Page 96 of Beneath the Hood

I wipe my hands on a terry cloth towel and grab my keys off the shelf, turning to look at her. “I’m assuming you need a ride back to wherever you’re staying?”

She smiles a big, toothy grin. “Honestly, I miss that car more than you. It’s the real reason I’m even here.”

A loud laugh bursts from my throat and I shake my head. Walking toward the garage door to set the alarms for the night I throw my arm over her shoulder. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you back.”

An hour later, I’m sitting in my living room, going over everything that’s happened in the past few hours.

My phone is resting on my thigh, faceup, in case I get a text or a call from Blakely, and a pressure weighs down on my chest with every minute that the screen stays dark.

Earlier tonight, I missed her calls. And her texts.

And now it’s radio silence.

Where is she?

It isn’t like her to ignore my calls. Even when she’s in the midst of her busy schedule, she always responds. Lets me know that she’s still there. That she’s thinking of me.

Lennox gave me his number for emergencies a while back, before we even got together, and I’d be lying if I said this was the first time I thought about using it to get him to let me in the house.

He’s the reason I was able to get to her after the day on her pool deck, when I found her almost catatonic on her bathroom floor. But these days her dad spends more time at home, and the last thing I want is to run into him before he knows about us. And that leaves me completely helpless. A ball of anxiety churning in my gut as I wait for some type of recognition.

Something that lets me know she’s okay.

But all I get is silence.

44

Jackson

The next morning, I wake up before my alarm, my sleep being plagued by nightmares of Blakely needing me and being all alone. Unease circles in my stomach, the need to talk to her overriding every other thought in my brain.

I reach to the side table, grabbing my phone before my eyes are fully open, wanting to see if I missed a response from Blakely.

Nothing yet.

Calling into work, I tell the temp at the front desk that I won’t be in today, my stomach souring at the reminder that Blakely no longer works there.

Brushing the thought aside, I pick up the phone and send her a good morning text before dialing the number I’ve been avoiding for months, figuring that if Alina is here, I might as well take the time to be with her. She’s never traveled outside of Tennessee. Never been on a plane. Her coming here at all is a big step for her.

I just hope Chase stays away.

My jaw clenches at the thought of him. At the sheeraudacityof him tagging along. But I won’t lie and say that part of me doesn’t want him to force his way into the time, make amends for all the ways he let me, and our friendship, down.

But I know better than to hope. If he wanted to, he would. And so far, he hasn’t.

“Good mornin’, Teeth!” Lee’s chipper, her voice like sunshine peeking through blinds, and a smirk creeps on my face before I can stop myself. It’s good to hear her talk, and it’s even better not feeling old wounds bleed whenever she does.

I think my heart is mended. Now it’s another girl who’s responsible for the beats.

“Hey, sweetheart. Ready to get some Jax lovin’ in today?” I joke, falling easily into the banter that flows so effortlessly between us.

“Yes!” she squeals. Energy rushes my body, suddenly excited to show someone from back home my neck of the woods. My mom won’t come to Cali, the memories too rough for her to relive, and it’s been lonely out here, not being able to share my present with anyone from my past.

“Okay.” I smile. “I’ll be there in an hour to pick you up.”

“I’ll be wearin’ bells and whistles.”

I open my mouth, ready to tell her not to lethimtag along, but I hold back, deciding to let things play out, see if the jealousy will show the way it used to when we were kids.

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