Page 84 of Houston, We Have a Problem
I could be wrong, but if that kiss felt familiar to me, odds are high it felt familiar to him too. Houston isn’t stupid, and makeup only goes so far. If anyone is stupid, it’s me for thinking it wouldn’t be dangerous to fall in love with a man who deserves so much more than a liar.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Houston
I pound on the frontdoor of a house I’ve never been to and don’t stop, not even when my fist starts to ache from its impact with the wood. I don’t even know if he’s home, but I couldn’t think of where else to go and I’m desperate for him to tell me what to do.
When Kit opens the door, I nearly break down with relief. “Houston?” he says, eyes going wide. “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t…” Nope. There aren’t any words to capture all the things that have gone through my head during the last two hours it took to drive here. (Maybe it was an hour and a half. Don’t judge my speeding; I’m in crisis.)
Kit steps back, allowing me into his house. “Just breathe,” he says gently.
You’d think I would have gotten over the initial shock by now, but no. Being stuck in my truck with no company except my thoughts got me overthinking to the point that I nearly had to pull over in the middle of nowhere and scream into the desert void.
“What’s going on?” It isn’t Kit who asks that. It’s one of his friends, the ones he calls Wonder Friends or something like that. I’ve met them only once, when they came to a game last year, but I can’t remember any of their names. I liked this one. He played baseball in high school and looks like a personal trainer. Actually, now that I think about it, he mightbea personal trainer.
“Cam,” Kit says as his friend joins his side while I stand here on the verge of hyperventilating. “You remember Houston Briggs, right?”
Cam coughs out a laugh. “Is that a trick question? You okay, man?”
I shake my head. I am so not okay. Not when everything I thought I knew might be a lie.
“Sit.” Cam says that in such a commanding tone that I instantly obey, falling onto the couch in Kit’s front room. “Take a breath.”
I do my best, though it feels pretty pathetic. I swear I can do better than that.
As he crouches down in front of me, eyebrows low, Cam holds out a set of keys. “Hang on to these for me for a second, okay?”
I don’t understand, but I’m too tired to argue. The keys are warm from being in his pocket, and I rub my thumb along the edge of one, feeling each ridge as I go.
Cam nods as if I need him to praise my key-holding skills, and then he turns to Kit. “Does it smell like the brownies are done?”
I don’t smell any brownies. Have I lost my sense of smell? Am I dying?
“I don’t smell them yet,” Kit says with a shrug.
“At least you got your thermostat fixed so it’s no longer freezing in here,” Cam says.
It’s definitely too warm in here. Or, it was when I got here. Compared to outside, at least. It’s amazing how just a couple of hours of driving can completely change the temperature. Diamond Springs is at a much higher elevation than Sun City, and the air outside has a crisp quality that I didn’t think about until now. I love fall, but it’s only just starting to cool down in Sun City. I think I’m starting to cool down too.
“We should make brownies for real,” Kit says. “That sounds delicious.”
Wait, what? “There aren’t any brownies?” I ask, oddly disappointed by this news.
Laughing, Cam pats my knee before standing back to his full height. “Welcome back. You can keep my keys if you need to.”
I glance down to where I’m still rubbing my thumb along the key’s rough edge. I can breathe again in a way I haven’t been able to for the last two hours.
Since I kissed Tamlin and realized she might be…
I gulp. So much for breathing.
“So, are we going to talk about why Houston Briggs is having a panic attack in your living room?” someone new asks.
I cringe as two more guys come into the room after poking their heads around the corner. I came here to get Kit’s advice, not to be stared at by his friends. WonderBoys. That’s what they call themselves; I have no idea why. It sounds ridiculous. The one who spoke throws his arms over Kit’s and Cam’s shoulders, even though he’s several inches shorter than them, and gives me a searching look as if he expects me to answer that question.
I didn’t even realize I was having a panic attack. I’m not sure I can explain why it was happening any more than I can come up with a reason Darcy would completely lie to me about who she is. Or Tamlin. Honestly, I’m not convinced I know which one is the real person.
