I spend the entire time walking back to Unity, hoarding away the memory of each of his touches and the sweet reminders of his scent.
It will have to do.
Chapter
Fourteen
SIMONA
Time passes surprisingly fast. Admittedly, I’m getting pretty good at burying my head in the sand and pretending the world is an okay place when it’s burning down around me. It helps that the girls are back and are obnoxious as always, but equally distracting is the pressure of exams.
I focus only on those two things, everything else, categorically being ignored. Until the girls and I celebrate the end of the semester with an afternoon at Roda’s, our favourite restaurant.
After giving back everything to Hendrix, I’m back to being on a budget. Brody refuses to increase my allowance, although I haven’t asked because it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie. I’d rather go without than have to talk with him about anything. The girls have asked about my financial situation before, and I’ve told them what I could, which is Brody is an asshole. Never once have the girls excluded me because I don’t have as much money as they do, but I most certainly have kept a tally of expenses in the back of my journal. Oneday I’ll find a way to pay them back. At the same time, our friendship isn’t just about who has what.
Raney sits back, rubbing her stomach, scenting like trouble. “Now that we’ve eaten, the rest of the day is drinking cocktails. Am I right?”
Tristan is out of her seat before Raney finishes speaking. She power struts through the crowd, her focus on the bar. If she wasn’t so impatient, she would have seen our favourite waiter already heading our way with a tray of mimosas.
All the staff here are good but somehow we always seem to get Ralph, so he’s used to us being… us.
Heidi clears the table so he can set down the drinks. Even before he’s finished, she’s dropping her credit card onto his tray, earning a sassy look from him. “Don’t let Tristan pay today, Ralph. And keep them coming.”
“That’ll cost you,” he teases with a roll of his eyes.
She matches the gesture with her sass coming on stronger. “It always does. Honestly, if you let Tristan bribe you with sample bags from Galliano’s, we will not vote for you as employee of the month.”
“Do you ever vote for me?” he throws over his shoulder as he waves her card in the air.
“He has a point,” I say quietly.
“Shhh,” Heidi hisses before taking a gulp from her glass. “We only give Marlena our votes, and extra tips because she’s got about a hundred mouths to feed.”
“It’s two children, Ho. That hardly classifies as a hundred mouths,” Raney says, impatiently waiting for me to raise my glass. “At least you have manners, Sim. Cheers.”
Heidi reaches her glass across the table, and we wait, already knowing Tristan will whip around to glare at us as soon as Ralph steps behind the bar. It’s like clockwork. The three of us silently mouth acheers, tap her glass, and take a sip.
“You’re jealous,” Raney adds belatedly. I have to think back to what we were just talking about. I was distracted by someone, and even though he’s sitting in the corner with his back to our tableit’s eerie how similar this stranger is to Hendrix.
Heidi snarks louder, crossing a leg and pulling her lips into one of her judgey smirks. “And what exactly is it you think I’m jealous of? You and I both know, motherhood isn’t always amazing.”
While they both have vastly different experiences with their own mothers, they share the loss of having a maternal figure around. In comparison, I still physically have Wren in my life, but she’s never been available on any level as such. Her style of parenting isn’t how I would do things, but I also know I do not want children. I refuse to subject them to the same life I was born into.
“Don’t get snappy because I’m speaking the truth.” Heidi’s lips flatten as she finishes speaking.
“What truth?” Tris asks as she slides back in the booth with another tray of mimosas.
Heidi smirks as she speaks. “Raney having children.”
Tristan looks horrified and starts rubbing her chest. “I’m too young to be a grandmother.”
Tris giving Raney shit about her dad, King, is a constant thing since we met him. He’s a good-looking Alpha, a lot rough around the edges considering he’s the President of a MC. He’s definitely not my cup of tea, but by the way Tristan keeps talking about him, he might be hers. Except, Tristan is such an open book there’s no way she’d be able to hide something as big as her falling for King. Thinking of keeping secrets, my mind immediately jumps to my very recent and candid discussion with Hendrix. I feel a wave of regret, and guilt, for putting Hendrix on the spot like that. But I had to ask, on the off chance he agreed.
Tristan and Raney keep arguing about King. I can feel Heidi’s stare from across the table. She tips her head in question when I finally look her way. Smiling in her general direction, I excuse myself, needing fresh air and the chance to put my game face back on.
Dodging around tables and waiters on my way to the bathroom, I get a sense of Heidi following , but it’s not her hand that pushes the door open for me, it’s a man’s.
My heart is in my throat, shock mixed with panic that burnt away to excitement and confusion when his scent became more apparent. Thunderstorms, rain, and lightning follow me inside the bathroom.
