Page 75 of Hound Dog
I groaned, my head lolling back.Addy.“What are you doing answering Haylee’s phone?”
“What are you doingcallingHaylee’s phone? Especially since she said you were on a date tonight.”
“She’s in the bathroom,” I said. As soon the words were out of my mouth, what she’d just said struck me. I couldn’t help the smile that crept along my face.
How did my sister know I was on this date? Haylee must have told her, which meant…
“Haylee was talking about me?”
There was a pause from the other end of the line. “Maybe,” Addy said carefully. “I’m paying her to be at karaoke night tonight as my hype woman. Always helps to have someone who can really sing, you know? Just in case you want to find a reason to skip out on your date and aren’t looking for the night to be over yet.”
Interesting. Haylee’s at Bombshells. Singing. And apparently talking about me.
In the background, I heard Haylee’s voice. “Is that my phone?”
“Yeah.” Addy’s voice was a little muffled, like she’d pulled the phone away from her mouth. “It’s Finn. He’s ditching his bad date and joining us.”
Then, there was white noise for a long few seconds, almost like a whole other conversation was happening on mute while I waited. Finally, I heard Haylee clear her throat and say, “Tell him to be nice to her. Let her down easy. But behonest.”
Honest?Haylee wanted me to be honest with this girl.Thanks for offering to spread your legs, Brittney, but no thanks!
“You heard that?” Addy asked.
“Yeah,” I groaned. “I’m not convinced honesty’s the way to go here.”
“Yeah, don’t betoohonest. Anyway, I gotta go, little bro,” Addy said.
“Yeah, me too.” I hung up and slid my phone back into my pocket just in time to see a flash of yellow approaching in my peripheral view.
Now for the hard part. I wasn’t used to letting girls down. I wasn’t even really sure how to do it.
Normally, on the rare occasions I needed an out, I’d make up an excuse. Some lie about needing to work early. Or an emergency with my brother.
But hell, maybe Haylee was right. Maybe honesty was the best policy.
Maybe Haylee was helping me change for the better.
I’m sorry, Brittney. I’m just not interested and don’t see this going anywhere.That wasn’t so hard to say, was it?
Spoiler alert:honesty wasnotthe best policy.
I walked into Addy’s bar, hoping that the redness on my cheek from where Brittney had slapped me had gone down by now.
As I walked by the mirror behind the bar, I caught a glimpse of myself.
No such luck.
Enzo saw me first as I approached their table, and she gave a low whistle. “What happened to you?”
“Whoa,” Haylee said, walking up to the table, a freshly poured beer in hand.
Christ,she’s gorgeous.
Even dressed casually in cut off shorts and a black tank top, Haylee was supermodel-level beautiful. And she was wearing glasses. The big, dark, tortoise shell kind that might make another woman look nerdy. But not on her. If anything, the large plastic frames highlighted her petite nose and wide brown eyes.
A few stray curls escaped from her loosely swept up bun as she brought the pint glass to her glossy lips for a sip. “I’m guessing she didn’t take being dumped so well, huh?” she asked after swallowing.
“Yeah,” I said. “Thanks to your little honesty policy, she slapped me.”
