Page 78 of Small Town Firsts

“Gonna hold you to that. I just saw the newPiratesmovie with Azalea.” I duck my head, waiting for him to give me shit about breaking tradition.

“Huh. Guess you’ll just have to watch it twice.”

“That I can do,” I tell him just as there’s a loud commotion in the background on his end. “What’s going on, Sim?”

It’s then that I hear it. Cash. He’s with . . . Cash. “Simon, are you with Cash right now?” Azalea shakes her head, but she doesn’t look the least bit surprised. Placing my hand over the speaker, I ask her, “You knew?”

“Yeah, I knew. Drake’s with them too. It’s not what you think though, Myla.”

“Someone’s gotta talk some sense into him,” Simon tells me.

“Simon McAlister! No. Please, no. As much as I love y’all—and Cash—this is my battle, not y’all’s. Please leave him alone. I’ve already caused him enough trouble and hurt. He doesn’t need you going allBig Brotheron his ass.”

“Might be too late for that. Gotta go—talk to you later.” He disconnects the call before I can say anything else, which pisses me off because I have a lot to say.

“Azalea Josephine, I can’t believe you right now. You set me up!”

“We did this because we love you and we hate seeing you hurt. Please don’t be mad.”

With a frustrated shake of my head, I resume walking toward her car. “I’m not mad, AzzyJo, just annoyed.”

“Well, hang on to that feeling then, because there’s more coming your way.” Her words are ominous, and I’m not quite sure what she means, but I’m too annoyed to ask.

God, I wish I would’ve asked.

CHAPTER 42

CASH

Four days.Four days without her smile. Her laugh. Her voice.Fuck.Four days without her touch. Four days, and I’m a goddamn mess.

I kept thinking she’d call again—praying she’d call again. But she didn’t, and I’m too prideful to call her. No, instead, I keep listening to her voicemails on repeat. I’ve read her texts so many times I’ve memorized them. I miss her so much that I don’t know what to do with myself.

But I’m also so fucking angry with her and hurt. She knows everything I went through with Kayla, and yet she so readily put me through it again. Makes me wonder if I ever even knew her.

My phone rings on the coffee table, and I lunge toward it, hoping it’s Myla Rose. Mad or not, I ache to hear her sweet voice. She’s like a sickness I can’t seem to purge. I deflate when I see Drake’s name on the screen, but I answer his call anyway. I’ve shut everyone out, and it’s well past time to rejoin the rest of the world, broken heart or not.

“Hey, D, what’s up?”

“Not much. You wanna drive out for lunch?” He sounds oddly hopeful, and I really do need to get outta the house.

“Yeah, I’ll see you in twenty.” I disconnect the call, hop in the shower, and throw on what I hope are clean clothes before hitting the road.

When I pullup to Drake’s, I’m instantly on edge. There are familiar vehicles scattered throughout his yard. Doing a quick inventory, I see Simon’s truck, Jake’s SUV, and . . . my mom’s Camry.What the hell is going on?

To ease my building anxiety, I reason that maybe it’s just a big BBQ, and all our families will be coming. Yeah, that’s it. Now if only I believed that.

I bypass knocking and let myself in. Shockingly, or maybe not, everyone is gathered in the living room as if they’d been waiting for me.

My mom is the first to greet me. “Cash, baby, I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Yeah, Mom, me too. Not to be rude, but why are y’all here?”

This time, it’s Simon who speaks up. “We have shit to say, and you need to listen. Drake volunteered his house. Figured you wouldn’t step foot in mine.” And he’d be right about that.

“Talk about what?” I ask, lowering myself into the only available chair. In the very center of the room. Seriously, I’m the middle of a goddamn circle. Yeah, this isn’t a family BBQ. Not at all.

“About Myla Rose,” Drake tells me.

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