Chapter 28
28
KOLBI
W ithout meaning to, I dozed off and woke up when I felt my phone buzzing under my leg. An older couple were having an argument with a woman with dark hair on the TV as I looked at my phone screen. As my eyes adjusted, they caught the time and the fact that my group chat had completely exploded.
“Oh shit, I have to go,” I exclaimed, jumping up from her bed and looking for my clothes. It was 7:27 p.m. and my friends were blowing up my phone trying to figure out where I was.
“Is something wrong?” She pushed the comforter away from her and stepped out of bed. She was wearing a sinful lavender silk slip that was laced around the edges. Her hair was pulled behind the nape of her neck into a low bun and my fingers twitched at my sides as they longed to push the wisp of hair behind her ear.
“No, well, not really. My friends and I have plans tonight and I’m late. They’re all at my place right now asking where I am. I’m really sorry but I have to go.” I was stepping back into the suit I wore to work and buttoning the white dress shirt as quickly as I could. She passed me my belt and my shoes and walked me to the front door once I was dressed.
“Text me later?” Her round eyes looked up at me longingly and I wanted nothing more than to carry her back upstairs and get back into bed.
“I promise I will.” I leaned down to meet her for one more kiss and hurried to get in my car. I shot off a quick text to my friends, telling them the most recent code to the front door—since I change it every two weeks—and to let themselves in. I pulled up to the driveway not even fifteen minutes later.
“Look who decided to finally show up,” Malcolm barked from the dining room table with a beer already in his hand.
“Where the hell were you man? Kendall said you had to leave early?” Hank questioned from his seat at the table.
“Yeah, sorry, I had some business to take care of. Ran longer than I expected it to.” I tried to keep my explanations short as I kicked off my shoes and threw my suit jacket over the banister. I glanced toward the table and caught Conrad glaring at me from his seat. “I’m sorry, okay? Work took up more of my time than I thought. Give me a few minutes to go change and I’ll be back down. Someone order food, I’m starving.”
I ran upstairs quickly to change into some sweats and a hoodie before returning to the kitchen. Bailey was standing in front of the sink filling up a glass of water. I grabbed a beer from the fridge and walked towards the counter where the bottle opener was sitting. She gave me a once over and smirked.
“Work smells nice,” she mused, wrinkling her nose at me with a smug smirk. My eyes shot up from the top I was trying to remove from my beer to meet hers which were dancing with a playful knowing.
“What are you talking about?” I leaned close to her and kept my voice just above a whisper. My eyes darted to the three guys sitting across the kitchen at the table, completely missing the secret conversation she and I were having.
“I mean , you reek of expensive perfume and sex,” she giggled, her cheeks turning the faintest shade of pink. I looked over her shoulder back towards my friends, checking to see if they were listening to us. “Don’t worry, I don’t think they’ll notice. But you might want to wipe the lipstick off your neck unless you want the third degree from everyone.” She wiggled her finger towards her own neck. Bringing my hand to the matching spot on my neck, I could feel the smeared lipstick that had been left there by Magnolia. I worked to rub it off as discreetly as I could.
“Your secret is safe with me. I hope you had fun.” She winked and clinked her glass against my beer bottle before walking away.
I turned away from my friends and scrubbed the side of my neck with my hand until my skin burned and the remnants of lipstick couldn’t be felt anymore. I could feel my heart rate pulsating through the veins in my neck. Not once but twice today have people in my life started to question if something was going on with me. And not just something , but someone .
If I wasn’t careful, the relationship I had been trying to keep a secret would quickly become a public spectacle.