like vultures.”
“Yes, vultures is a great analogy. Circling, desperate topeck off the tiniest bit of gossip from my rotting carcass,” I said with a drawn-out sigh. “Hazel is just a friend and I’m helping her out. Absolutely nothing is going on between us.”
My mom frowned, refusing to take her eyes off me.
What I conveniently left out was just how badly Iwantedthere to be something between Hazel and me. But there was zero fucking chance I was sharing that with my family. If I told them how I felt before I told her, they’d somehow find a way to spill it to her first—even though more than half the people at this table hadn’t even met her yet. Besides, could I really see myself with someone like Hazel? All over the place, unfiltered, a bit frenzied?
Yes. Yes, I could. It freaked me out just how much I could picture it.
“She isn’t cute?” My mom raised an eyebrow while shoving the bowl of chips in my direction. I took it from her and shook my head.
“She’s fine, but she’s not for me. Believe it or not, I’m more than capable of having a woman as a friend.”
The words sat sticky on my tongue. My mind immediately drifted to the other night in her bedroom, while we were hanging those awful paintings she’d picked out. I was ninety-percent sure I’d felt some sort of spark between us. The tension had been thick after that. I’d become aware of exactly how far her face was from mine. How all it would take would be the smallest dip of my head and I could find out what she tasted like.
I’d avoided her after that. Not outright, we still had dinner together and saw each other in the morning, but I’d spent more time holed up in my office, getting lost in true crime forums and writing extra blog posts.
“Wow. She’sfine? You’re a real charmer. That’s exactly how every woman dreams of being described.” Ruby shot me a disapproving look as she quoted my description back to me.
I groaned, dying for this conversation to be over. I had been the center of attention far too often at this dinner tablelately. “I’m sure she’d say the same about me. Can you all stop reading so much into this and just play the game?”
Mom got a bit huffy after that. “I can’t know what’s going on in my own son’s life?” she’d said. But thankfully for me, she’d finally noticed my dad had messed up his turn and started to lay into him about cheating. He just shook his head and sat back in defeat.
After wefinallywrapped up the game, my parents and sisters drifted into the living room to argue over what movie to watch. West and I hung back in the kitchen, putting away the game pieces.
“So,” he said, handing me the folded-up board so I could pack it in the box.
“What?”
“Hazel?” He raised his eyebrows, and it took everything in me not to toss my head back in irritation. I was already on edge because I hadn’t heard from her yet, and everyone bringing her up constantly wasn’t giving my mind a single second of peace.
How was her night going? Was she okay? Was she having fun?
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“Aw, come on man.” He leaned against the counter, folding his arms. “I don’t buy that for a second. We’ve been best friends for twenty years. I know your tells.”
