The faint sound of giggling caught my attention and my heart stopped. Was he in there with another girl? My pulse quickened and it became hard to breathe. I wanted to burst in and do . . . well, something, but I knew I had told Blake to leave me alone. Was it fair to be hot and cold?
Before I knew it, I was swinging open the garage door to see Blake and Fox standing next to the Nova and Harley sitting on the couch with a beer bottle in her hand.
“Yeah, man, but with Knight in control of the fuckin’ list, it’s gonna be tough . . .” Fox stopped speaking as soon as Blake’s eyes shifted to me. When I stepped into the garage, everyone looked at me with mixed expressions. Fox gave me a relaxed smile, Harley was gnawing nervously on her thumbnail, and Blake was looking everywhere else but at me.
“Hi, Tayia,” Fox said and walked to sit down on the couch next to Harley. “We were hoping to see you before we left.” His eyes softened as he wrapped an arm around Harley. “We wanted both of you here when we made the announcement.”
Blake and I exchanged confused glances. “Announcement?” we asked in unison.
Fox gave a proud smile. “Harley is going to move in with me.” He placed an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. Harley’s leg began to bounce up and down as if she were ready to bolt at any second. Fox gently placed a hand on her knee to calm the shaking. “Isn’t that right, baby?” he said in a softer voice that was only meant for her. Harley’s body relaxed as all the anxiety diminished from her face and a dreamy smile formed as she stared back at him.
“Yes,” she replied. Fox buried his face into the side of her neck. “But if y’all need me to stay until you find another roommate . . .”
“Bullshit. I’ll pay your rent until they find someone,” Fox said as he lifted his head and glared at her.
“Oh, no. It’s cool,” Blake reassured. “We’ll be fine. I know a couple of guys who might be interested. When are you planning to move?”
“The end of the wee—”
“Tonight,” Fox cut Harley off.
“Tonight?” she repeated, snapping her head to look at him.
“Baby, you have a box and one bag of stuff. They can keep the mattress. It will take us thirty seconds to get out of here.” Harley opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it. She knew he was right. There was no reason she couldn’t leave tonight.
“It’s your call.” He grabbed her hand and patiently waited for her answer.
“Drew.” She chewed on her bottom lip in contemplation.
“Yes?”
Her eyes shifted from his face to the floor then back to his face before she let out a long exhale. “Take me home,” she finally said.
Fox wasted no time hauling her over his shoulder. As he carried her toward the door that led to the kitchen, she squealed and nearly dropped her beer. I ran forward and grabbed the bottle before it fell from her fingers. Not thirty seconds—more like ten minutes—later, I was standing on the porch, watching the taillights of Fox’s Challenger disappear down the road.
After closing the front door and twisting the deadbolt, I felt an overwhelming sense of dread. Having Harley in the house had been a convenient excuse to avoid Blake. Now there was nothing. No safety barrier I could hide my heart behind. After that, the house just seemed too quiet and full of emotions neither Blake nor I were willing to address.
While a secret relationship could be okay for a short time, long term wasn’t going to work for me. I needed him to be mine in a way that everyone knew. What we had wasn’t a dirty secret. We’d done nothing wrong except fall in love. There wasn’t any reason we couldn’t be together and out in the open. We didn’t need to be accepted by anyone as long as we were happy. Until he realized that, I needed to keep my distance.
Chapter Seventeen
“Something’s going on with you. What is it?” Jonna asked as she slid into the chair across from me, breathless and beaming. A month prior King had been released from prison on a technicality. The rapid turn of events surrounding his case offered them the gift of new beginnings.
“Nothing.” I tried to sound upbeat but avoided eye contact as I swirled the straw around in my watered-down glass of iced tea. It was the night of their wedding reception and I was trying not to be a downer.
“Yes. I know you, Tayia. Something’s up.” Jonna narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t even say anything about my shoes. Did you even notice?” She lifted one foot and wiggled it around.
She was wrong. I spotted the plain, white sandals immediately, and I’d wished we had time to at least put rhinestones on them or something. However, they did match well with her ivory, knee-length gown. When she moved, her tulle skirt billowed whimsically around her and looked absolutely stunning.
Since she’d moved to Key City with King, we hadn’t spent much time together. I would be lying if part of me didn’t feel a little sad. My best friend had moved away and had gotten married. I also wasn’t very involved in the wedding planning. Ms. Annette handled most of it, so there wasn’t much I could do. All the girls, Harley, Carina Risto, Ms. Annette, and I went with her to help pick out the gown. We had all unanimously agreed that she needed something short and less traditional because Jonna was far from a traditional girl. Looking back, the four-inch heels along with the gown I attempted to talk her into buying weren’t practical for a beach wedding.
“You’re moping,” Jonna accused.
“No, I’m not,” I denied instantly.
“Where’s Blake? Are you two fighting again? Is it about the race?”
“What race?”