“So where are we going?” I ask, hoping she says her hotel room or her house. Not so I can fuck her, but so we can have some privacy. I have a lot of explaining to do, and I don’t want to be rushed.
“Not the hotel room,” she replies.
I cock my head and raise an eyebrow at her. “Hailey, were you staying at the hotel with that man?”
She doesn’t look at me, ignoring my question and not giving me the answer I wish she’d offered without hesitation.
“Did you fuck him?”
“You don’t see me asking questions I don’t want to know the answer to, Asher,” she deadpans, delivering that blow exactly where she intended.
“What if I want to know?” I continue my drive down the quiet street.
“What if I don’t want to tell you?”
“I thought I was your best friend.” I look at her with a smirk, but she’s not finding this amusing. Too soon?
“Well, then you disappeared, and now, here we are.” Her exasperated breath could blow down a house. I need to back off. “Let’s just go somewhere and talk.” She lets out a breath.
I wait and see if she truly means it, but she does, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Her eyes speak a language I’m not familiar with, and I hate that I need a translation.
“You told me to lose him and I did. Be happy about that and let’s go. We can go to my house if that’s easier.” I nod, turning the car on and heading to Baker Oaks.
Her house looks and feels exactly the same, so then why does it feel like she’s a completely different person? It feels like I don’t know her anymore when deep down, I know I do. And I can’t even blame anyone but myself on this one.
“Sit,” she commands, taking her shoes off and leaving them in the middle of the living room. Who is this Hailey and what did she do with the Hailey from two years ago? I love seeing her like this, though, confident and sure of what she wants, even if it’s my head right now.
She walks to the kitchen, and after cups clinking and cabinets doors closing, she appears back in the living room with a bottle of tequila.
“I’m not doing shots.”
“Oh, this?” She holds the bottle up. “This is not for you. This is for me in case I need to clean my hands after I kill you.” She sits across from me and crosses her legs. Her dress has a slit that goes all the way to her hip, and now, with her legs crossed, her thigh is exposed.
“Eyes up here, ocean cowboy.” I do as she says and tilt my head to the side. The room is dim with only the lamp light, and she looks like an angel. My own angel.
“Ocean cowboy?” I ask.
“Always swimming toward danger and making all the girls lose their brain the minute you show up with your chocolate eyes, your sexy mustache, and those damn glasses. What happened to the contacts?” she asks with a wicked smile.
Oh, playful Hailey is here, and it’s more nerve-wracking than angry Hailey. This Hailey was the one who gave zero fucks about consequences and kidnapped birds from someone’s house.
“I needed to play every card I had up my sleeve.”
“See, that’s the problem, Asher. We played into this by pretending we live in a bubble. We’re putting everything on hold for 364 days a year just to spend one day together.” She sits forward, her elbows resting on her knees. “We got so intertwined with this fairytale bullshit, we forgot life was real, that real feelings were at stake here.”
“I know. I don’t think your feelings are a game,” I add.
“You didn’t show up.”
“I know.”
“You ghosted me. I thought something happened to you.”
“I know.”
“I sent letters. I texted. I called.”
“I know, Hailey.”
