Frayed Silk(31)

My eyes stare unseeingly at the tall, imposing brick structure of Bonnets Bay prep as I try to escape the confines of my tangled thoughts that are knotting and fraying together in my mind.

I had to take the kids to swimming on Saturday. Leo disappeared somewhere for most of the day and didn’t come home until sometime late that night. He then stayed in his office again all day on Sunday.

“Hey, Lia,” Trey, Lola’s husband, says as he’s walking back to his car after school drop-off.

“Hey.” I snap out of my daze and offer him a small smile.

He walks over to me, waving to Sophie over his shoulder, who’s throwing her arms in the air and grinning at him from the other side of the school gates. Charlie stands behind her, waiting with a bored look on his face for her to walk with him inside. I smile at him, and he gives me a small one in return.

“I tried to call Leo last week, but he didn’t get back to me.” He shifts in his work boots, his hands moving into his cargo pockets. “Everything okay? Lola hasn’t said much, just that things aren’t going great … you know, at home.” He looks a little embarrassed about asking, but he’s Leo’s friend, has been since he and Lola got together in our last year of college.

I avert my eyes to my cream-colored ballet flats. “Oh, you know. He’s been pretty busy with work and …” Ugh, you know what? I shouldn’t have to keep defending him. This is his friend, and it’s his choice to shut people out with no explanation. “He’s been distant, to put it mildly,” I admit. “I don’t know what’s going on with him, but it started a while ago, and it’s only gotten worse over time. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize he was shutting other people out as well.”

His dark brows furrow. “Did something happen?”

I fidget with my car keys for a second. “Not between us, no. I’ve been asking myself that same question for months.”

He scrubs a hand over his bearded jaw. “I’ll keep trying him then, or I’ll pay him a visit during my lunch break one day this week.” He moves to walk back to his car. “It’s been too damn long since we’ve caught up, and hey, maybe he’ll speak to me?” He shrugs and waves.

I wave back. “Well, let’s hope so.” Though I very much doubt it, I guess it can’t hurt to try. But Leo’s never been one for sharing anything too personal with his friends.

I climb back into the car and watch as Trey drives off before turning the ignition over and making my way to the shelter. I’m a little nervous, but mostly, I just hope that Jared shows up today. It’s not like him not to—not to mention, it’s also likely to get him in trouble with his probation officer.

Once I find a parking spot, I tie my hair back into a ponytail, grab my purse, and jump out. And there he is, leaning up against the brick wall outside, smoking and watching me with narrowed eyes. I tug up my skinny jeans and walk over to him as a real smile takes up residence on my face. He smirks as he continues to watch me, squeezing the cherry off his cigarette and flicking the butt into the trash can next to him before falling into step beside me as we walk inside.

“Sorry,” I mutter quietly and pass him the pen. “About Friday …” About hanging up on you, I don’t say. He takes the pen, his warm fingers skimming over mine, and I watch him sign his name in his messy scrawl.

“Don’t mention it, Blondie. I know you’ll make it up to me.” He winks and nudges me with his elbow.

I smirk. “Oh, do you?”

He nods. “Morning, Glenda,” he calls over to Glenda who’s spinning around in a circle outside the storeroom, looking for something. She reaches up to pat her head and scoffs. “Idiot, there they are.” She then tugs her glasses down and beams at us.

“Morning, you two.”

I put my purse away, and we move into the kitchen to set up.

“Where’s the new girl?” I wonder when the tension between us, once again, becomes too hard to keep ignoring.

He shrugs. “Glenda mentioned that she’d changed days. Tuesdays would interrupt her college schedule or some crap.”

Oh. I chuck the celery back in the fridge and pull out some ground beef, taking it to the counter by the stove.

“Meet me after?” he whispers, coming up behind me and sending goose bumps racing down the bare skin of my neck.

I swallow. “Where?”

“Green. Same room,” he says before getting called away by Glenda to help her lift something.

I finish prepping lunch with one of the other women, Tilly, wondering if I’ll actually go through with it this time. But I think I already know the answer to that, or else I wouldn’t be going.

I wash my hands and freshen up in the bathroom before grabbing my purse and saying goodbye for the day. Walking outside to gray skies, I glance up to discover fat rain clouds floating threateningly across the city skyscrapers and pedestrians below. I race to my car and make the quick journey over to The Green, opting to use the carpark this time in case it rains. Also because the likelihood of anyone recognizing my car or giving a shit is slim to none, and I’m past the point of caring. Especially since I’ve only got a few hours before the kids finish school anyway.

Climbing out just as it starts pouring, I squeal, locking the car as I run over to the room where we met last time. The door is wide open, so I run straight in, only to be wrapped up in a pair of strong arms instantly. Laughing, I turn in his arms to face him. “How’d you get here so quick?”