Page 61 of Show Me How to Heal
Just… not today.
BREAKING NEWS: AFTER MONTHS OF FORMER STAR FOOTBALL PLAYER LUKAS RICHTER BEING ABSENT FROM THE PUBLIC EYE, HE’S FINALLY BEEN FOUND!
Chapter 16
Zayne
One day to go.
I swallowed, looking at myself in the mirror while my hands did their thing on their own, grabbing the comb to detangle my hair. The roots did look a little shiny, I realized, but if I put the hair into a bun, I could easily go two or even three more days without having to wash it — at least if it wasn’t for the grand opening tomorrow. I’d wash my hair tomorrow morning so it had enough time to air dry. Maybe I’d even wear it open for the special occasion — something I rarely did because by the end of the day, my hair was a tangled mess. Maybe some kind of half-up with a couple of braids and those cool wooden beads I’d ordered off Etsy.
And I’d need sleep.
Damn. I looked like hell. Well, more like a vampire with ashen skin and dark bags under his eyes, which was not a good look for someone as tan as me.
The last couple of days had been… hard, to say the least. Getting security on such short notice had been awful, and if it hadn’t been for a company Corey had designed the website for, I might’ve been shit out of luck. I owed him — and the company, and the employees of said company that were willing to work overtime to squeeze me in. At least it was going to be an easy job for them. It was an opening of a soap shop. The worst that could happen were uber-excited fans. Those security guys were used to other stuff, so this was going to be a piece of cake.
I grabbed an acrylic hair stick, put it in my mouth, and started twisting my hair up, my hands automatically knowing what to do. Twenty seconds later, I grabbed the stick with my free hand while the other one was holding the bun upright until I’d shoved the stick through it. A little pulling here and there, and I was ready to go.
With one last glance back in the mirror, I decided I’d go to bed early tonight and maybe take a sleeping pill; otherwise, I might just keel over tomorrow.
At least I wouldn’t have to do it all alone.
Luke was going to be there.
He’d been my rock during the last couple of weeks, calming me down if I got ahead of myself again. I don’t know how I would’ve done it without him. The fact that I’d thought I was in no position to enter a relationship… looking back, it seemed ridiculous. Luke had been exactly what I needed, and he didn’t get tired of telling me I was exactly what he’d needed.
Though there was something going on with him. I felt it. If he wasn’t talking me off the ledge, he was tense, nervous, almost skittish around me, always looking over his shoulder as if he were expecting to be jumped at any moment — and not the good kind of jumped.
It was probably the stress getting to him, too. I couldn’t expect him not to be affected by all the stress and pressure since he was the one managing the shop on his own.
Which was as impressive as it was unfair. We’d need to talk about it — and we would. After the grand opening.
And if he was still so damn jumpy after the opening, well, I just had one more topic to talk to him about.
Grabbing my shoes — the ones he’d gifted me since I was basically living in them now — I put them on, snatched my backpack, and left the house in a hurry. I still needed to get the last of the products I’d made last night into my truck before heading over to my shop.
I’d just opened the door to the shed when my phone started ringing. By the time I’d managed to pull it out of my pocket, it’d gone to voicemail.
Avery.
He hadn’t left a message.
I hesitated. Did I have to call him back right now? I was already behind my schedule, having taken just a couple of extra minutes to drink my coffee in peace. He’d call again if it were urgent, wouldn’t he? On the other hand, I’d been neglecting him as it was, too busy with Luke and my store.
I was still contemplating my options when my phone started ringing in my hand.
This time, however, it wasn’t Avery calling; it was his boyfriend, Mason.
I furrowed my brows, heart plummeting. Mason rarely called me. We got along just fine. I’d even call us friends by now, but apart from a group chat we had going on with Adam that was seldom used, we didn’t have that much contact.
Had something happened?
Something must’ve happened for him to call me.
Was it about Avery?
No, he’d tried calling himself, so he should be fine.
