Page 46 of Forever Home

“Yeah,” I reply, shaking my head. “She tried telling me she was fine, but I could hear it in her voice, Sam. Something’s wrong with her.”

I catch her looking at me from the corner of my eye as she nods. “Okay, well… I brought wine in case we need it.”

Shit. I’m probably in more desperate need of the wine than Kylie is.

The moment we pull up, my feet pull me towards the door and straight into the direction of the only place she could end up being if she’s upset. Her makeshift gallery in the garage.

“There you are! We’ve been looking all over for you!” Sam exclaims the moment we walk into the garage. My eyes drift towards the painting in Kylie’s hands, knowing full well it’s the sexy painting of my dream man fucking the life out of a spicy young redhead.

“You know what?” Kylie says, sniffing. “This is a terrible painting.”

I watch as she picks up a container of liquid in an attempt to pour it over her painting. My eyes widen at her action as I dart forward and snatch the painting away from her, shock consuming me at why she would want to ruin something so beautiful.

“Oh no you don't! You’re not destroying my fantasy painting.”

“What’s going on, Kylie?” Sam asks softly, stepping towards her.

I knew she had been in New York and only just had gotten back, but I figured she would have been happy considering the last two weeks she has been doing nothing but sending selfies smiling. And judging by the glow on her face, it was obvious that there was a lot going on with her and Dante.

When she shakes her head, refusing to talk, Sam glances at me as if looking for a suggestion but honestly—I don’t know what to say. Seeing Kylie like this makes me wonder if love or anything for that matter is even worth it. I’d contemplated my standpoint on it recently, after spending time talking with Jaxson since he’s been gone, but even that died off.

First, Sam’s upset because of Asher, though they got together. And now she’s over the moon with everything. But now, Kylie.

I’m not sure I want to feel the pain they have been put through. Even if one of them is smiling now.

“I know what will make you feel better,” Samantha says with a smile as she takes the painting from Kylie’s hand and sets it aside, before pulling her from the garage. My mind is completely lost to what Sam’s doing as I mindlessly follow behind the two of them.

Though the moment we step into the backyard, and I see where Sam’s heading, both Kylie and I began to laugh. Even if Sam is more than serious about our destination. As we climb up and settle into our usual spots from back in the day I can’t help but think back to how this was our ritual when we were kids.

How the three of us would spend hours up here venting about boys and the stupid stuff people said or did. And when one of us was upset, we all met here to talk it through and make each other smile.

Sam barely gives it a minute before she dives right into business. “What happened with Dante?”

“Kylie loves him,” I say solemnly. “She loves the cold-hearted bastard. Only heartache can make someone cry like this.”

As much as part of me had hoped that Kylie would have been happy with him. That perhaps he would have turned his shit around, I should have known better. Dante has always been a prick. Even when we were kids, he gave everyone shit when he was around.

As far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t deserve her.

Hiccupping, Kylie begins to tell us just what an asshole Dante is, only making me despise him further. That is until the sound of someone coming up the treehouse ladder causes her to stop speaking. All of our eyes drift towards the entrance as we wait to see who is intruding on our girl time.

A couple of moments later, Knox’s head becomes visible through the trap door. He looks around at the three of us, grins, then climbs in the rest of the way.

“I’m so proud of you!” Knox says to Kylie before glancing at Sam and me. “Did Kylie tell you how she stood up for herself, and us, against Dante?”

What the fuck?

“Oh? No, she didn’t,” I gasp faking hurt as I raise a pointed brow in her direction.

“I haven’t had a chance,” Kylie says defensively. “Besides, I didn’t really do that much.”

Knox crawls on his hands and knees over to where Kylie is sitting before taking up his usual spot.

“Is that what you think?” He chuckles, shaking his head and leaving me to wonder what mysterious shit our sweet Kylie had gotten up to in New York. She isn’t someone to put anyone in their place, so for Knox to be acting the way he is, makes me more curious.

“My brother tore up the plans for the condo development,” he continues, nodding his head when he sees Kylie’s surprised expression. “It’s true.”

“Really?” she asks.

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