Page 16 of Revive

“Hey kid,” I greet, lowering my head, making it easier for her to reach me. With a spring in her step, she leaves the awkwardness behind, walking straight to Jagger and hugging him hello.

“Oh, everyone’s here.” Emerson’s presence breaks the ice, as her eyes skate over everyone deciphering each person’s mood. There’s a suffocating silence that follows as we all stand in a self-imposed freeze frame waiting for what’s next.

“Okay guys, breakfast is almost ready, who’s staying?” Jagger’s voice cuts through the tension and has everybody moving into next gear. Taylah speaks first. “I thank you all for your hospitality, but I need to get an Uber on the ASAP before my mum makes it to my place first and starts going through my things.”

“My mum does that too.” Dakota rolls her eyes, and a genuine smile spreads across Sasha’s face. I let myself watch her in this unguarded moment, trying to remember the last time I saw her look so relaxed in my presence.

“It was great seeing you both, again.” She fiddles around with her phone, organising a ride. It’s on the tip of my tongue to offer her a ride home, but the words never form. “Okay, I’m going to get out of everyone’s hair, and wait outside.”

“Taylah, you know I’ll drive you home. Cancel it,” Emerson orders. Jagger looks at me, his stare telling me what I know I should do, but for some reason don’t.

“I’ll have to pay for half now regardless. It’s no big deal. I want you guys to enjoy your first family breakfast.”

Emerson untangles herself from Jagger, and heads over to Taylah, wrapping her up in a bear hug. “Love you. Thank you for yesterday, and staying over. I’ll see you at work.”

“Always,” she replies, hugging her back. “Seriously, I have to go now.” Pulling away from Em, she gives a lazy wave to Jagger and Dakota on the table and then looks over to me, her honey-coloured eyes find mine, and a look of wistfulness passes so quickly, I’m sure I’ve imagined it.

“I’ve got to get Dakota’s bag from the car,” Sasha pipes in. “I’ll walk you out.”

“Perfect.” Expecting them both to walk out the door, I’m dumbfounded when Taylah makes a detour my way, pressing her lips against my cheek, for all to see. “It was nice seeing you, Sexy.”

Oblivious to all the eyes on her, mine watch Sasha’s turn from relaxed to confused and then hurt. She lowers her face, and I wait for my own pain to come. Guilt. Remorse. But all the familiar emotions are nowhere to be found, instead they’re being replaced by the disappointment of not knowing for certain when I’ll see Taylah again. I take hold of her hand before she walks away. “I’ll drive you home,” I blurt out. “I’ll cover the Ubercancellation fee, too.”

She looks down at my very loud and obvious gesture, then back at me, satisfaction making its way down her features. “It’s okay, Sexy,” she drawls, the slight scratch of sleep lingering in her voice. “I think I can spare some dollars for you.”

5

Taylah

“Sasha, you coming?” She looks like she just bit into a lemon as she follows me, and I can’t work out why.

“I’ll be out in a second,” Drix informs me. “I need to talk to Dakota about our dinner plans this week.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for you at the car.” Sasha follows me in silence, and while we’ve only met once, I don’t remember anything being awkward or tense. It was very different from the vibe I’m getting off her right now. “How excited is Dakota coming to see Jagger and Emerson in their new place?” I ask, hoping to break whatever ice there is between us.

“She loves spending time with Jagger.”

The statement is final, and I figure there’s no point trying to prolong a conversation that isn’t really going anywhere in the first place. “Well, it was good seeing you again.”

I turn when an unexpected question stops me. “Are you and Hendrix together?”

“What?” I ask in shock. I don’t want to say yes, but for some reason I don’t want to say no.

“Inside,” she says, pointing back at the house over her shoulder. “It looked like something was going on.”

“Oh, that? That was nothing, we just had a few too many drinks last night celebrating Jagger and Em,” I explain. “You know, you’ve known Hendrix a lot longer than I. You could ask him yourself.” The tone of my voice is different, less friendly, more accusatory. But the solicitor in me knows better. Never give too much information away, especially when you don’t know why they want it.

“I’m sorry,” she backtracks, waving her hands in front of her. “It’s really none of my business, I don’t know why I even asked.”

I don’t know why she asked either, but I’m not stupid. There’s always a reason. Women are complex beings, and one thing every other woman knows, is we rarely do anything without thinking about it first.

“Hey.” Hendrix’s voice finds us before he does. But by the way her eyes dart to the side, following his movements, alerts me to his presence anyway. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, Sasha and I were done talking.” Sasha turns her head away from us, and Drix tenses behind me. I think I now know what the issue is. I turn to face him, schooling my face to look less ruffled than I feel. “I might call that Uber.”

“What, why?” With pretend confusion written all over his face, he looks between us, hoping nothing could’ve possibly gone wrong.

“Stay here with your family,” I encourage.

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