608 Alpha Ave by Adriana Locke

Author:Adriana Locke [Locke, Adriana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Umbrella Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2021-06-07T23:00:00+00:00

Eight

Haley

“So, the flames?” Kaylee sits on the other side of my sofa, her legs crisscross applesauce, and her hands holding a slice of pizza. She’s been holding it for ten minutes. Every now and then, I notice a glob of cheese or a droplet of oil roll off the side and land on her knee. “Did the flames dance?”

Her enthusiasm over my outing with Grayson nearly matches mine. That’s why she’s my friend and has been my friend for years. Despite our age difference, her being a single mom and me being just a few years older than her child, I can’t imagine being closer to anyone.

“Will you be mad if I tell you that I didn’t notice?” I cringe as she gasps. “I know, I know. Failure on my part.”

“Major failure.” She shrugs, bringing the pizza to her lips. Finally. “Just pay a little closer attention next time. I want the full visual.”

She grins bigger as my smile falters. The pizza lowers again.

“What?” she asks.

Energy pulses through me and I spring to my feet. I have nothing to do, no reason to be up and moving. So, I head to the kitchen that opens up to the living room and grab a few paper towels off the counter.

My stomach is a storm of excited butterflies and nervous ants. It’s a flutter of happiness and a scamper of anxiety all at once.

“I don’t know,” I say slowly, “if there will be a next time for me to pay attention.”

The words are mine. They came out of my mouth. But, somehow, they sound hollow and disconnected from me. I hear them cutting through the air. I recognize my voice. I even know what I’m saying is based on facts. Still, maybe it’s that I don’t want to believe it—that I want to hold on to the tiniest thread of hope, and that’s why it doesn’t resonate. That’s why it’s hard for me to lasso the concept and reel it in.

I’ve stayed away from you. I’ve made it my fucking life’s mission not to be alone with you or get involved in your life from the day we met … You’re a problem for me … I’m not interested in the things you’re interested in. I don’t do relationships. I don’t want to take care of someone.

I don’t want her to be my problem.

I lift my gaze to Kaylee and shrug.

Grayson was brutally honest with me, so it’s better that I accept what he said and move on … let him stay who he wants to be.

“Did I not tell you—was I not right when I said he was into you?” she asks.

“Yes, you said that. But—”

“No.” She shakes her head from side to side. “No. I saw this coming a mile away. And, since my Love Detector is—”

“Oh, no,” I say, cutting her off. “Let’s put away that nasty four-letter word.”

She sighs.

“This was … he fucked me, Kay. That’s all it was. Let’s put down the radar gun and calm down.”

A dollop of sauce falls off the side of her hand, and I can’t take it.

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