Page 53 of North
“Yeah. If things between us don’t change I think this will be her last visit. I’m tired of draining myself and not getting anything in return.” A gorgeous smile found his full lips and his eyes crinkled in that delicious way that made my belly flop.
“Listen to you. That’s what I like to hear.” He reached over and squeezed my nipple sending zips of energy through my body.
As much as I wanted to lie in bed beside him all day, I had to pick up Sierra. Hanging out with her this weekend was my last attempt at salvaging our friendship.
…
When I pulled up in front of the tall brick building, Sierra was already waiting for me with a bag slung across her body. When she saw the truck slow to a stop, she grinned at me then hopped in.
“It took you long enough. Daddy let you borrow his truck again.” She gave a knowing look that made me shrink in my seat.
“I have enough saved up to get a car so I’ll probably treat myself for my birthday next month.” I noticed the instinctive way my hackles rose when Kane was mentioned. I wondered if I’d been purposefully ignoring red flags like that during our entire friendship.
“Starbucks must be paying you good. I still can’t manage to save up for my own car. Then again, I don’t have a father letting me live with him rent-free. It’s notreallyfree though, is it?”
I hated her insinuation. It made my fucking skin crawl. Heat prickled the tops of my cheeks as I drove away from Delta.
“I’m not fucking Kane to have a roof over my head and he’s not my father so stop calling him that. If you want to keep taking shots at me then you can stay right the fuck here in Delta for all I care.” I pulled the truck over to the side of the road and looked at Sierra with a blank expression.
Her mouth opened then closed but no words came out. I folded my arms across my chest and waited for her to say something one way or another. I was fed up.
“North, why are you being so dramatic? I was playing around with you. You know that.”
“Idon’tknow that. I don’t want to defend Kane around every corner with you. I trusted you enough to tell you about us and you’ve been throwing jabs at me every chance you get. It’s not cool, Sierra and I don’t want to deal with it.”
“Okay, shit. I won’t say anything else about you and Kane.” She held her hand up and rolled her eyes like I was inconveniencing her by voicing my issues.
“Thank you,” I snapped before pulling off. The ride back to Telluride was bone dry and quiet.
There was no sign of Kane when we got inside the house but maybe it was for the best.
When Sierra and I went to my room, she sat on the bed and stared at me while I straightened things up. I found myself walking on eggshells out of fear of what her next judgment would be.
“Hey, North.” Her voice was quiet and gentle, stopping me in my tracks. I looked at her for a few beats waiting for her to say something hurtful or bitter.
“Yeah?” I folded my arms and raised a brow in anticipation.
“I’m sorry for talking shit about you and Kane. I didn’t mean to upset you. I guess it feels weird to hear about you in a relationship and it’s definitely strange that it’s your dad.” She paused. “I won’t say another petty thing, I swear.” She placed one hand on her chest and the other hand in the air.
An apology?
I wasn’t expecting that.
“You’re…sorry?” I asked in disbelief. I almost laughed at how out of the blue it was.
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I was being a bitch.” She stood and held her arms out. “You forgive me?” She rushed me with a hug and I stood stiff as a board, blinking my eyes. I was fully prepared to distance myself from her and here she was making a complete turnaround.
“I forgive you,” I stammered, rubbing her back.
“Good. I can’t imagine having you be upset with me. That shit shook me on the way here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so mad.” She pulled back and looked at me with a smile and something else in her brown eyes that I couldn’t place. I ignored the twist of my stomach and chalked it up to residual exhaustion from holding up a one-sided friendship for so long.
Once she apologized, Sierra seemed to have her head on straight and I was grateful. We fell into an easy conversation about the same old bullshit happening at the steakhouse then I offered to show her around the house since I didn’t get a chance to the last time she was over.
“This is Kane’s art studio,” I said opening the door to the third bedroom on the second floor. Art pieces covered every surface of the walls and a once-white drop cloth covered the hardwood floor. The drop cloth was a work of art all by itself with the colors splashed and splattered on it.
“Oh wow. Look at all this stuff.” Her eyes widened as she walked in. She flipped through a stack of canvases leaning against the wall and I cringed.
“Don’t,” I said shaking my head. “Kane is serious about his art. The oils from your fingers might smudge something and I’d feel like shit if I messed up his inventory.”
