Dressed in my parka, I bounce on the balls of my feet with Eli in a baby wrap close to my chest. I don’t want to wake him, but I’m too excited to stand still. After an emotional goodbye to Maggie, and promises that we’ll visit her in Florida soon, Thorin and I walked from departures to arrivals. Mya’s flight landed thirty minutes after Maggie’s took off and she should be coming through the doors any minute. Of course, I keep my eyes on anything but Thorin. It’s been a frosty week since I played at the bonfire, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the weather. He’s been avoiding me all week, and to his credit, quite skillfully. If I walked into the kitchen of the main house, he’d leave, even if it was mid-conversation with Maggie, and on the nights he didn’t have Eli, he was with his band at their rental house. I wanted to ask him why he was behaving like such an ass, but decided to let him stew and come to me if he wanted to talk. Or maybe even apologize for how he spoke to me. I’m many things, but an ass-kisser isn’t one of them. His aviators are in place, and his stance is somewhat menacing—arms crossed over his broad chest, legs slightly parted. When a group of young girls pass him, they giggle, and with shy smiles ask him for an autograph. He rewards them with a megawatt smile, and I have to fight an eye roll. Not because of the girls, but because he’s smiling, and making a few jokes with them, and yet, he’s treated me like a nanny-slash-stranger all damn week. Jerk. The girls mumble giggled thanks you’s, and as soon as they’re gone, he’s back to his surly self. We’re lucky he hasn’t been mobbed, but then again, both Maggie and Mya’s flights were after peak times, so the airport isn’t awfully busy after eight-thirty p.m. Thorin stares ahead, and I sigh. Pick your battles, Reese. There’s a commotion ahead of us, and I hear Mya before I see her. “Listen here you brainless fuckwit, you can give me back my luggage…oh really? How the fuck do you confuse a Louis Vuitton rolling suitcase with a fucking duffel bag…Riiiight….uh-huh…Well, I suggest you take your piece of shit bag, and walk in the other direction before I’m arrested by airport security for assault!…Is that so? Why don’t you try me, redneck!”
I take a few steps closer, but Thorin’s paw lands on my shoulder. It’s the first contact we’ve had in days, and when he lifts his glasses, I find his brows are creased. Well then, looks like someone can show something other than irritation.
“I know her,” I tell him. “Relax.”
A dark head of hair—or rather, a messy top knot—bobbles through the throng of passengers coming in from the arrival’s carousels, and the minute Mya’s eyes land on me, she let’s out an exasperated sigh. And then she’s all but running at me, stopping short when she realizes I have a tiny human cradled to my chest.
“Ohhmigod,” she breathes, blowing a loose strand of raven hair from her face. “I thought that flight would never end. I had a toddler behind me who kept screaming and kicking my fucking chair, little shit.”
I laugh, and give her a side-hug. “I’m so glad you’re finally here!”
Mya drops her luggage—all five bags—beside her rolling suitcase, and leans down to look at Eli. “He’s so small,” she whispers. “And so damn cute.”
A throat clears, and we glance at Thorin. In all my excitement, I momentarily forgot he was there. Strange, considering he’s not the unnoticeable type, but hey, I guess I’m a little pissed at him for treating me like a damn menace. Mya lifts a brow, and pops her hip, but it’s in no way flirtatious. She knows Thorin has been the king of all asses lately. “And you are?” She asks. Her lack of interest makes me hide a smile behind my hand. Of course, she knows who he is, and listens to his bands’ music, but right now, she’s the president of the ‘Thorin is an ass’ club.
“Uh, I’m Thorin,” He replies. Poor guy looks confused.
“Uh-huh.” Mya grabs her luggage and shoves it at him. “Well, Thorin, these bags ain’t gonna get themselves to the car.” I smother another laugh at his shocked expression, and then Mya has her arm around me, leading me to the exit. “God, I’ve missed you, bestie.”
“I’ve missed you too. It’ll be nice to have some real company for a change.” Thorin grumbles something behind me, but I ignore it. When we get to my truck, Thorin tosses Mya’s luggage in the trunk while I get Eli settled in his car seat, and Mya climbs in the back. Thorin walks around, and tosses me the keys. “Drop me off at the guys’ house.”
No please. Just a command. He stomps to the passenger side and gets in, and luckily, Mya is behind him so he’s not privy to her death glare.
“Okay then,” I murmur, getting myself situated in the driver seat. Since Thorin drove us to the airport I have to move the seat waaaay forward, because you know, he has legs for days. I drive out of the lot, and ease onto the freeway, we’re a good hour from Horseshoe Bay. Glancing at Thorin’s profile, I sigh, resigned to the fact that it’s going to be a long drive if there’s nothing but silence. Fortunately, Mya comes to the rescue. Although, from the glance she spares me in the rearview mirror, I know the word ‘rescue’ isn’t going to be applicable.
“So, Thorin,” she starts. “Reese tells me you’re in a boy band.”
Oh dear Lord have mercy.
Thorin glares at me, and then resumes staring straight ahead. “Something like that,” he murmurs, visibly agitated.
“Is it like OneDirection, or more Backstreet Boys? I mean, they’re both cool, and all, but their voices are a bit too whiney for me, and their lyrics are have all the teen angst feels. Not really my vibe, you know?”
God, now I know she’s trying to poke the grizzly bear sitting next to me. I totally should have seen it coming, it’s something Mya would absolutely do after I told her how he’s been behaving since the bonfire. When he doesn’t answer her, she takes that as her cue to continue prodding, no doubt hoping for a reaction. I should put an end to it, but I quite like seeing the big guy squirm.
“What’re you guys called, anyway?” She asks, leaning between the two front seats.
“Eighteendust,” he replies, his jaw rigid.
“Huh,” she muses, tapping her chin. “Never heard of it. You guys new?”
Thorin shakes his head, and huffs out a breath.
“Okay, Mya,” I shoot her a quick look over my shoulder, “That’s enough.”
She gives me a smirk, and leans back in her seat, cooing at Eli as if she didn’t just piss Thorin off. I should have known better, but you know what? Right now I’m fighting a smile because a seriously pissed Thorin is a sight to behold. And the douche had it coming, if you ask me. Thorin meet Mya, Karma’s right hand.
“Home sweet home,” I sigh. I have Eli in his car seat in one hand, and Mya’s roller suitcase in the other. After we dropped Thorin off down the road, I drove us home.
“It’s good to be back.” Mya carries the rest of her luggage through my front door, and starts flicking on lights. “Is it weird to feel like I never should have left?” Mya drops her bags in the guest bedroom, and then joins me in the living room while I take Eli from his car seat. “No,” I tell her. “I always knew you loved it here, and how much you hated having to leave.” Eli puckers his lips, and I kiss his cheeks. “You hungry, little man?” With him in one arm, I take a prepped bottle from the fridge, and put it in the bottle warmer. When it’s ready, I flop down on the sofa, tired to the bone, and press the bottle to his mouth. He sucks with gusto, and it makes me smile. His schedule is a little out of sync today. It’s almost ten p.m and he should technically be sleeping now.
“You’re a natural,” Mya says next to me, her curious gaze in Eli.
“Ha, I’m winging it so hard right now. Maggie was a Godsend this last week, and Thorin is pretty good with him too. If you can believe that.” And I’m not lying. Thorin has connected with Eli, I see it in the way they stare at each other, and in the way Eli’s eyes light up at the sound of Thorin's voice. “The only person he seems to have an aversion to is me.”
“I beg to differ,” Mya replies casually. I frown, but before I can ask her to elaborate, Eli finishes his formula. I burp him, and lull him to sleep. “Let me put him down, and then we can talk,” I tell Mya. “Wine’s in the fridge if you want some.” I change Eli’s diaper, get him comfortable in his crib, give him another kiss—it’s one of my favorite things to do, okay!—and grab the baby monitor before walking back into the living room. I strip out of my parka, and slip my boots from my feet. Mya has poured two glasses of white wine—she knows I hate red—and passes it to me as I drop onto the sofa like a dead weight. I really am tired, but I’ve been so excited to have Mya with me that going straight to bed without the mandatory catch-up would be anti-climactic.
“So,” I start. “You going to tell me what has you moving here permanently? Not that I’m complaining.”
Mya sips her wine, rolls it around her tongue, and swallows. “Who said anything about staying here permanently?” I quirk a brow. “Oh, fine,” she huffs. “I knew this was coming, so might as well get it over with.” This time she takes a bigger sip of wine. “Kyle was cheating on me with one of his rich financier co-workers.” She turns her gaze to me. “I never thought I’d become the fucking cliche, but here I am. It’s the opening line to every romance novel ever written, girl walks in on her boyfriend balls deep in another woman.”
“I’m sorry, Mya,” I squeeze her hand. “You deserve better.”
“Meh.” She waves her hand in the air. “The guy couldn’t even be creative about it, you know? Then again, the fact that he always wanted sex in the missionary position, on the same night of the week, should have been an indication. Jokes on me, I guess.”
“What did he say when you caught him?”
“Oh you know, more of the cliched shit, baby it’s not what it looks like, she came on to me, you’ve been so distant and I’ve been lonely.”
“He did not try and blame you. What did he do, trip over his own two feet and land dick-first into another woman’s vag?”
Mya snorts. “I don’t even know. But things have been weird for a while now, I think he was sleeping with her before I caught them. The best part is, I saw them going at it in his car, parked outside our apartment.”
I scrunch my nose.“Oh my God, ew. Talk about The Real Housewives of New York tacky.”
“Funny thing is, I was already planning on breaking up with him. He started working longer hours, and we barely had sex the last two months. I knew I had to end it, but the bastard beat me to it.” Mya finishes her wine, and places the glass on my coffee table. I do the same, even though my glass is only half empty. “Are you really okay, though?” I ask. She considers it, and then shrugs. “I think I stayed with him because I didn’t really want to be alone, you know? Besides, I’d had enough of his bitching about me being here one week a month. So, I stayed with my crazy parents while you dealt with everything here, and now, you’re stuck with me.”
“Permanently?”
Mya shrugs. “Only if you don’t mind. I can always—”
“Of course, my home is your home.”
Mya shifts to face me, tucking one leg beneath her butt. “Now, it’s your turn.”
I frown. “My turn?”
“Yes, I want to know all the details about you and the God of Thunder.” She smirks, and I throw my head back with a groan. “You already know everything, you and I talk about it almost every night.” And we do. She’s been my go-to ever since Thorin arrived in Horseshoe Bay, and I haven’t kept a single detail from her. I’ve even been calling her during Eli’s late night feeds just to vent.
“That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it, Reese.”
“What else is there to talk about, Mya? You know all there is to know right down to the mini freak-out he had, and how he’s been icing me out since then.”
“Do you have feelings for him?” She asks bluntly, and I rear back as if she’s bitch slapped me. By the look on her face I can tell that’s the reaction she was hoping for.
“If by ‘feelings’ you mean irritation, and annoyance, then yes. I have all of the feels for that man.”
“Stop deflecting.”
“I’m not deflecting,” I argue. “He’s a pain in my ass, but I have to get along with him because of Eli. And even if I did have feelings for him, which I one hundred percent do not, it wouldn’t matter. I feel like I don’t know him anymore, this version of him is just…different. And history dictates that Thorin doesn’t give a flying shit about anyone but himself. I can’t risk catching the real feelings for someone like him.”
“For someone who doesn’t care, you sure have a lot to say on the matter.”
I roll my eyes. “Mya, there is nothing between me and Thorin, and there never will be. At the rate we’re going, we won’t even make it to being friends. We have a better chance of becoming parents than actual friends. He can’t even stand being in the same room as me.”
“For someone so smart, you’re actually kind of dumb, Reesie.”
I balk at that. “What? Why?”
It’s Mya’s turn to roll her eyes. “Did a boy ever like you in kindergarten?”
Now I’m confused. “Uh, I think so?”
“And was he mean to you? Did he pull your braids, or ever push you into the ground? Maybe throw mud in your face, or something?”
When I give her a confused stare, she explains, “When a boy likes you, he does all those things.”
“You’ve lost me, Mya. What the hell are you getting at?”
“Well, from what I can tell, you got under Thorin’s skin at the bonfire, and he’s spent the entire week being a dick, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
Talk about going off on a tangent. Jesus Mary and Joseph.
“He’s got the feelings, Reese.”
“That’s the worst logic in the world, even for you,” I scoff. “Thorin’s being a dick because that’s what he does. That’s what rockstars do. In fact, now that I think about it, he hasn’t changed at all because he was a dick in high school, too.”
“Or, you’re so caught up in who he used to be, and what he did to you, that you’re missing what’s right in front of you.”
“Let’s say that, hypothetically, you’re right, our lives are too complicated and too different for me to even consider anything with him. We have a baby to take care of, I have a job, and he’ll be leaving in a few months. The band won’t stay here forever, and I wouldn’t expect him to give up his career, either.”
“Do you really believe that?” Mya asks, her expression earnest. She has an uncanny ability to get straight to the heart of the matter, and at this moment she’s probing mine. “Because, honey, whether you like it or not, your lives are now inextricably intertwined, and you have to learn to live with it.”
Her point is valid, too valid. Even if I wanted nothing to do with Thorin, we’re connected now, and we always will be. Do I worry about what he’s going to do when his band is ready to release another album, and go on tour? All the time. But our past doesn’t allow me to give him the benefit of the doubt. Not even a little bit.
“If you’re not willing to consider that he actually cares about you, then consider that maybe you singing that song hit him where it hurts, and with all do respect, I think he’s dealing with enough hurt right now. You might not see it, but you kinda kicked him while he’s down, while he’s mourning. Or have you been so blinded by your need to avoid him that you’ve forgotten that he’s lost just as much as you have, if not more?” I bite the inside of my cheek, and allow her words to bounce around my head, the aftereffect being a guilt-ridden heart because, again, she’s right.
“I didn’t choose it deliberately,” I remind her. “They put me on the spot and that was the first song that popped into my head, so I ran with it.”
“But somewhere in your mind you must’ve known it would be the equivalent of resurrecting your past. Think about it, under the same sky? That was a promise he made you, and broke repeatedly. You may not have done it on purpose, but to him, it may have been a gut check he wasn’t prepared for.”
“What happened to being the president of the ‘Thorin is an ass’ club?”
“Yeeeeah, that was until I saw him. He looks miserable, Reese.” Mya’s expression turns sympathetic, and maybe somewhat sheepish. “I can admit when I’ve judged someone unfairly.”
I scoff. “And the teasing in the car? What was that about?”
Her slender shoulder moves up in the barest of shrugs. “I was doing my duty as your best friend, and giving him a hard time because the way he’s treated you this week isn’t fair, but, I know a man in pain when I see one. And he’s hurting, babe. Besides, how I treat him doesn’t matter, but how you treat him does.”
I cover my face with my hands, unable to deny a single word she’s just said. I didn’t mean to hurt him at the bonfire, but I did. I didn’t mean to kick him when he’s down, dealing with the same grief I am, but I did. And now I see that I’m at fault, as much as I hate admitting it. I peer at Mya between my fingers. “So, how do I fix it? Do I apologize for what I did?”
“Maybe,” Mya replies. “Either way, you can’t have a strenuous relationship with the man you’re raising a child with.”
I think about it for a moment, and decide the path of least resistance is the way to go. “I’ll just pretend the last week hasn’t happened, and focus on Eli.”
“And work. You need to get back to that, too.”
“Ugh, that means I’ll have to talk to Thorin and make sure he’s flexible. I have no idea what him and the band are up to, and I don’t want to force him to take care of Eli. If nothing else, we have to find a schedule that best suits him, he’s my number one priority now.”
Mya purses her lips, her forehead scrunched in what I know to be her ‘thinking’ face. It usually goes one of two ways—catastrophic or brilliant.
“For now, let me deal with the band. I’ll give Alex and Penelope a call in the morning,”—okay, we’re erring on the side of catastrophic, I can feel it—“And you work on patching things up with Thorin.” I open my mouth to argue but she clamps her hand over my mouth. “I know you expect him to apologize first, but put your big girl panties on and fix it. You cannot afford to have any kind of distraction, you have too much work to do.”
If Mya weren’t my best friend, she’s the kind of girl I’d constantly want to throttle because she has no filter, she’s always right and she can read people like no one else I’ve ever met. She’s also a Stage One Meddler. I exhale harsh enough that I hope her finger is covered in snot. “Good girl.” Mya drops her hand. “Now, we need to get some shut-eye because starting tomorrow, you’re back to work, and before you even ask, you will be doing a video introducing Eli to your fans.”
I pout, and she laughs at how pitiful I look while standing from the sofa. “Are you always such a drill sergeant, or do you just like torturing me?”
“You knew what you got when we became friends, and when I started working for you, babe.”
“I know.” I stand, and wrap my arms around her. “And I’ve mentioned how happy I am that you’re here, right?”
“Only about a million times,” she laughs, hugging me just as hard.
“I love you, Mya.”
She lets me go, kisses my cheek, and slaps my ass. “I love you more, now go to bed.”
She traipses off, a smug grin on her face, and I can’t help but feel lighter now that she’s here. She’s right about Thorin, but I’ll deal with that.
Eventually.
When apologizing to him won’t feel like pulling teeth without Lidocaine.