“I’m so sorry,” Hailey said, sniffling.
I cradled her close to me as she pressed her wet cheek into my chest. I stroked my fingers through her hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She was shaking against me, harder than I’d ever felt her shake, and I scooped her into my lap while Drew held Anna close to his body.
“It’s why I help out the homeless, even when they’re addicts. It’s personal to me, not professional. It’s not for the glory or the forwarding of the business. It’s how I cope with my brother’s death and the way he died. It’s how I cope with the tension it brought down on my family and with things I could’ve done differently to have saved his life,” I said.
“You’re a good man,” Anna said as Hailey embraced me. “A very good man.”
The fireworks began to burst overhead and the four of us watched them as they lit up the nighttime sky. The sound rattled my bones, and the colors bombarded my vision, and for just a moment, nothing else existed between the four of us. Anna was curled nicely into Drew, Hailey was pressed deep into my body, and everything simply seemed right. They boomed and crashed overhead, popping and thundering across the city while the ocean breeze filled our nostrils. I wondered what it would be like to have John here with whatever ebony-skinned woman he was fawning over during the last beer we ever shared with one another.
I wondered what he would think of Hailey. If he would like her and support her gallery. I wondered if he would work for the company, or maybe if he would have started one of his own. He always had that passion, that spirit to go out and make something of himself without any help.
I wondered what his favorite firework would be. Which one would make him smile the biggest?
After the fireworks were over, people started getting up to leave. Drew and I always waited until the crowd cleared out, so we didn’t have to battle the traffic. The girls were more than willing to sit there with us, curled underneath our arms while we simply sat with one another. But pretty soon, Anna spoke up, her voice filling the space we occupied with words that sounded like music to my ears.
“Hailey, would you be upset if I spent a bit more time with Drew here?” she asked.
“Ah, can’t get enough of me, can you?” Drew asked, smirking.
“That’s just fine,” Hailey said. “I’m sure Bryan and I can get ourselves into a bit of trouble for a while. Whaddaya say?”
I looked down at her with a broad smile on my face, and my lips met hers as I felt the back of my neck heat up with joy.
“I think we could find something,” I said.
Chapter 20
Hailey
“So, what are you two going to get into?” Anna asked as we headed for the cars.
“Honestly? I’m not sure. What are you and Drew going to get into?” I asked.
“Not sure. Drew here says he’s got a fun adventure he wants to take me on,” Anna said.
“My only requirement is that she’s safe,” I said.
“You’ve got my word,” Drew said.
“Good. Anna, you remember where the spare key is?” I asked.
“I do, I do,” she said.
“Don’t use my bed if you go back to the apartment. You’re buying me a new mattress if you ruin it,” I said.
Drew’s eyes widened so comically, it made me laugh, and Anna couldn’t help but play along with the banter.
“I’ll just leave the money for it underneath your pillow,” she said, winking.
“Oh, I like this woman,” Drew said.
“I figured you might,” I said.
The four of us parted ways, and I hopped into Bryan’s truck. We rode in relative silence, my ears still ringing from the blasting of the fireworks. Bryan’s hand felt so warm in mine. His fingers dwarfed my hand, curling over my skin as if he were holding a toddler’s. My thumb traced pointless outlines on top of his skin, and I grinned to myself when I saw the goosebumps ricochet up his skin. I had to admit, my body was heating up at the thought of simply being with him, but I was excited about going to his house.
It was the first time I was going to see it, and it meant I got to know more about him as a person.
When we pulled up into his driveway, my jaw hit the floor. His house was gigantic. Well, compared to my studio apartment, it was gigantic, but it wasn’t at all what I expected from Bryan. The geometric shapes that donned the support system of the house told me he’d designed it himself. The driveway rounded around right to the front door of his house, and he shut the truck off before he got out and opened my door.