Page 134 of Verses

“No. I just live right over there,” I said, indicating with a tilt of my head.

“I can—”

“Oh, no. I’ve taken up way too much of your time already.”

“I don’t mind the break.”

“It’s okay. Um…thanks again.”

“Yeah.” Just as I started to turn, he said, “You’re in that band, aren’t you? The one that plays at The Apothecary all the time?”

Smiling, I turned. “Yeah. Intent to Murder.”

“I was sorry to hear about you guys losing your guitarist…but somebody told me you have a new guy?”

“Yeah.” The man I’d started calling myboyfriend. “He’s really good. If you want to come to a show, I’ll buy you a drink. It’s the least I could do.”

“Thanks. I will. When do you guys play?”

“We don’t have any actual shows set yet. Right now, we’re just doing live practices.”

“That sounds pretty cool.”

“Nice to meet you. My name’s Hayley. Thanks again for your help.”

“I’m Christian. And it was my pleasure.”

Smiling, I awkwardly said goodbye and headed through the parking lot towards the road, amazed that even though Charlotte was a small town, I didn’t know everybody—and I doubted I ever would.

But I had little doubt I’d see this man again.

CHAPTER 36

Back at my apartment, I took the boxes and tape into my room, ready to pack. I had lots of other problems I’d have to figure out—like where to stay—but I was determined to get this done first. I couldn’t take Kyle’s bullshit anymore.

As I taped together the first box, I tried to think of where else in the apartment my things might be located, realizing there was nothing in the kitchen I couldn’t live without. As far as I was concerned, Kyle could have everything in there. Most of what we’d acquired had been at yard sales and the Goodwill in Silver City anyway. The only thing we’d bought brand new was the toaster—and eventhathad seen better days. Same with everything in the living room. I did have a few items in the bathroom that I’d need to get—but most of my belongings were in my bedroom.

So I started pulling clothes out of a dresser drawer, things I had just moved not too long ago from what was now Kyle’s bedroom to this bedroom. When I got to the second drawer, I came across a handful of pictures I’d printed at the Walmart in Silver City a long time ago. Under the stack, there was a framed photograph of Kyle and me when we’d graduated high school.His mother had been so proud of both of us, she’d taken a picture, given me a copy, and I’d framed it.

Sitting down on the bed, I stared at that photo for a few moments. How had time flown so quickly? And how had we changed so much? Back then, we’d both looked so happy, smiling as if the world was ours. And it wasn’t hard remembering how I’d felt about Kyle. I was head over heels in love, and, although I hadn’t thought about marriage, I had believed that Kyle was the only guy I would ever love. I’d had no idea that just a few years later, I’d want to strangle him—and I’d be surprised if he didn’t feel the same way about me.

My eyes drifted from the photo to the floor as my mind kept poking. Right now, I had that same giddy, happy, butterflies-in-my-stomach sensation for Wolf, the feeling reflected in that photograph…like everything with us would always be perfect.

Would I feel the same way about him in a few years like I did about Kyle now?

Or could this relationship last? God, I wanted to believe we could make it work. But just seeing that picture of Kyle and me on the football field one sunny day in a May not so long ago planted seeds of doubt that I would struggle with for quite some time to come.

Because I hadthings to pack, I managed to push the doubts to the back of my mind for the time being. As I stacked the boxes by the door, the next dilemma became clear.

I needed to figure out where I was going to go next.

I considered asking Kyle’s mom, but that would be too weird—and as hard as this was going to be on both of us, I didn’t want to make it even more awkward for Kyle. I hoped that, at somepoint, Kyle and I could figure out how to be friends but that was going to take time.

The first thing I did after packing everything but the bedding was look up the cost of other places to rent in Charlotte. Although I knew I couldn’t afford an apartment in this particular building—not that there were any openings—maybe there was an apartment on Main Street above one of the businesses that would be in my budget.

But I couldn’t find anything. Even though I made okay money at Early Rise, it wasn’t enough to be able to afford living on my own. I’d have to share the rent with at least one other person. Maybe I could find a situation where someone was looking for a roommate, but I’d rather room with a person I already knew.

The biggest problem was that I didn’t have many friends left from high school. Most of them had moved away. There was Claire, of course, my tattoo artist, and there were a couple of people who’d moved to Silver City that I could check with if I had to.

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