by Reid, B. B.
Jamie’s eyebrows shot up at Selena’s offer. It was obvious he hadn’t been expecting that since Selena knew he was with Bee. “Flattered, kitten, but I’m spoken for.”
As Jamie wisely walked away, unease spread through me. My sister hadn’t cared that Jamie had a girlfriend, someone I now considered a friend. “What was that?” I snapped as soon as Jamie was out of earshot. I wondered if he was heading to tell Bee about Selena coming on to him. And if he wasn’t, should I?
“What was what?”
“Why were you flirting with him when you know he has a girlfriend?”
“So what? He flirted first,” she pointed out.
“He wasn’t really flirting,” I tried to explain. “He’s just…Jamie. He doesn’t have a filter and likes to mess with people.”
Selena looked completely unapologetic as she tossed her long hair over her shoulder. “Well, Tyra, tell me something. How was I supposed to know that?”
Feeling like my head was about to explode, I stormed up the van steps without responding. Selena was proving to be a handful, making me feel like the older and more mature sister. I was at my wit’s end, and it had only been a week.
It wasn’t until I nearly tripped over a pair of long legs that I remembered Vaughn. Mortification filled my already boiling pot of emotions when I met his green gaze. He had to have heard everything, but I didn’t care about that as much as the emptiness in his eyes. Why did it look like he hadn’t slept in days?
“Excuse me.” My voice was meek, doing nothing to break the thick tension or ease the awkwardness between us. We’d fought before, but we’d never broken up. Or whatever it was called when you weren’t a couple, to begin with.
Rather than remove his legs from blocking my path, he rose from the bench he’d been lying prone on and claimed the entire back row for himself. Feeling the need to be close to him even though I couldn’t offer him comfort, I chose the row in front of him. I was only slightly annoyed when Selena plopped down next to me as if nothing had ever happened.
Vaughn was lying down again, and thankfully, his eyes were closed because I couldn’t keep mine off of him. Something was wrong, and I didn’t need the past year I spent getting close to him to know that. Had he really taken me calling things off that hard?
I knew he was upset, but…
I took a deep breath and told myself not to feel guilty. I did what any woman would when she accepted that she was being strung along. It took me a while to find my way out of the fog. Now I saw vividly the version of Vaughn that had been there all along.
Everyone—Four’s blue-eyed, black Lab included—started loading into the van, and when Four spotted me, her brown gaze lit up with excitement. She tried to climb back, but Ever caught her around the waist and deposited her in the passenger seat up the front. He gave her a look not to move before rounding the van and getting into the driver’s seat. Jay D happily sat between their seats, his tongue and tail wagging.
Bee and Lou sat in the row in front of me while Jamie and Wren begrudgingly shared the front row. The tension between Wren and Lou hadn’t lessened one bit, which explained why Lou chose not to sit with him. I watched her glare at the back of his head before rolling her eyes as if he could see her and turning around to face Selena and me.
“About time you guys got here,” she said to me while ignoring Selena. It had only just occurred to me that Lou hadn’t taken much interest in my sister. She wasn’t rude to her, but… My brows dipped as I wondered if Selena had noticed, too, and that was why she wasn’t thrilled with my choice of friends. I made a mental note to corner Lou and to ask her what her deal was later. I knew it wasn’t because my sister was black, as Selena had implied, but there had to be a reason Lou wasn’t eager to make friends.
Even more surprising was the fact that Lou hadn’t already come out with it. Sometimes I couldn’t decide who was worse in the no-filter department—Lou or Jamie.
Two peas in a pod indeed.
We were on our way a short time later, and it took no time at all for Jamie to make a dirty joke.
“Have you guys ever watched the videos of the pornstars riding around in a van? They pretty much just look for someone kinky enough to fuck on camera while cruising through town.” Jamie looked around, meeting everyone’s gaze. “We’ve already got the talent, and Lou’s got her camera. Who wants to go first?”
I locked gazes with Selena, and she rolled her eyes at my smug look. Jamie had just made my point and most predictably.
“Jamie, I’m pretty sure those meetups are prearranged,” I argued. It was starting to feel like my duty to challenge Jamie since I was the only one who ever rose to the occasion. Everyone else simply ignored him. “They don’t just pick up strangers.”
Jamie’s eyes widened, and then his grin spread as he energetically pumped his fist. “Yes! Fuck yes! I knew you were a dirty girl, Ty-baby. Whoo!”
It was my turn to roll my eyes because what could I say? I did just admit to watching porn. But really, who didn’t?
“Vaughn, are you hearing this?” Jamie naïvely called out. None of them had any clue yet that Vaughn and I had broken things off. “I bet he knows. I bet you guys watch them together while you get each other off.” Jamie then waggled his brows suggestively. “Don’t you?”
Bee suddenly leaned forward and whispered something in Wren’s ear. A moment later, they were switching seats. Wren now sat with Lou, and Bee, thankfully, was there to keep Jamie quiet. Just that quickly, his attention was diverted as he flirted with Bee and forgot about everyone else.
While my friends and sister were distracted, I found myself peeking at Vaughn through my peripheral. He was fast asleep, his chest rising and falling steadily. His expression, however, even while unconscious, was troubled. I wasn’t sure when I gave up being subtle, but after a while, I combed my fingers through his hair until his frown slowly cleared. I then rested my cheek on the back of the seat, watching over him as he slept.
The first thing I noticed when I woke up an hour later was that the van was still moving. How could we not be there yet? It felt as if I’d slept for ages. I would have groaned if it hadn’t seemed like too much effort. The second thing I noticed was that my bladder was near bursting and the third…
I was now sitting alone.
My eyes were still closed, but I could sense that Selena was no longer next to me. Mainly because her voice, though speaking in a hushed tone, was too far away. Opening my eyes, I blinked in earnest, hoping that the empty seat next to me was just a figment of my imagination. Where else could she have gone? All the other seats were taken. All of them except—
Lifting my head, my suspicions were confirmed when I found her sharing the last row with Vaughn. They even sat close, whispering to each other.
“Selena?” I cringed, hearing my groggy voice while hers had sounded almost sensual and suggestive. I told myself I was imagining things to calm my racing heart.
“Oh, hey, sleepyhead.” I didn’t return her smile as we stared at one another. I could feel Vaughn’s gaze but refused to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging him.
“Why are you sitting back there?”
“Vaughn was looking a little lonely and sad,” she cooed as she hugged his arm playfully before letting go. “I thought I’d keep him company and cheer him up. Besides, everyone else had fallen asleep, and I didn’t want to wake them.”
I turned my head toward the front of the van, and her story was confirmed when I saw the slumped bodies and heard the light snores. The only one still awake was Ever. Our gazes met in the rearview mirror, and my gut twisted painfully when he quickly looked away. Even in the dark, I could see his hands strangling the steering wheel, making my unease grow. Ever had a damn good poker face, but right now, he had a hard time concealing his emotions. What had made him so angry?
Confused, I turned back and regarded my sister, who was still, for some reason, sitting in the back row.
“Okay, I’m awake now. Maybe you should
come and sit up here?”
I realized how it might have looked as if I were being petty toward Vaughn, but with each second that passed, my chest grew tighter, and it became harder to breathe. What could they have been discussing so intimately? Had Ever overheard?
Selena shot Vaughn an apologetic look before moving back into the row with me. I took a deep breath before finally, finally meeting Vaughn’s gaze. The emptiness was still there, but it had only grown since an hour ago. What had happened in the week since I’d last seen him?
A few minutes later, Ever was pulling off the highway, startling everyone when he barely slowed enough. The van took the curve on two wheels, which woke everyone up.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Jamie grumbled. He was always crankiest when he first woke up.
Ever didn’t bother to respond as he gunned the van into the nearest parking lot. My stomach growled, seeing that it was an Applebee’s. Four was gazing at him worriedly, but he ignored her too as he threw the van into park. “Stay here,” he ordered Four. His voice was so thick with anger. He then hopped out, slamming the driver door hard enough that it should have broken glass. A second later, he pounded on the rear window next to Vaughn. “You…get the fuck out of the van.” Not giving his best friend a chance to respond, Ever walked away, letting the night swallow him whole.
Everyone then turned their confused gazes on Vaughn. The only one who didn’t seem at all surprised was Lou, who had eyes only for Selena. As if he hadn’t a care in the world, Vaughn got out and followed Ever into the dark.
“Well, fuck that, I’m hungry,” Jamie announced. Leaning over Bee, he slid open the sliding door.
“Ever said to stay here,” Lou reminded him.
“He told Four to stay here. He’s also not my goddamn daddy.” Without further ado, Jamie climbed out before helping Bee down and heading toward the well-lit Applebee’s. After a beat, everyone else followed, including Selena, while I sat frozen. My gaze eventually returned to the direction Ever and Vaughn had stalked off in, wondering what the hell had happened while I was asleep.
“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR mind?” Ever raged. He shoved me as soon as I walked up to him. “Are you off your fucking rocker?”
“Chill out, man. Nothing happened.”
“Nothing happened? So you’re telling me I need to get my hearing checked?” Even when I stood there staring at him, refusing to admit my colossal mistake, he didn’t back down. “This is Tyra,” he practically begged for me to remember. “Tyra. And that girl I heard you kissing is her sister. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“It was one kiss,” I argued as if it made a difference. “And she kissed me, or did you miss that part?”
“It’s more than e-fucking-nough to make you lose Tyra forever.”
“I already lost her.” At Ever’s confused blink, I added, “She broke…it off,” I said, changing gears when I almost admitted to Tyra breaking up with me. We were never in a relationship, which meant it didn’t matter who kissed who or why I didn’t stop her sister from sticking her tongue down my throat. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I started to point this out to Ever when the lie melted like acid on my tongue, rendering me speechless.
I should never have allowed Selena into that backseat with me. Not after seeing her true colors. My anger toward my father had spilled onto Tyra because when you couldn’t take your frustrations out on the guilty, the innocent became your casualty.
“I know what you’re feeling,” Ever conceded, “but a piece of advice? When a girl says it’s over, she means try harder. Unless you kiss her fucking sister. You pull crap like this on skeezers, gold diggers, and cum buckets. You do not, under any circumstances, do this to the girl who broke your heart. Why do you think you gave it to her in the first place, genius?”
“I’m not in love with Tyra.”
“Now you’re just insulting my intelligence.”
“I’m not, and I can’t try harder. That’s the point, motherfucker. I don’t have anything to offer her but a bullet from my father.”
“That’s your choice,” Ever scoffed, pissing me off. “Stop blaming your father when it’s your choice to bow to him.”
Just then, Jay D appeared out of the dark, bounding up to us and licking my balled fist. I immediately felt myself relax and bent just enough to give him a scratch behind the ears in gratitude. I’d been two seconds from clocking my best friend. A moment later, Four appeared, her gaze flicking between us. “Is everything okay?”
“I told you to wait in the van,” Ever said in response.
Shrugging, Four came to stand next to Jay D with her arms crossed defiantly. “I assumed it was a suggestion because I don’t take orders.”
They became locked in a staring contest that ended with Jay D baring his teeth and growling softly at Ever. Shaking his head, Ever broke the stare.
“I hate that damn dog,” he muttered when Four finally walked away. He watched as she made her way across the dark parking lot and didn’t look away until she disappeared inside the restaurant.
I frowned at him because who didn’t like dogs? “Are you a cat person or something?”
“Fuck no. I just don’t like anything I have to share my girl with.”
“She had to share you with Bee,” I pointed out while holding in my laughter. “The least you can do is be civil to her dog.”
“She never had to share me. Not once since the moment she kneed me in the balls over a plate of fucking food.”
“You mean her dinner that you ate out of spite? Didn’t you also imply that her mother was a whore, fucking for better health benefits?”
He cut his gaze my way before mumbling, “Remind me not to tell you anything ever again.” He walked away, and I followed, holding my sides as I tried to keep my laughter in. Ever wouldn’t hesitate to turn around and break my jaw, and I wasn’t keen on getting arrested for fighting in an Applebee’s parking lot.
Just as we neared the van, I spotted Tyra climbing out. She slid the sliding door closed and paused, her arms wrapped around her small frame to shield herself from the cold when she noticed us.
Mumbling to myself, I quickly opened the backdoor and grabbed my letterman jacket that I’d left in the seat. When she tried to pass me as if I didn’t fucking exist, I grabbed her and draped the jacket on her shoulders. Our gazes met, and then she took a deep breath as if pained before looking away. Cool as ice, she pushed the jacket off her shoulders and let it fall to the ground. “No, thanks.”
Ever and I watched her walk toward the restaurant with variant expressions—his was of shock and amusement while mine was pure fury. What the fuck was her problem? She’d been sleeping silently as a baby when Selena kissed me. No way Tyra could have known.
Whistling, Ever stuck his hands in his pockets as he regarded me with only a smidge of sympathy. “You’ve got major damage control ahead of you, bro.”
I grunted my response. Yeah, it seemed so.
Inside the restaurant, we quickly found our friends since the place was deserted and sat down at the large U-shaped booth with its high, leather backing. I ended up being seated next to Tyra, who sat stiffly while doing everything in her power not to even let her elbow rub mine. You’d think I had a contagious disease the way she sat so tightly wound. I was getting ready to call her out on it when the manager came over.
“I’m sorry, miss. We don’t allow dogs inside our establishment. It’s unsanitary.”
Laying on his belly at Ever’s feet, Jay D’s ear perked as if he understood every word.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Jamie quipped. “We made sure he wiped his paws before he came in.”
“I appreciate that, but I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to remove the dog so as not to disturb our other customers.”
Four started to rise dutifully, but when Ever stayed seated, keeping her from leaving the booth, she frowned at him.
“Look around you, Brian,” he said, reading the manager’s name tag. “We’re the only customers you
have, and thanks to you, I’m feeling pretty disturbed. The mutt stays, and while you’re at it, how about a nice juicy T-bone for his trouble? Medium rare, please.”
“I really must insist—”
“If someone comes, I promise we’ll remove him,” Ever attempted to negotiate. “But since you’re closing in less than an hour and we’re in the middle of nowhere, I doubt we’ll have a problem.”
Giving up, the manager reluctantly took our orders, even writing down Ever’s order of steak for Jay D.
“Why did you do that?” Four hadn’t wasted time showing her displeasure when the manager walked away. Her cheeks were red from embarrassment while her eyes filled with fire. “He was just doing his job. You didn’t have to be so rude.”
“I know that, princess,” Ever mumbled. “And I was just doing mine.” He tried to kiss her, but she turned away, so he gripped her chin and made her kiss him anyway.
“Gross,” Lou grumbled when they kept right on kissing as if they weren’t sitting at a table full of people. “Some of us are trying to enjoy our lukewarm, lemon water.” Her button nose wrinkled as she continued to watch them.
Rising, Ever smoothly pulled a starry-eyed Four from the booth, and then they made for the door with Jay D hot on their heels. Everyone left at the table watched them go.
“Oh, my God.” Lou groaned, breaking the confused silence first. “I bet they’re going to do it in the van.” Turning her attention toward Jamie and Bee, she smirked. “Are you sure you guys don’t want to join them?”
Bee immediately picked up one of the extra straws and tossed it at Lou. “Give it a rest, Valentine. That is not what happened.”
Lou snorted before batting her eyes and sipping her tepid water. When she noticed Wren staring at her from across the table, she looked away, her amusement fading. She looked sad now, and I wondered when Wren would finally break down the wall she was slowly building between them.
You’re one to talk.
Somehow, my gaze found Selena’s who was seated next to Wren on the other side of the booth. She didn’t look the least bit guilty about our kiss, and I realized that in the blink of an eye, the wall between Tyra and me had become a mountain to climb.