I flick a tomato seed from her strapless black top. “What happened that day when I caught him sneaking out of your bedroom?”
She rolls her eyes like this is the hundredth time I’ve asked her that question. In fact, we’ve hardly spoken about what happened prior to the first—and last—time she attended a Rogues game with me. While Will and I had some renovations done to this house, I opted to stay in the apartment with Vesper before moving out a couple of months later. Even while we were still living together, she never wanted to talk about Silas, and he never showed up at the apartment again.
That I’m aware of.
“It really doesn’t matter because that’s all in the past.”
I turn to face her as she starts work on a fruit salad.
“You’ve never wanted to talk about it. I?—”
“Silas wanted me to take out a restraining order against Kane. His brother wouldn’t stop calling me, and I wouldn’t respond to Silas’s messages, checking if I was okay. He stopped by the apartment that day and stuck his nose in where it wasn’t needed.”
My jaw almost hits the floor. “Vesper, why didn’t you say something sooner to me?”
She makes a frustrated noise. “Silas didn’t need to get involved. I had it handled and eventually blocked Kane’s number.”
“And did that stop him from trying to contact you?”
When she hesitates, I know it didn’t work.
“Babe”—I reach out and smooth a palm down her arm—“maybe Silas has a point.”
Bright blue eyes stare back at me. I can see the anguish in them, and it breaks my heart to think of her struggling day after day, night after night, with that fucker calling her on repeat.
“What he’s doing is abusive and controlling, and Silas is right to be concerned.I’m concerned.”
My friend shakes her head and peels a banana. At this point, I’m not sure how much she enjoys domestic chores and cooking and how much of it serves as a distraction from things—or people—she doesn’t want to think about.
“Silas needs to stay out of my business.” Finishing up on the fruit salad, she covers it with plastic wrap and clutches it to her chest. “I don’t want to talk about him, or Kane, anymore.” Sadness flashes through her eyes. “My life is complicated and I don’t have the words, or the energy, to keep thinking about it. I just want to spend a nice day in the sunshine with my friends.”
Blowing out a long breath, I watch Vesper step out into the garden. My mind is racing over the best way to support her when a strong arm wraps around my waist, spinning me to face a grinning Will with sun-kissed cheeks.
Ugh, he looks too good today in a short-sleeved black shirt with a couple of buttons open at the collar and a pair of gray shorts and tan loafers.
“Where did you disappear to?” he croons at me.
Chewing on my bottom lip, I want to talk to him about Vesper, but then notice my phone in his hand, the screen lit with Colton’s name.
Will passes me the phone, and I swallow thickly, wondering the reason why he’s calling on my day off.
“Is everything okay?” I forgo an official greeting in lieu of swirling anxiety.
“Hey, Drew. Sorry to pull you away from your family and friends, but have you got a second to talk?”
He doesn’t sound like the world is ending, so that’s something, I guess.
“Sure, no worries,” I reply, pulling myself up onto the counter.
Will steps between my legs, fingers creeping beneath the hem of my dress. I bat his hand away, and he chuckles silently, palms smoothing up and down my thighs.
“Is Will still with you?”
“I am,” my boyfriend confirms.
“Okay, cool. Can you put me on loudspeaker because this involves you both?”
A wave of panic shoots through me before Will’s calm voice tempers it.
