Page 124 of Heartbeats & Highways

“Maybe.” I shrugged. “But you want something real with Roman, right? So he deserves the truth.”

“So does Savage.”

Maybe she was right. Maybe I needed to come clean and tell him everything. The idea of doing that made bile stew in my belly.

But if I wanted to build a life with Savage, something that lasted, he deserved to know every part of me. Every wretched dark part of me.

Chapter 32

Days later,Brooklyn texted that the apartment was finally ready for me to move into. During the deep clean, they’d found a leaky sink pipe, and it needed fixing, so there had been a delay. With the help of Cozy, Roman, and Virgil, I moved into the apartment above the bakery. Not that Savage and I had a lot of belongings, but Roman and Virgil refused to let me lift anything.

“They’re just clothes,” I protested as the two of them unloaded the back of my SUV that had gotten a new battery, courtesy of a club prospect.

“Doesn’t matter,” Virgil said. “We’re gentlemen.”

“Yeah, even if you had a couch, Virgil and I would take care of it.”

“We need to have a party for you,” Virgil said.

“A housewarming party?”

“That and we need to celebrate you getting your license,” Roman said.

“I don’t need a party,” I insisted.

“You’re getting a party. Roman, Homer, Jazz, Brielle, and I all got a party when we passed,” Virgil explained.

“Yeah, but I’m not part of your family.”

“Yes, you are,” Roman said. “Cozy, get the door, will ya?”

“Sure,” she said.

I stopped walking and stared after the three of them.

“What?” Virgil asked. “Are you okay?”

I promptly burst into tears.

“Oh man,” Virgil muttered. “Not again.”

“Come on, you little hormone stew,” Cozy said, marching over and wrapping an arm around me. “Let’s get you settled.”

Two hours later, my fridge was stocked, the clothes were put away, and the four of us were chowing down on pizza.

Jazz and Brielle came up to see the apartment on their breaks.

“Brooklyn asked me to give you a rundown of the security system,” Jazz said, grabbing a second slice of pizza. “So I’ll come up after work. Sound good?”

I nodded.

“You sure you don’t want me to stay the night with you?” Cozy asked. “First night in a new place, you know?”

She looked at me, her face wreathed with concern. I knew her offer wasn’t completely altruistic—she wanted to stay with me, so she didn’t cave and invite Roman to spend the night with her. Cozy still hadn’t told Roman about her past and how she wanted to shape her future.

But I wasn’t going to be her scapegoat.

“No, I think it’ll be good to be here by myself.” I looked around. “Bond with the place, you know?”

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