Page 23 of The Inkslinger

Late-Night Surprise

Laine

Life is good. Scratch that, life isgreat. Hailey and I are both happy and it’s been over a week since we had a visit from Derick. I know he has been formally reprimanded by the sheriff’s office and has been told to stay out of town if he wants to stay out of prison. We are hoping we won’t be seeing him again. Ever.

Hailey enjoys her job at the bar and doesn’t work many nights, so we get to spend as much time together as possible. Damien is always around and the two of them constantly whisper about things and I am not included. But I know Hailey loves me and doesn’t feel that way about him, so I have been able to accept their weird friendship. It makes them both happy and it is good to see my little brother socializing instead of spending hours alone in front of his computer.

I’ve moved in with Hailey and she is in the process of buying Skye’s house. That means Skye gets to visit whenever she misses her mom or feels nostalgic about her childhood, and we don’t have to go house hunting. My mom is thrilled that I am dating Hailey and we will be living next door.

I’m just happy to be out of the apartment I have shared with Luke for the last year and away from the poor baby who keeps crying for hours every night.

“Doll,” I say before kissing her neck from behind. “I’m headed over to Luke’s to get the last three boxes. Do you want some pizza for dinner?”

“Now I remember why I fell in love with you,” Hailey muses with a mischievous grin. “You’ve been feeding me.”

I laugh as I smack her ass. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Thank you, my love,” she purrs, peppering kisses along my jaw. “I am going to soak in the tub.”

I wink at her as I leave, jumping in my truck and badly singing along to an older rock song that plays on the radio. Happiness makes people weird, I know.

It takes me a couple of minutes to get to the apartment and when I do my friend is arguing with a man I’ve never seen. I hang back, waiting to see if he needs me, but the man walks away before slipping into the apartment beside ours.

“Who is that?” I ask tipping my chin in that direction.

“No one important,” Luke grumbles. “Why are you here?”

“Chasing me away?”

“Scared Hailey wised up and kicked you out? I do not want to live with you again.” He snickers at my reaction of mock outrage.

“Whatever, dickhead.” I punch his shoulder as I pass. “I have to grab the last of my boxes and get Hailey a pizza for dinner.”

He chuckles but the sound is off. Something has been going on with him for a while now and I know a lot of stuff is weighing on him. I’ll have to carve out some time so I can get to the bottom of the situation. Stacking the three boxes, I exit the room to find him waiting by the door.

“Tell Hailey if she ever gets tired of you, she can move in with me, but you are never moving back in.”

I laugh freely, knowing he is joking. We have been best friends since I can remember and he is more family to me than most people’s blood relatives are.

“Hailey would drive you nuts, Mr. OCD.” I duck as he swats at my head. “See you on Sunday.”

He doesn’t reply, and when I look back, the apartment door is already shut. I seriously need to talk to him. Soon.

Dropping the boxes in the truck bed, I drive to Pizza Italia, the only pizza place in town. I order a “meat lover’s surprise” and wait for my order. When my number is called, I step forward but my phone rings. Seeing Damien’s name, I quickly answer.

“Hey, little brother,” I say affectionately.

“He’s here.”

“Damien?”

“The man you told me about. Hailey’s ex-boyfriend. He is in the house with her.”

“Where are you?” I ask, leaving my pizza on the counter as I make my way back out to my truck.

“I was outside, but I am in the kitchen now,” he whispers. “I can hear him yelling at her.”

“I’m on my way. But I need you to go outside and wait for me.”

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