Page 35 of No, You Hang Up

She laughs, but it’s a fake, filtered sound. “My husband is like that. I hate to tell you this, but it doesn’t get better.” She looks around my small house while I watch her, still forcing myself not to let on that I’m a little freaked out. “This is nice,” she says finally. “I don’t meet a lot of girls your age living alone in nice houses like this.”

“My Aunt Hortense left it to me.” That part is easy, since it’s the truth. “She died last year and gave me this place. It was, umm, really nice of her.”

“Your family local?”

“No.” God, this is worse than being asked about Hux. “They’re in Florida. Pensacola, actually. I’m the only one that ever got out of the state other than the late, great Hortense.”

“Must be hard for you.” She gives me a comforting smile. “To be so far away from everything you know.”

But I can’t answer her right away this time. I’m too busy considering how shitty of a childhood I had. How much I always wanted to get away from my parents, my family, and everything else down there. I lean back, curling my legs up under me with a sigh. “Something like that,” I agree in a noncommittal way. “So, is there something wrong? Did something happen with Hux?” I try to sound like a worried girlfriend, instead of like I’m really just anxious.

“Probably not. But he was definitely here all night when you said he was?” Her gaze sharpens—no matter how much she tries to hide the sudden intensity—and I feel her full attention trained on me as I bite my lip and try to look pensive.

“Yeah? I mean, I doubt he could’ve snuck out without me waking up. I tend to sleep, uh, attached to him like a sloth. That’s really cute, right?” I scrunch my nose in false embarrassment, and immediately her shoulders fall in both disappointment and expected relief.

“Adorable.” Diaz gets to her feet and heads to the door, stopping to look at the little glass bowl that holds my keys. “I’m sorry for ruining your morning,” she apologizes, and with her free hand, she pulls the door handle to admit the sunlight from outside.

And the unmistakable voice of Patrice.

My groan is full of real frustration, and Diaz gives me an understanding grimace. “Don’t worry,” she tells me. “I’ll try to ensure there’s nothing for her to talk to the HOA about.” I follow her as she heads to the side of my driveway, where both Huxley and the male officer are standing and looking at Patrice with varying degrees of dislike.

Huxley, at least, is putting on his best indulgent smile, but I can see the tightness in his face and the boredom in his gaze. The officer, however, is staring at her with plain dislike on his features while she talks about something I refuse to let filter into my brain.

“Everything okay?” Hux asks. He’s the first one to notice me, and when I stand beside him, he throws an arm over my shoulders affectionately.

“Everything’s fine,” Diaz assures him, and looks at Patrice with her faux smile. “We just needed some questions answered about the other night. Did you know there’s been some robberies a few streets over?” She draws Patrice away, walking back across the street with her as she engages her in the juiciest kind of conversation that she can.

But the male officer, Whitman, certainly doesn’t look pleased. He glares at the two of us behind his aviators before letting out a huff. “Whatever.” He’s almost disappointed, if I had to guess, and I can somehow sense that his eyes are on Hux instead of me. “You have a good day.” With that, he strides back to the car, and minutes later, Diaz joins him with a quick wave in our direction.

“See?” Huxley kisses my temple. “That wasn’t so bad?” But I can feel the tension in his grip, and when he nuzzles into me again, it’s with a slight sense of hesitation. “What did she want to know?”

The sunlight is warm on my skin, and it seems to sink into me just like his touch. I let out a breath and turn to him, eyes narrowed. “She wanted to know how well I knew you and where you were three nights ago. I said you were here, and that I knew you a little bit. Not overly well or anything, just…” I shrug. “That you’re a good guy.”

He snorts, and I narrow my eyes up at him. “I lied for you.” The words feel like an accusation, and the only response I get is a cocky ass grin as he leans down to kiss me again on the temple, though this time it feels almost mocking.

“You did,” Hux agrees sweetly. “And so you’ve earned staying alive another day. Another week. Another fifty years, if you don’t do something stupid. That’s what you want, right?” He steps away from me, and I watch as something in him…changes. Like some mask comes over his face, even though I can see his smile plain as day.

“I’ll leave you alone now, Kaira,” he tells me in a way that confuses and frustrates me. I don’t reply, because his words are jarring. Unexpected.

Unwanted.

“I’ll leave you alone. That’s what you want, right?” But he doesn’t give me a chance to respond. He just reaches out, his fingers coming close to my face before dropping, then gives me a rueful smile before he heads down the street to where a black SUV is parked on the curb, shiny and nonchalant.

All I can do is watch him go while I try to figure out what I’m supposed to say or do.

Or feel.

sixteen

“Ithink she’s dying. Like, I really don’t think she’ll make it. No life-saving measures required, because there’s really nothing to?—”

I cut Mads off with a sigh, opening my eyes as I drag my arm off of my face. “You’re being dramatic,” I tell both of my friends, though my eyes linger on the offerings of burritos from my favorite place. “Is there queso in there?”

“Always,” Em assures me, striding past me to walk to the kitchen.

“Do I get it without having to give anything in return, or is this some kind of bribe or coercion?” I ask, and next the sound that leaves me is somewhere between a groan and a dramatic rattling of air. I know the answer when Mads doesn’t immediately reassure me to the contrary, and I drop my arm back over my face. “Then I don’t want it.”

Mads snorts and sits on the sofa, moving my legs by force when I clearly don’t want to do it for her. “You want it. Kaira—” She jerks her hand off of my leg theatrically. “Have you stopped shaving in this random depression?”

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