Page 21 of Restless
“What the fuck are you talking about, Harley?” CJ snarled, in spite of himself. “I don’t ask Molly to cut with me.”
“You do. You invite her on dates. You take her to lunch. You take her shopping.”
Mattie rolled her eyes. “Uh, bro, Maman, Aunt Zoann and me were with CJ when we took Molly shopping. You had rehearsals with Nardo.”
“I was at the hospital with Momma,” Rebel added, “so I couldn’t go. Ryan, the dickhead, was busy with his fuckface friends.”
“I gave money to buy Molly clothes, too,” Aunt Bailey said tightly, staring at Harley with that look of displeasure all mothers perfect. “CJwent in place of Meggie because she couldn’t go.”
“A biker who knows how to dress a Barbie,” Harley chortled, clapping. “Nice.”
“Dude,” Rebel said with a shake of her head.
“You’re lying to me,” Harley said, looking him in the eye to assert her charge. “She’s more than your lab partner. I have a bunch of photos as proof.”
“Stop, Harley,” Aunt Bailey said angrily. “CJ is going through enough. If anyone’s the liar, it’s you.”
Tears rushed to Harley’s eyes. “That isn’t true, Mommie,” she said on a sob. “I’m not lying about anything.”
No, she was lying abouteverything. Hurt to his core, CJ looked at Aunt Bailey. “She isn’t lying, Aunt Bailey. I was with her. I needed a friend to talk to.”
Not her. Not any longer. They’d made up at the club’s annual Thanksgiving dinner and, days later, they were back to the same place they’d been ever since Molly was assigned as his lab partner.
“Get in the car, girls,” Aunt Bailey instructed. Once they complied, she walked to CJ and hugged him. “I’m going to have a long talk with Harley, CJ. I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”
He hadn’t been sleeping the best lately because the house just wasn’t the same without Mom. Rebel cried a lot. Her bedroom had been moved to the second floor to make room for Jo on the third floor. Often times, CJ heard Rebel in her old room, sobbing softly. Aunt Bunny and Lolly kept them well-fed, while Diesel was back in his old room, serving as the adult on premises at night. Aunt Ophelia, Uncle Stretch, and Uncle Cash looked after Gunner.
Everything was different, and CJ was scared it would never be the same again. He hadn’t had the time to help Harley through her insecurities, but he was beginning to think no matter what he did, it wouldn’t be enough.Hecouldn’t fix her. Only she could work on herself. Yet, for now, he would protect her as best he could.
“Harley’s upset, Aunt Bailey,” he said, broken and lost. “Don’t be too hard on her. I shouldn’t have asked her to leave school.”
“You didn’t,” Aunt Bailey said crisply. “You would never do such a thing, nephew.”
“I cut class sometimes. Today was one of those days, and I needed Harley with me.”
“Sweetheart, thank you for always protecting Harley, but when she didn’t answer her phone, I called Lucas.”
Fuck.
CJ thrust his fingers through his hair. “I was with—”
“No, you were at school until Rebel called you, then you went to Turn Creek Bridge, where Harley already was.With Nardo.”
CJ groaned. “Next, they’ll intercept our texts.”
“Don’t give your daddy and your uncle ideas,” Aunt Bailey said with a shake of her head.
“Wait. How’d he know Nardo was with her?”
“After her lies and schemes got them on a date, Lucas met with Nardo and his father.”
“Oh, goddamn.” He’d had a meeting with Uncle Mort once and didn’t envy Nardo.
Aunt Bailey laughed.
“Harley didn’t cut, Aunt. She’d never. She got permission to go.” CJ rocked on his heels. “Something about a change of scenery to help along rehearsals.” How he said that shit with a straight face, he didn’t know.
At Aunt Bailey’s skeptical look, he grinned.
