Page 113 of Seeking Two Lovers

Shouldn’t have drunk all that damn wine.

“He wouldn’t have sent that to you if he wasn’t wishing you were there,” Haley murmured, leaning close to check out the image. “If they had gotten it on and Grey decided he wanted Blaine all to himself for the rest of his life, he’d ghost you just like all the other assholes who lose interest after a weekend of free pussy and ass.”

I squeezed above her knee at the jaded tone, and another message popped up.

Grey: His sister called right after I got off the phone with you…long story. Missed you tonight while I helped distract him. Major walls came down between us, but you were never far from our thoughts. When can we see you again?

“Oh God.” I swallowed against a torrent of tears that wanted to pour down my face, my insides going all gooey. I damn near swooned at the relief that flooded through me.

Haley let out a sigh at the same time I did. “I’m so jelly right now, I can’t even.”

“Hal…”

“It’s okay, really,” my cousin murmured. “I’m happy for you. Truly.” Wetness coated her dark eyes, making them appear like melting chocolate.

My heart yearned to head over to Grey’s immediately, but between my still-buzzed brain and Haley’s depression I could feel ramping up from a mile away, I wasn’t about to leave her alone.

I texted Grey a smiley face to let him know my lips curved upward, a hearts-for-eyes emoji since I was falling hard and fast, and a promise for the following weekend. Usually, I had trouble seeing through my promises, but nothing would keep me from my boys come Friday night.

When Haley spiraled, I feared her falling in deep enough she would end up in a psych ward like her mom even though my cousin had always been more focused and mentally healthy like her father.

Tucking my phone away, I pulled my closest friend back against my side and continued to play with her hair even though my thoughts and heart wished to be far away.

Haley had never gotten physical attention as a child, the kind of touch that offered affirmation and appreciation. Her dad had been a chickenshit, bowing to his tyrant wife’s every whim and mood.

Haley had been left alone in her own emotions with no one to guide her.

Every time I squeezed her or petted her like a cat, she went all limp. Soaking that shit up, she’d say, oftentimes laughing because she owned how starved she was for affection.

“What’s going to happen when they ask you to move in?” she asked, her tone resigned and quiet.

I opened my mouth to assure her I wasn’t even thinking that far ahead, but she cut me off.

“It’s going to be in the next couple of weeks. I can feel it. And you’d be crazy to say no. From all you’ve told me, from the texts from both men, they’re so far gone on you, you could wrap them both up around your pinkies.”

“It’s too soon.”

“Is it?” She slurred and snuggled in closer, the near-empty bottle tipping almost sideways across the couch.

I took it from her light grasp and set it on the end table.

“Life is fucking short,” she muttered, well on her way toward that drunken stupor she’d been chasing. “Grab it by the balls, Lily. Ride that damn roller coaster with your arms held high, screaming at the top of your lungs. Nothing holding you back. Speed forward and enjoy every second.”

“I’m not leaving you alone.”

“I’ll be fine. There are always people looking for rooms to rent.”

“Why the hell are we even talking about this?” I groaned, tipping my head back against the couch. “I’ve fucked them all of twice—”

“Thought it was three in thirty-six hours and once before that?”

“—way too fast for that option to be set on the table.”

“It will be. I’d bet money on it.” Haley sounded so damn sure of herself that a selfish flutter of hope spun through my veins.

33

BLAINE

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