Until the End (Sea Breeze #9)(76)

She’d texted me that Green had slept with Trinity and Matty was going to kill him. Please come home. Green is here.

I told Dewayne I had to go and got the hell out of there. He asked if it was an emergency and if I needed backup. I had told him I wasn’t sure—I’d let him know if I did, though.

“You look like shit,” I told Green as I walked over to Blythe.

“I didn’t know she was a virgin. She was flirting and all f**king over me. And she has this hair.” He stopped and cursed.

“He has a big thing for her hair. He will mention it a lot,” Blythe whispered up at me.

I slid my hand under my girl’s hair and cupped it around her neck. “Is she even old enough?” Krit asked in disgust.

Green glared at him. “Yes! She is as old as Blythe was when you hooked up.”

“I was in love with Blythe,” Krit fired back.

“Not at first! You were obsessed with her. She was just one of your crazy addictions. The love came later.”

He was right, but it pissed me off to hear him blow off my feelings for her. “Watch it. Right now I’m the only thing standing between you and Matty.”

Green sighed and looked remorseful. “Yeah, I know. I’m just a mess. I can’t believe I did that. It’s that damn hair . . . and the dimples.”

Apparently, Blythe was right. He really liked the girl’s hair.

“Did she get mad at you and say she was telling Matty? I mean, is he even gonna find out?”

Blythe tilted her head back. “She thought that made them a couple. He said he f**ked, he didn’t date. Then he left her.”

Ouch. He was so getting his face bashed in.

“You can’t stay here in our apartment. I’ll make sure you get down to your apartment alive and get bolted in, though. Then we just wait. The girl may not plan on telling him. You don’t know her well enough to know if she will. Stay alive until our gig tomorrow night.”

Green looked longingly at the door that used to be his bedroom. “I’ll stay in that room. I won’t come out and bother y’all.”

I shook my head and went to the door, and I opened it for him so he could leave. “Not staying here. Give it up. Let’s go,” I said, pointing for him to exit.

Green glanced out the window again. He was looking for Matty to show up.

“While the coast is clear, you need to make a run for it,” I reminded him.

“Fine,” he snapped, and finally got the hell out of my apartment.

Blythe

Before I moved in with Krit, I never made my bed. It was my one act of rebellion after being forced to make my bed growing up in a strict household. If I messed up while making the bed, I got lashed with a belt. So making a bed isn’t something I care for.

However, Krit likes a made bed. For a long time he would make it up in the afternoons when he got home. He never complained or brought it up. He just did it. He liked it nice and straight.

After watching him do this for a while, I decided I could do that every morning. He wasn’t picky about how tightly the sheet was tucked in or if the blanket was exactly straight. He just liked it to be neat.

The first time I did it, the grin on his face when he walked into the bedroom made it worth it. Now I do it just to see that smile. He likes that I do that for him. Because he knows it was something I hated before.

This morning I didn’t have classes. Instead, I settled in to do some deep cleaning. I was still waiting for Green to call for help. So far Matty hadn’t shown up or even mentioned anything. I didn’t think Trinity planned on telling him.

Getting on my knees, I pulled out the panties and socks that had made their way under the bed. Most of the time we throw clothes while attacking each other, so things go missing and end up all over the place. My favorite bra was lost for a month because it was behind the dresser.

I figured I would look for all our missing articles of clothing, then dust and vacuum. Several boxes stayed under the bed. They were Krit’s, and I never asked him about them. It was mostly CDs, from what I could tell, and keepsake items. I reached under to straighten them and check for anything that might have gotten stuffed between them and the wall.

My fingers brushed against a small velvet box. Confused, I wrapped my hand around it and pulled it out slowly. I knew what came in small velvet boxes, but Krit hadn’t mentioned marriage to me. Even though it was all I could think about at the past few weddings we had attended. I loved Krit, and I wanted forever with him, but he didn’t seem to be ready for that step. I was content getting to live together.

The small box was black. I held it in my hand while lying on my stomach beside the bed. I was almost afraid to open it. What if there was something in here I didn’t need to see? What if this was a ring from his past? Had he given Jess a ring?

No. I wouldn’t be jealous of this. I would not jump to conclusions. But there was dust on the box. Not a lot, but still, there was some.

Things could get dusty under a bed fast. After that little pep talk I opened the box.

Nestled in the satin was a huge diamond ring. Of all the things I expected to see, this was not what I had imagined. This ring was expensive. And very real. The inside of the box had the jeweler’s name pressed in black ink into the white satin.

Checking over my shoulder to make sure Krit hadn’t come home, I decided I was going to try it on. I pulled myself up to a sitting position on the floor and gently picked up the ring like it might break. Then I delicately slid it on my ring finger. It was a perfect fit. I tilted my hand from side to side to see the lights glimmer off the stone. Why did he have this? Was he saving it for me?