Page 62 of Look My Way
“Someone other than Daniel?”
“Yes,” I say, looking down at my twisting fingers.
“Does he know about this secret friend of yours?” Her voice clips.
“What makes you think he’s a secret?”
“He,” she says, putting emphasis on each letter. “I’m going to go with no. How did you manage that?”
“His name is Zavier, and we met when I pushed him out of the way of a car. And Daniel’s just been occupied with other things.”
“Zavier.” She hums. “Ah, the man who came to the shop. If he’s the one we have to thank for bringing you back to us, then we’d love to have him. He’s very cute too.” She chuckles.
That’s an understatement and she knows it. “Yeah, he gave me your number and well . . .” My throat tightens as I close and open my mouth.
“You like him.”
“Yeah. Something like that.”
She laughs again. “Well, he already sounds better than your last choice, so I’m all for it. When should we expect you both?”
“Tomorrow evening maybe? I’ll have to check with him first, though.”
“Tomorrow works for me. Let me know either way. I can’t wait to hug my baby brother again.”
Laughter falls from my lips and my heart jumps. “I can’t wait either. Love you, Tabby.”
“I love you too. We all do, and nothing Daniel said about us seeing you as a burden was ever true.”
“I know. See you soon.”
We both hang up at the same time, and when I glance at the mirror again, I’m smiling for a reason other than Zavier. I’m going to see my family again. They never wanted me out of their lives. Daniel has been twisting everything. Zavier was right about my sister, and about Daniel tearing me away from my family. It means he’s probably right about the pills too.
The pills.
Tossing the covers off me, I rush to the bathroom and take down the bottle from the medicine cabinet. There are only ten when I count. I’m lower than I thought. He must havereplaced so many of them with something else, this whole time causing me to get sicker by tricking me into taking my medicine incorrectly.
How could he do something like this? I can’t believe I thought what we had was love.
Setting the pills back in the cabinet, I try to calm myself down by taking deep breaths. I lean over the sink, holding in a breath until the count of five before releasing it.
Footsteps trail behind me and warm arms wrap around my shoulders. “It’s okay, carino. I’m here, my sweet boy. I’m right here.” Zavier presses a kiss to my cheek, and I rub my face over his, going boneless in his hold as I melt into his warmth.
“You’re okay. It’s going to be okay.”
Nodding, I slowly turn around and place a hand to his cheek. He lays his hand over mine, bringing his warm lips closer until we’re sealed together. His tongue forces my mouth open, tangling with mine, and I sink against him and spread my lips wider to let him in more.
We latch onto each other harder, like we’re both starved for each other’s taste, not pulling away until we are both breathless. Panting against my lips, his eyes pierce into mine. “You okay?”
“Much better.” I smile. “I have a question for you, though.” My nerves get the better of me, twisting like winding roads in my stomach and threatening to crash.
“Yeah? What’s that? If it’s whether I put tuna in the waffle batter, the answer is no.”
I sputter a laugh, shaking my head. “Will you go see my family with me? Tabitha invited me to come home this weekend for my nephew’s birthday, and I wanted to leave tomorrow, but if you can’t—”
“Yes.” He holds my face in both of his palms, smiling wider. “I’ll leave here with you whenever you want.”
My stomach swirls and the butterflies run rampant. “Then we can leave in the afternoon. I don’t know if you need to go home and come back—”
