Page 104 of Beneath the Hood

All the air is sucked out of my lungs. “How do you know?”

“That’s not important.” She waves her hand.

My fist slams down on my knee, my jaw squeezing so tight it feels like it’s bruising. “Howdo you know, Sierra?”

With every second that goes by, the balloon of tension grows, waiting for her to say the words—a prick to ignite the explosion.

She sighs. “Kayla called and told me.”

Boom.

My ears ring from the fury that erupts in my veins, something dark and thick oozing from every orifice.

“She was worried about you.” Sierra moves in closer, placing her hand on my leg. “Both of us are.”

I snap, my hand reaching out and tossing Sierra’s away roughly, my body shaking from how hard I’m tensing my muscles to try and maintain control. I want to race across the city, hunt down that backstabbing bitch and throttle her.

How could she?

My mind spins like a merry-go-round, lost in my madness, and I know that if I don’t get it together, I’ll crumble where I sit.

And I don’t want to crumble right now. I want to find Kayla and demand to know why.

I stand up so fast my head spins, my fists tightening against my sides.

One. Two. Three.

“What are you doing?” Sierra asks, her voice rising in pitch.

“Leaving.”

“Youcan’tleave, Blakely, we have tons to do tonight.”

“I don’t care, Sierra. You’re spending your time trying to set me up on a date with a sexual harasser and telling me not to be with the man I love, and forwhat? Because he doesn’t fit some bullshit standard?”

“That’s exactly why!” she screeches. “He doesn’t fit the standard, Blakely.Yourstandard. He’s too old, and too middle-income. It doesn’t look good. Itwon’tlook good. When you started your career you had two choices. Do you remember? You either become someone they can relate to, or someone they wish they could be. And you chose the latter, so guess what, you can’t have everything you want. Because dating some nobody who is almost a decade older than you? That’s not something most people wishfor.”

My hands reach up and tug on my strands. “This issostupid.”

She shrugs. “It is what it is.”

Huffing out a laugh, I try to ignore the Mack truck that’s barreling through my insides going a hundred miles an hour. “Yeah, Sierra. It is what it is. I’m leaving.”

I walk away without a second glance.

The urge to head straight to the gym is strong, but the need to hunt down Kayla is stronger. So, even though I told Lennox he could have the evening off, I stomp back to his cottage, the quickness of my blood pumping through my veins making my face hot with anger.

I can’t believe she told Sierra.

Maybe later, when my mind clears of its red haze, I’ll be able to look back on my friendship with Kayla and find where we veered off course so badly—when she became someone I couldn’t confide in and turned into this person who would go behind my back and ruin the only good thing I have in my life.

Or maybe she was always playing a role for me, the same way I play a role for the masses.

My fist pounds against the front door to Lennox’s cottage, waiting for what feels like hours until I hear shuffling and muffled voices.

Shit.Does he have company?

Sucking my bottom lip into my mouth, I wait, guilt pressing down on my chest for being so selfish. For running back here when it’s clear he’s taking advantage of the night off I gave him.

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