Page 2 of No Sweet Goodbyes

“Nothing?” I try for nonchalance, but it just comes out like a garbled mess of a question that I don’t know what to do with. “Nothing,” I try again with more conviction, but Kennedy isn’t buying any of the bullshit that I’m throwing her way.

“You never told me what happened at the wedding after me and Linc bounced out, you know.” Kennedy stares at me while spearing one of her potatoes with the plastic fork that Alma gives with all of her take-out orders. “Did something happen between the two of you? Something involving naked shenanigans?”

“No.” It almost feels impossible for my face to get even redder than it was before, but I still feel my skin grow hotter under her questioning.

“Holy shit,” she mutters mutinously. If it wasn’t me in the hot seat, I may have laughed at the comical way her eyes widen. “Something did happen between the two of you. Why don’t you tell me?”

Rather than answer her, I sit back in the booth and do my best to ignore the traitorous emotions that fill every pore of my being. Embarrassment, humiliation, rage, and a giant bowl of self-flagellation were the only things I took home from Parker and Remy’s wedding. And none of those emotions are things that I want to share with Kennedy. Not only is she one of my best friends, but she’s engaged to my older brother. The last thing any of us need is an awkward conversation about me getting rejected where Linc may have to defend my honor against one of his best friends.

When the alarm on my phone starts to go off, my heart stutters nervously in my chest. In my rush to devour the food in front of me, I almost forgot that I have plans.

Plans that must have stuck in the back of my mind on an unconscious level, because I haven't had the tequila I wanted when I was running.

“I gotta go.” I stuff the last bits of my last taco into my mouth and pick up my trash, careful not to leave anything behind. “I’ll see you tomorrow? Same time and place?” Kennedy and I have a routine, and I have a goal in life that I’ll never accomplish if I don’t get my ass back out onto the track every day.

Kennedy sighs deeply and then nods, staring at her food like she’ll never eat again. “As soon as I get home, Linc’s gonna eat the rest of my food.”

“Nonsense,” Alta says suddenly as she pops up next to the table like a banshee appearing out of nowhere. “You’re going to take that man his own food and if he tries to eat yours, you stab him with this spork.” She waves the plastic utensil in the air like a weapon, and I almost pee myself from laughing so hard.

While Kennedy and Alta move to the counter and Alta starts getting a take-out container ready for her to bring home, I sneak out through the side door as quietly as I can.

“Where you going?”

I scream and whirl around, reaching out with my fist to hit first and think second. Except Dom knows exactly what he’s done and grabs my fist before it can connect with his chest because he’s so tall that I couldn’t reach his face without jumping.

“What the hell, Dom?” I grab my hand back and think about kicking him in retaliation for the heart attack I’m currently experiencing.

“You left without saying goodbye.” He shrugs, and I look up to see him run a hand through his beard, staring at me contemplatively. Like I’m a wild animal that he wants to put down.

Instead of sighing like a hormonal teen ready to fawn and gasp and flirt at the sight of the muscles in his arm flexing while he stares at me, I clear my throat and look down at my feet. “I’ve got nothing to say to you, Dom.”

“Don’t have anything to say my ass, bonita. There’s plenty to say.” When I don’t answer him and don’t even look up, Dom shifts so that he is directly in my line of sight and pokes me in the forehead. “Dios mío. You’re the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met in my life, you know that, right? And that’s saying something because I’ve got sisters and a mother that could try any man’s patience.”

That gets my attention, and I glare at him with every bit of the fury that I have at him rejecting me. “You’re in my way, Dom. I don’t want to have to call your mom out here. Or better yet, my brother to come and deal with your shit.”

“Oh.” Dom laughs out loud. “You mean the brother who literally called me on my way home to tell me that he saw your car here and that I should come sweep his pain-in-the-ass sister off her feet so that he could have his fiancée back? That brother?”

I want to slap the expression off his face, but I know I can’t reach. Instead, I kick the rocks at my feet and pretend that I’m kicking him in the shins. It’s either that, or I’ll climb him like a tree. I know better than that. Being with Dom will bring nothing but trouble, and I know he isn’t lying about my brother, either. Linc makes sure to point out that I’m stealing too much of Kennedy’s time. Every single day.

“Look.” I sigh deeply and turn my attention to Dom, trying not to let his beard melt my resolve. “I just want to go home. I’ve had a long day. I’m tired, and my muscles are starting to hurt from the run I went on before dinner. So unless you’re going to put your hands to use and give me a massage, I’m going.” I step around him, ignoring how little space there actually is between the two of us. “I’ll see you later, Dom.”

The entire drive home I think about what his hands on me would actually feel like, and all I can come up with is one word.

Heaven.

Too bad I’ll never get a chance to experience it.

I barely pull into my driveway by the time the sun goes down, and the telltale little girl with blond pigtails sitting on my doorstep is a sign that I’m almost late for the most important part of my day.

“You’re late,” Bianca chimes like an angel as she bounces up from my stairs when I finally grab all my bags and slam my car door. “But Momma sent me with a batch of lasagna for you if I can stay here tonight.” Her eyes dart across the street to her house, and I have to fight to keep a smile on my face when her dark-brown eyes fill with tears. “If you want me to.”

“Don’t worry, Bee.” I nod toward the front door. “You carry the lasagna. I got the goods, and we can stay up late with a movie, okay?”

Bianca Hart, whose parents bought the house across the street from me four years ago, is one of only two people in the entire world that I’ll blow off food for. Between her and my nephew, there isn’t much room in my life for anyone else.

Especially once I start getting ready for my next step in life. Then I probably won’t even have time for much of anything at all.

In the distance, even through the closed windows and doors of my house, I hear Bianca’s parents starting to fight, and I know our night is about to get worse, before it gets even the slightest bit better. And I know that if I don’t make the call, one of them will end up in the hospital, or worse. While Bee can’t see what I’m doing, I slip my phone from my pocket and send my big brother a text.

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