Page 8 of I Knew He Was Trouble
Let’s just say that not many of my memories surrounding them are positive. After they divorced, they used me to keep tabs on the other. Then, when I became a legal adult, I fell out of touch with my father. The few times a year that I hear from my mother, she asks me for money or cries about her most recent breakup, reminding me that love never lasts.
I clear my throat and force a smile—this evening with my friends is supposed to be fun. “What are your happies and crappies, Lyss?”
She eyes me like she knows it’s certainlynotfine, but concedes to my wish to change the conversation. “My crappy is that I have to miss Austin’s first playoff game tomorrow because I’m covering for someone on maternity leave at the salon.”
Mallory, Shayna, and I share a knowing look. All of us think Alyssa’s in love with her best guy friend, Austin Bradford. Yes,thatAustin Bradford—the star shortstop for the Louisville Mustangs. Even though Alyssa swears she and Austin are only friends, she has yet to convince us that’s true.
“And my happy is that I gave the best balayage of my life this week to one of the MLB players’ girlfriends. Now she’s referring all the other WAGs my way.”
“WAGs?” Mallory raises an eyebrow.
“Wives and girlfriends of professional athletes.”
“Oh, so you’re going to be a WAG soon.” Shayna smiles conspiratorially.
Alyssa rolls her eyes. “Like I’ve told y’all a million times, Austin and I arejustfriends.”
“I don’t believe you’rejustanything, but whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night.” Mallory tilts her head, leaving no room for arguments.
Trying to bring the conversation back around, I smile at Alyssa. “Having all of them book with you has to be great for business.”
“Yeah, my schedule is filling up fast.”
“That’s awesome, Lyss,” Shayna says as I make another careful swipe of nail polish on my thumb.
“What movie—” Someone knocking on the front door cuts off my question.
“I’ll get it.” Shayna pops up from the couch and rounds the corner to our foyer. Winston chases after her.
I only hear the mumblings of conversation before Shayna reappears in the living room with Tyler behind her. When he spots all of us on the couch, he rubs the back of his neck, making the muscles in his arm ripple. I try not to stare, but I can’t help it. Even if I can’t stand the man, I can still appreciate good muscles. I mean, if he’s waking me up at four-thirty every morning, he’d better have good muscles to show for it.
But his biceps don’t tell me why he’s standing in my living room right now, looking like he wishes he could run right back out the door and never return.
He points toward our front door. “I’m sorry, I should go. It looks like I’m interrupting.”
“It’s just girls' night,” Alyssa says, always the one to ease the tension in any room.
“We have it every week,” Shayna adds with a smile.
Mallory gives Tyler a once-over as he takes a step back. “You already came over and interrupted, so you may as well just say whatever you came over for.”
There’s the blunt bestie I know and love. If there’s ever anyone I go to when I want them to tell it to me straight, Mal’s my girl.
I can’t help but admit that I’m curious why he came over, too. Even Winston is standing on guard behind our guest, assessing him.
Tyler has never knocked on our door in the two years we’ve been his next-door neighbors, so I can only imagine what’s making him come to us now. Maybe he’s baking and needs an egg or a cup of sugar. Maybe he has taken a second job as a pest control salesman and wants to sell us his service. Or, if I’m lucky, maybe he has finally learned the errors of his ways and is coming to apologize for all the early-morning workouts and promise to delete his hip-hop playlist forever.
After a longing glance toward our foyer, Tyler turns back to us with a sigh. “I know I haven’t been the best neighbor, and I’m sorry for that, but I’m in a bit of a situation and was wondering if one of you might be able to help me out.”
Mallory sits up taller, angling all her sass at him. “You’re here asking for our help, but do you even know our names?”
“Alyssa, Mallory, Shayna, and Kelsey.” Her eyebrows raise, and he laughs awkwardly, motioning to me. “Kelsey told me all your names when she dropped off my mail after y’all moved in. Although, I’m not entirely sure who’s who.”
Shayna smiles warmly beside him and shakes his hand. “I’m Shayna Monroe. Happy to finally make your acquaintance, Tyler.”
“Alyssa Cartwright.” She runs her fingers through her blonde waves. “Nice to finally meet you.”
He offers them both a closed-lip smile in return before turning to Mal.
