Page 50 of The Late Hit
Chloe nods her head before yelling Macy’s name. Macy comes tromping down the stairs, sleep lines still marking her face.
Sliding into the kitchen, she asks. “Where’s the fire?”
“In Brynn’s pants,” Chloe quips.
Macy’s eyes widen. “Shit, girl. Do we need to get you to urgent care? I’m sure it’s a treatable one.”
Chloe throws her head back with a huge cackle. “Not that kind of crotch fire.”
Turning her back to me, her hands slap against her thighs as her laugh continues. “Our Brynn was just seen kissing a very attractive, very sweet CTU running back on the front porch.”
I internally smack my palm against my forehead. These bitches aren’t going to make this easy.
“What?” Macy screams. “You two this whole time?”
Before answering her, I reach up to grab a mug from the cupboard beside my head. Pouring a hot cup of freshly brewed coffee, I savor the delicious aroma. Grabbing the Bailey’s next to the coffee maker, I pour a heavy shot or two into my mug. I’m going to need coffee with a kick to get through this conversation.
Hopping up on the counter, I turn and sit. It’s time the girls learn my story, the whole story. Starting with losing my brother and boyfriend.
A soft knock sounds from my bedroom door. Sitting up, I feel a strand of drool slide down my cheek.Gross. Using the sleeve of my hoodie, I wipe off the drool. The last thing I remember was curling up under my blankets to watch a sailing reality show. A nap wasn’t on my agenda for the day, but, apparently, my body had other plans.
Telling the girls brought out a lot of emotions. Tears were shed by all of us. Both of them were justifiably hurt that I kept something of this magnitude from them, but it’s not a story I open with. And as time went on, it felt like it was too late to share. Eventually, they understood my reasoning, especially when I shared the crazy turn of events from my weekend with Quinton.
“Where do you two go from here?” Chloe asks as concern laces her expression.
“That’s the thing, Chlo, I have no idea.” Releasing a sigh, my head falls backward to rest against my headboard. “We never discussed what happened. And while things were happening, we left it as we were doing whatever felt right. There’s no way we are just a hook-up. That’ll ruin everything, but I don’t date.”
“Yeah, there’s no way just a hook-up will end well,” Macy added.
“What’s your heart saying?” Chloe asks.
Out of the three of us, Chloe is the emotionally deep one. She’s always trying to figure us out. You’d think that’d be me, the future psychologist, but I never think about intuition. She feels all the feels. She’s always asking us the hard questions, really digging into our emotions to see how situations make us feel. While I’m the one who wants to be a counselor, I don’t ever dig deeper. It’s not because I’m self-absorbed, I hate when my friends are hurting. My instinct is to shut down and process, while Chloe’s is to not let emotions fester like an open wound, but to work on healing.
“My heart is saying it’ll only end up hurt in the end, with more pain I don’t have the strength to endure. My head is telling me to really think it through…” I pause, letting the words settle around us while I gather more thoughts. “And then my body is telling me to screw everything and get his hands back on me.”
The girls both give a small chuckle, but it’s Macy who responds first. “That good, huh?”
“Yeah, Mace, that fucking good.”
Silence falls over the room, no one having more to add. Both girls know I need more time to process everything.
“I didn’t realize I fell asleep,” I say, reaching over and checking the time on my phone. “Shit, I slept for like four hours.”
“Yeah.” Chloe laughs. “You needed it.” We both look up at each other. She’s concerned for me. And I appreciate it because, deep down, I’m concerned too. “I just wanted to let you know that family dinner is going to be about ten of us.”
My eyes snap to my hairline.
“Okay. Who all is coming?”
Every Sunday night, the girls and I host a family dinner. It’s open to any of our friends, we just ask that you give us a heads-up on whether or not you’re coming, so we can have plenty prepared.
“Don’t stress about it. Macy and I have it handled. I just wanted to give you a head’s up because it might be a little…awkward,” she says hesitantly.
“Chloe…” I whine.
Her body language shifts, and she lets out a deep sigh.
“Us three, JP, Grant, Tyler, Quinton, Crew, Cody, and Hudson.”
