Page 11 of Outlaw Heartstrings
She laughs, too, knowing full well what a pig he is, since she serves as a hostess at the restaurant where I work.
“So, are you going to tell me what the emergency was? Because as much as I like playing nurse, I don’t thinkthis”—her chin motions to my injury—“was the reason you had me rush my ass across town.” Jules knows me too well.
I chew on the inside of my cheek and she grabs my shoulder, shaking it. “What’s going on, Alba?”
“It’s…It’s Easton.”
An apprehensive look comes over her face as she presses a large band aid across my knee. “What about Easton?”
I swallow. “He’s back.”
A string of curses falls from her lips as the first aid kit clatters to the bathroom floor. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she whisper-yells. “He’s back? Like back in Fairy Bush?”
I nod.
Jules is the only one who knows. Aside from my twin sister, Raya—Jules is the only one who knows the secret that ties my family to Easton Raines. She has been my rock through this entire ride. She’s been there throughout it all.
So she understands that Easton being back in town is ahugedeal.
“He’s renting that nice house at the top of the hill.” I distractedly adjust my glasses on my nose. “I kind of crash-landed into his yard earlier when I got nosy and tumbled over the gate to his property.”
“What?!” Jules barks. Then she groans. “I’ve been telling you that you gotta chill with that. At least wait until you get your realtor license before you start peeping on all the houses in town. It’s creepy.” She stands up after picking up the first aid kit and putting it back in the cabinet. “How did it go, seeing him after all this time? Are you okay?”
“You mean aside from it being the most embarrassing moment of my life? A moment I’d like to never retell?”
“Oh, now Ihave toknow.” Her eyes widen with amusement and curiosity.
I point to my new injury as I hop off the counter and land on my feet. “Just know that it involved getting my kneebusted and showing a whole lot of ass to a man who was just as surprised to see me as I was him.”
She cackles, smacking my butt as I turn to face the mirror. “Wow.Thishot ass? Sounds like he got the better end of the deal.”
“Ouch!” I protest, batting her hands away. “Be serious, Jules.”
She throws her head back, cackling some more. “So, did you…talk?”
“Well, no. Not really.”
She tilts her head to the side and glares at my reflection. “Alba…”
“I was hoping…maybe I don’t have to talk to him.”
My best friend’s glare only goes sharper.
I try to justify it. “From what I understand, he’s not back-back. He’s just back for a little while as he recovers from his injury.” I grab a hand towel to finally clean my glasses. “He won’t be around for too long.”
“That’s not an excuse, Alba. Don’t you think this has gone on long—”
Before Jules can finish reprimanding me for being a chicken, I catch the sound of the front door swinging open. “We’re ho-o-ome!” my mother announces from the living room.
“In here!” I yell back, and then Jagger is bounding down the hall, into the bathroom Jules and I are still holed up in.
After everything that happened, Mom and I were lucky enough to find this duplex. She lives in the unit downstairs, and I live on the second floor with Jagger. The place could use a bit of sprucing up, but the landlord is understanding and the rent is cheap. Thank goodness, because I’ve had to chip in to help Mom cover her own bills on more than one occasion in recent times.
“Mimi!” Jagger lets out a gasp when he sees Jules tossing my bloody paper towels into the trash bin. “Mimi, what happened?”
“Oh, I’m okay, sweetie. I was being silly and fell and hurt my knee.”
His eyes—those eyes that look so much like his father’s—well up as he wraps his arms around me tightly. I hug him back, cradling his tiny body against me.
