“So,” she says, letting the word float between us.
“So, what?”
“I don’t know. Just felt like an uncomfortable silence.”
I laugh. “I see. What do you wanna talk about?”
“How’s the house coming along?”
“Pretty good. Almost done, actually. You still wanna see it when it is?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, then. I’ll send you an invite.” She laughs. “Maybe I’ll have a house-warming party and invite a lot of people over.”
“Oh. Yeah, that would be cool.” The way her tone shifted, it doesn’t sound like she likes the idea at all.
“You don’t think I should? Or were you wanting to come see it all by yourself?” I ask, throwing a grin in her direction.
London scoffs. “No, of course not. You should have a house-warming party.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll invite my brothers, of course, and probably Lennox and Luna. Oh, and Michelle and Julia…”
“A lot of people. I get it,” she snips.
I take a quick glimpse in her direction and see her gnawing on her bottom lip. Looks like London isn’t quite over me just yet. She didn’t seem to appreciate me talking about inviting women over. Admittedly, I did that on purpose. I don’t really know a Michelle or Julia. And Luna works at the bar with me.
I smile as I look back at the road.
“So, do you want to meet up with me and the guys tonight?” Hunter asks me as he bites into an apple.
I wipe down my counter and know what my answer should be, but hesitate nonetheless. “What’s tonight again?”
“Me and the guys are gonna have dinner at Chip’s house.”
I know it’s only fair to go since he’s hung out with my friends. However, I’m still not exactly thrilled to hang out with his friends. Though I know I can’t be a hypocrite.
“Sure. Should I bring something?”
“Nope. I think it’s covered.”
“Okay.”
“All right, well, I’m gonna go. I’ll see you there? You remember how to get to Chip’s?”
“We’re not going together?” I ask, pausing my cleaning.
“Ryan asked for my help on his truck. You know he doesn’t know shit about changing his oil,” he says with a grin.
No, I don’t know that.
“Okay, and you’ll be going to Chip’s with him then?”
“Probably,” he says with a shrug.
“All right.” I take our glasses to the sink and drop them in. “Well, I guess I’ll text you when I’m on my way. What time?”
“About seven-thirty.”
I nod, and start running the water. Hunter comes around and kisses my forehead. Though, it’s not really a kiss, because he mashes his lips against my head with a force strong enough to move me back.
“Sorry, babe. I’m running late. See you later.”
He grabs his keys from the counter and rushes out, slamming the door behind him. Pennywise comes down the hall like he’s inspecting where the noise came from, then looks at me.
“I know, buddy,” I say with a sigh. Penny walks between my legs, arching his back as he rubs against my pants. I reach down and give him a quick scratch before I go back to the dishes.
I got off work an hour ago and still haven’t changed out of my work clothes yet. Hunter surprised me by showing up ten minutes after I walked through the door, seemingly only to say hi and invite me to Chip’s for dinner. Honestly, all I want to do is change into some sweats and binge-watch something on Netflix while shoving popcorn down my throat. Oh well.
It’s almost been a week since I was over at Elijah’s house. On Wednesday, me and Midge went to King’s Tavern, but Hunter didn’t come with us. Royce was his usual charming and flirty self, and it seems like we’re in a good place again.
As I’m drying my hands, my phone trills from the countertop.
“Hello?”
“Hey, honey.”
“Hey, Jon. What’s up?” I ask, making my way down the short hall toward my bedroom.
“Did Daniel tell you anything about tomorrow night?”
“Tomorrow night? No, not that I can remember.”
Jon huffs. “Really?”
“What’s wrong?”
I balance the phone between my ear and shoulder while I undo my slacks and step out of them.
“Oh, nothing.”
“Are you guys supposed to do something tomorrow?”
“Really?” he questions again, his voice going up an octave. “Okay, I gotta go.”
“Jon.”
He hangs up. I feel bad, because I know it’s his birthday tomorrow, but Daniel has made us swear not to mention it to Jon, because he’s surprising him with a party.
I finish changing my clothes, opting for some blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and some white tennis shoes. My hair goes up into a high ponytail, and I reapply some lipstick and call it quits.
I have about forty-five minutes before I’m due to be at Chip’s, so I go sit on the couch, turn the TV on for background noise, and scroll through social media. Ten minutes into my scrolling, I get a message.
Sunshine, I need help.
My heart immediately picks up speed, not only because Royce is texting me—something he hasn’t done since I told him about me and Hunter being together, but because I’m afraid of what happened. Why does he need help? I respond as soon as I read it.
What’s wrong?
Five minutes go by before he gets back to me, and the whole time I stare at my phone waiting for a response.
Nothing’s wrong. What do I buy Jon for his birthday? I have a couple ideas, thanks to Daniel, but Jon’s pretty picky, and I don’t want to screw up.
Oh my God, I thought something bad happened. I was imagining you were in a car accident or something. Jesus.
This time he responds faster.
Ha. Sorry. Thanks for worrying about me, though.
Anyway, what are your ideas?
Daniel said Jon’s into clothes, but that could be anything, and I’m more of a plain T-shirt kind of guy. Not really Jon’s style.
I laugh and bring my legs up on the couch.
Yeah, y’all don’t really have the same style. Jon has you beat. Don’t buy him anything you’d wear.
That’s not nice, Sunshine. Also, not helpful.
You’re actually pretty late buying gifts since his party’s tomorrow. Aren’t you working tonight? When are you gonna be able to buy anything?
Just forget it. What’re you doing?
Sitting here watching Netflix. You?
Wishing I was sitting next to you watching Netflix.
Ha-ha. Very funny.
It’s true. Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for nothing.
Oh shush. See ya.
I’m smiling as I walk through my door, on my way to meet Hunter and his friends, but it’s Royce that has me smiling, and that’s a problem.
Fifteen minutes later I’m parked in Chip’s driveway, waiting for Hunter to text me back. I don’t see his truck parked anywhere nearby, and I don’t want to go to the door unless he’s here.
I end up sitting in the car for ten minutes before he texts me telling me him and Ryan are running behind but should be here soon.
When they finally arrive, I step out of the car, and Hunter and Ryan walk up from the street laughing about something.
“Hey, babe,” Hunter says with a smile, his cheeks flushed.
“Hey,” I reply. “Have you been drinking already?”
“Oh. Busted,” Ryan says with a laugh, passing us and going to the door.
“I might’ve had a couple beers before heading over.”
“Did Ryan? You guys could’ve asked me to pick you up.”
“It’s fine, Mom,” he says with a laugh, tugging me behind him.
“Excuse me?” I’m already teetering on the edge of annoyance.
“Just kidding. Jeez
. Let’s go eat.”
I take a deep breath and blow it out as I follow him up the walkway toward the front door. Already regretting this.
At ten o’clock I’m taking a break and eating some wings at a booth in the bar when my phone goes off. I smile, pleasantly surprised that London’s texting me.
Do you have any friends?
I laugh out loud at the random question, wondering for a second if she texted the wrong person. After wiping my hands, I pick up the phone and respond.
Uh. Yes. Why?
I never really see you with friends. You’re always at work.
Well, that’s true. I have a lot of friends, but we don’t really do a lot of hanging out. I mean, they hang out here while I work. Otherwise, I hang out with my brothers.
Well, at least your brothers aren’t annoying.
Says you.
Lol.
She doesn’t say anything else, but I find I don’t want to stop talking to her, so after eating a couple more wings, I pick the phone up again.
Are you bored? Is that why you’re texting me?
Would that be awful?
No. I like that you think of me when you want someone to talk to.
A few minutes go by before she responds, and I’m afraid I scared her off.
Yeah, well, I’m bored and possibly going crazy.
Ha. Why are you going crazy?
…You don’t want to know.
I kinda do. You at home?
No.
You with someone?
Lots of someones.
I see. And you don’t want to be?
Not really.
Want me to call you with a pretend emergency?
Another long pause before she gets back to me.
You’d do that?
London, I’m not sure why you haven’t figured it out yet. For you, I’d do anything.
You’re too nice to me.
So. Emergency?
Uhh…yes. Please. Wait like seven minutes.
Seven minutes?
Yep.
I laugh, shaking my head. I put my phone down, finish eating and swallow down the rest of my Coke before I make my way into the stairwell that leads to my apartment. Exactly six minutes later, I call her.
“Hello?”
“Hey, this is an emergency.”
Loud noise filters into the receiver. Mostly boisterous laughing. Then London’s acting abilities come to light.
“Oh my God. Are you okay?” her voice is nearly shrill.
“I’m not. Only you can save me.”
“You need me? I can go right now.” She sounds panicked.
“I need you more than you could possibly realize. What can you do for me?”
There’s a brief hesitation. “I…okay. Yeah, I can go help you. Where are you?”
“You know where to find me, Sunshine. Whenever you’re ready, come find me. I’ll be waiting.”
“Oh…okay.”
“Okay.”
I hang up and let her finish whatever acting she needs to do in order to get out of her situation. I know her end of the conversation was an act, but mine wasn’t, and I hope she knows that.
I tried. I really did. I spent two and a half hours with Hunter and his friends, but it was bad from the jump. With Hunter showing up buzzed already, my mood quickly shifted from one of optimism to one of annoyance. When we walked in the house, I realized it wasn’t the dinner I was expecting. I know Chip doesn’t have a wife or girlfriend, but I assumed grown men knew how to cook for themselves. However, dinner consisted of bags of chips, a dip that didn’t look appetizing at all, some frozen pizza that Chip admitted to overcooking, but a glimpse at the blackened crust told me as much.
Since my empty stomach was growling louder than a momma bear protecting her cub, I devoured half a bag of Doritos and washed it down with a can of Sprite. Chip’s living room is probably smaller than mine, and he only has one loveseat in front of the entertainment center that takes up one wall in the room. Chip and Matthew sat together on the couch while Hunter and Ryan stood nearby, laughing about some story Matthew was telling about one of their other friends.
I took a seat on a barstool which was about six feet behind the living room. Which was fine, because I was eating all the chips. Occasionally Hunter would look back at me and smile to make me feel included, but it didn’t work. He’d stop and kiss my forehead as he went back to the kitchen for another beer, but that’s about it.
I feel like his friends only tolerate me because of him, but I’ve never been anything but nice to them. However, I remember overhearing Matthew making fun of me to Hunter once. He was questioning why I was dressed up and made it seem like I was some stuck-up bitch who thought I was better than them. Truth is, I didn’t know what kind of restaurant we were going to when he invited me out with them. I dressed up a little, but it wasn’t a fucking ball gown. What made me mad was Hunter just laughed it off and didn’t really defend me. We ended up having a small fight about it later.
There were a couple times that I went to the living room and stood near Hunter and tried to join the conversation, but I felt dismissed. I’m not really sure why they act like I killed their favorite pet, but Hunter seems oblivious to it all.
After texting Royce and getting my fake emergency call, I told Hunter I’d call him later. He didn’t question why I was leaving, so I guess I didn’t need a fake emergency after all. I simply said I had to go and he said okay. He stayed in the living room and waved goodbye as Ryan yelled out a see ya. That was all I got, so I left not feeling too bad about leaving.
I really gave a lot of thought to going to King’s Tavern, but based on what Royce was saying on the phone, I felt like I might have given him the wrong impression if I went at that time.
So, I went home and got into my pajamas and made some food before plopping down in front of the TV for the night.
Now that it’s Saturday afternoon, I get up and make a few calls to make sure Jon still isn’t aware of the party tonight. Daniel says he’s been pissy all day, but I think he’ll forgive us once he recognizes the party is for him. Midge told Daniel about a fancy dinner they have to attend for work, but that they’re allowed to bring their significant others if they want. Jon was within earshot, of course, so that’s the plan. Get them dressed up and to the Blue Velvet Inn for dinner. However, around thirty of Jon and Daniel’s friends and family members will be in the ballroom ready to eat and dance the night away. Jon will love it.
The party is set to start at six, so I only have about an hour to get ready and be on my way to the hotel. Midge is playing her part and going with Daniel and Jon, and me and Hunter are going together.
As I’m curling my hair, my phone dings from its place on the back of the toilet. I walk over and see a bunch of exclamation points from Midge.
!!!!!
We have an emergency
!!!!
What??
Jon doesn’t want to go. He said he’ll just stay home, because he doesn’t want to have dinner with stuffy accountants.
Uh-oh.
Yeah. I’m on it. I’ll update you.
I continue getting ready, my faith in Midge strong, because I have no doubt she’ll use some sort of bribery to get him there.
Fifteen minutes before me and the rest of the guests need to be in place, and thirty minutes before Jon and Daniel need to be on their way, Midge texts me again.
We are good to go. Jon is pissed! I feel so bad.
I breathe a sigh of relief as Hunter knocks on the door. I send out a quick text to Midge and let her know I’m on my way to the hotel, then open the door. Hunter stands there in a classic black suit with his brown hair parted down the side and gelled to keep in place.
“You look nice,” I tell him.
He checks me out in my rose gold colored gown. It dips down in the front, showing just a small amount of cleavage, and fits snug against my body down to the knee where it starts to flow loosely and transitions into a sheer material
.
“You clean up good,” he says with a grin, pulling me in for a quick kiss.
Since we got back together, we haven’t slept together yet. He’s tried, but I’ve been pumping the brakes.
“Thanks.”
“You ready?”
I nod and follow him to his truck. The hotel isn’t too far away, so we get there within ten minutes. It’s one of the fancier hotels here, steeped with history. The red brick building is full of gothic architecture from its beautiful sharp spires upon the top, and intricate and uniquely shaped windows.
Inside the room set for Jon’s birthday, I’m amazed at how beautifully decorated it is. Daniel went all out when he hired someone to help him plan an elegant party. The room drips with opulence. A chandelier hangs in the center of the room, while candle scones grace the walls. Simple yet stunning floral centerpieces sit in the center of each table, all of which are cloaked in white and gold table cloths.
Midge texts me that they’re close, so I make an announcement to the room and then sit in my seat. A few tables away, I spot Royce looking at me from his own table. He mouths oh my God to me while he clutches his heart and drops his head back. I try to hide my smile, but it spreads across my face anyway. His silent compliment makes me feel like the most beautiful person in the room.
A few minutes after London almost gives me a heart attack as well as a hard-on with the way she’s looking tonight, Jon, Daniel, and Midge all walk in. The room explodes with surprise as Jon’s jaw drops. His hand flies to his mouth as he takes in all of the guests and then he throws his arms around Daniel’s neck. When he pulls away, he swipes away a few tears before moving to greet people.
On the Rocks (Kingston Brothers Book 1) Page 17