Page 65 of Where Love Lies

“Tenly is here to see you.” He jerks his thumb over his shoulder.

“Rain, up, up, up! Today is the day!” she hollers from the hallway, and I fall back onto my pillow with a loud groan.

“It’s an evening party Tenly!” I grumble, wanting more sleep.

“Well, we have lots of setup to do, so let’s get to it.” Pulling the blanket from my face, Tenly is now standing over me.

“And while we’re doing it, you can explain to me how you ended up with Rhodes answering your door this morning.” Her voice lighter as if she doesn’t want him to hear.

“Nothing to tell, he’s my…bodyguard.” I nearly laugh saying it out loud. Her brows furrow, eyes wider than before in that dumb, clueless way she has a tendency of making.

“From who?”

Sitting up, swinging my feet over the bed, I look over at Paige, finding her hiding under the covers, before I focus back on Tenly.

“Really? You have no idea?” She is always looking out her windows at what’s going on. Blinking away the sleep from my eyes, I notice her tennis skirt and tight white shirt. I swear the woman’s wardrobe is nothing but athletic gear. Does she even play tennis?

“Well, Asher came home the day before yesterday and I’ve been busy.” She purses her lips, pretending to pick something off her skirt.

“Wait, does that mean we will meet him tonight?” I ask.

Her mouth beams into a huge Colgate smile as she nods excitedly.

“Alright, let me change and get some coffee in me and I’ll meet up with you and see what needs to be done.”

Tucking a hair behind her ear, she spins on the heel of her white tennis shoe and leaves the room.

“Mom, we need more locks,” Paige grumbles from under the blanket beside me, when did she slip in here to sleep?

“Well, it doesn’t help if someone lets them in,” I say, grabbing my robe from the door as I set out to find Rhodes. My feet pitter patter on the cold floor until finally hitting some carpet in the living room. Rhodes is sitting on the couch, his cup of coffee on the table in front of him, while the TV blares the news.

His head lifts up, and he rubs his chin.

“Sorry about that, I opened the door to see what she wanted and she threw a tantrum to see you, figured if I didn’t just let her inside, she was going to wake ya’ll anyhow.”

“Yeah, if only I had an ounce of her energy,” I mutter, walking to the kitchen for my morning fuel.

“So, I reached out to some brothers, a couple are going to ride out and stay at the party thing tonight, just to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

“I bet Tenly will love that.” I chuckle, imagining leather-cladded bikers standing like angry statues in the fucking suburbs.

“She’ll get over it,” he clips, sipping his coffee. His sharp tone has me looking up through my lashes at him, his wild anger quite attractive.

“Do you know what Tenly is wanting us to do?” I try to make small talk as I drink my coffee.

“I gotta move the grill and get that set up for the meat I’m cooking, but I said I’d get to it when I got to it.”

“I swear if she’s making me do some papier-mâché centerpiece shit, I’mma run,” I mumble under my breath, looking up at the ceiling, thinking about the crazy shit she would do to one-up the other blocks. In fact, this all feels political in a way, and it’s a competition Tenly is determined to win.

“I thought you liked art?” I freeze, my eyes pinned on him to explain how he knows I like art. “I saw your art room or whatever, you’re good.” He admits to snooping, but all I hear is him telling me I’m good at what I do.

“Thanks, I was going to go to a trade show, but everything happened at once, and I haven’t been up there in what feels like forever.”

He nods, but doesn’t reply. Silence falling onto our shoulders things become awkward. I suddenly remember I haven’t checked my phone this morning. Taking my coffee with me, I go back to my room and sit on the edge of my bed. Putting my cup on the nightstand, I unlock my phone, finding a text from Heston, and a text from Sheriff Reese.

Sheriff Reese: Tried calling. I have a lead. Cam got in a fight at a bar in Charlotte, so I’m going to check that out today and I’ll let you know.

I sigh, feeling a tiny sliver of hope. I wonder if Cam has been crashing somewhere around the bar.

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