Hook Me Up by Ali Parker

Author:Ali Parker [Parker, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BrixBaxter Publishing
Published: 2020-08-11T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Hailey

It started raining three minutes after I left the apartment building. Big, fat, cold drops fell from the sky and splattered on the hoods and windshields of cars parked along the side street I wandered down to get away from the thick throngs of pedestrians.

I missed the sidewalks in Nashville. They weren’t nearly as crowded or covered in chewed-up and spat-out gum. I missed my usual coffee shops and my sister and Azira.

I missed my comfort zone.

My shoulder clipped that of a tall businessman in a head to toe black suit. I glanced over my shoulder and caught myself as I stumbled. “Sorry.”

My apology was weak and timid and he stuck up his nose at me and kept walking, never breaking from his conversation on his cell phone.

“Don’t let me slow you down,” I muttered as I massaged my aching shoulder.

It didn’t hurt nearly as much as my heart did.

My aimless wandering of the streets around Jackson’s apartment led me down a narrow lane with less foot traffic and old-school lamp posts. The evening was dull and gray and the lamps cast a warm ambient light on the concrete. I walked past coffee shops, hair salons, convenience stores, a pet-grooming business, and a rundown old ice-cream parlor that didn’t look like it was getting much business. If it hadn’t been so cold and damp out, I might have ducked in and thrown them five dollars for a milkshake or something.

But it was cold.

I kept walking. I must have been going for over twenty minutes before I realized the pace of my steps wasn’t doing anything to clear my head. I needed someone to talk to.

So I called my sister.

Hannah answered on the third ring. She had a chipper tone and I remembered it was Monday evening. She would have plans to sit down with a glass of wine and watch her favorite reality dating show. When I was her roommate, I’d sit and watch it with her. We used to love doing that. I especially liked it after a long day at work. It was the perfect way to unwind and clear my mind.

Plus, those shows always made me feel like I had my shit together even though I knew I did not.

“Hey, sis,” Hannah chimed. “You called just in time. I was about to hop in the shower. What’s up?”

“Hey,” I said, trying to warm up my voice so she wouldn’t hear that something was wrong. My sister had an uncanny knack for knowing when something was wrong. I supposed most sisters did. The good ones anyway. But I would swear up and down and left and right that my sister was a bloodhound on the hunt when she sniffed out that something wasn’t right. It was time to put those skills to the test. “I missed you and was thinking about you today. I was thinking about how weird it was that I’m not there to cuddle up on the couch and watch your shitty shows with you.

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