Page 142 of Always You

He can wait until tomorrow. But in reality? The possible truth in my mama’s words has been nagging me more and more with each cocktail I pour down my throat.

Am I really going to just see what happens? He might not be fighting for me, but should I be fighting for him?

The doorbell rings as I’m finishing up our cocktails, while Julie is just staring at me like the lazy fuck that she can be.

“I’ll get it.” She gets off the stool, walking into the hallway to open the door as I stir our cocktails, throwing a lime wedge in there for good measure. I wipe my hands on a dishcloth, then pick up the glasses in excitement, ready to continue our girls’ night on the porch. Hopefully talking to Jules about it will demolish some of my fear and help me make a decision about what to do with this new piece of information.

“Charlie?” Julie shouts from the front door, a slight panic in her voice that makes me pick up the glasses and head into the hallway.

“What?” I exclaim, looking at who’s standing at the door.

I stop in my tracks for a second, narrowing my eyes, when I notice the two police officers standing on my porch, both showing me a troubled look.

“Miss Roux?” one of them asks as I slowly saunter their way, an ominous feeling washing my body the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, a shiver running through my spine. The air is sucked from my lungs, my feet heavy, glued to the hardwood floor.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry,” he offers. His composed stance makes my eyes well up, a feeling settling in my gut that whatever comes next will turn my world upside down, and I swallow hard to brace myself. “It’s about your mother. She was in an accident.”

“Oh my god.” Julie gasps, bringing her hand to her mouth. “Is she okay?”

But one glance at the look in his eyes, and I already know the answer to that question. I know they don’t grace you with a personal visit unless it’s bad. Really bad. But mostly, it’s theheavy feeling in my bones that tells me everything I need to know before he voices it. The feeling that’s pulling me under, though I’m doing my best to stay afloat.Don’t say it.Don’t say it. Please, don’t say it.

“She didn’t make it.”

When the words are pushed through his lips and into the world, it feels like an energy field slams into me. Glass splinters around me as my body connects with the cold floor, knocking me out.

And everything goes black.

57

Throwing my phone and keys on the counter of my kitchen, I look up at Laurie, after a long day of boring sponsor meetings and an excessive work out. Her flawlessly styled hair frames her almond-shaped face, being very much the epitome of one of those Instagram-perfect girls. She’s standing on the other side of the marble white kitchen island, doing probably exactly that. Wasting time on Instagram.

Call me old-fashioned, but I’d rather spend my time with my real friends than my virtual ones, knowing my two million Instagram fans don’t mean shit.

“You wanna order a pizza?”

She catches my eye, turning up her nose, then brings her gaze back to her phone.

“Ew. No. Order me a salad or something.”

Rolling my eyes, I let out a deep sigh, walking to the fridge muttering, “A little bit of carbs won’t kill you.”

“No. But my personal trainer tomorrow will,” she snarls.

“Right.” I pull out a bottle of water, then put it on my lips, when my phone starts to buzz its way over the countertop.

“Who’s that?” Her head snaps up. Suddenly, her focus is no longer on the screen in front of her.

Taking a step forward, I stretch my neck, and automatically, a smile appears on my face when I read the name.

“Charlotte.”

“Ugh!” Laurie huffs, sending me a disappointed glare. “We discussed this, Hunter. Why is she still calling you?”

“Because she’s my friend,” I say, irritated, taking another drink of my water. “Besides, we discussed that I wouldn’t talk as much with her. I never said I was going to stop talking to her. I haven’t spoken to her in three weeks. She’s probably calling to catch up.” I don’t mind taking her feelings into consideration after she found out Charlotte and I have a history that was a bit bigger than I told her at first. I wouldn’t be happy if she still talked to her ex either. But Charlotte is my friend, first and foremost. I’m not giving that up. Not even for my fiancée.

I reach over the counter to grab it, stopping in my movement when Laurie opens her mouth with a big scowl.

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