47. BODI
47
I glance at my phone vibrating on my desk, feeling like my smile is stretching to my ears when her name pops up.
“You better not have scratched my car,” I answer, jokingly.
“No, your car is just fine,” she replies, a little offended before her tone turns smug. “You’re never getting her back, though.”
“Baby, are you okay? Did you bump your head or something? Because I could’ve sworn you said I wasn’t getting my car back.”
“I’m dead serious, babe.” She is serious, because there is not an ounce of humor in her sweet voice, keeping my smile in place. “Ginger and I have a connection now.”
“You named my car?”
“Oh, yeah. We’re hitting it off. She purrs underneath me and, well, she made me hooked from the second I took the wheel. Here, listen.” She hits the throttle, and it rumbles over the line. “It’s perfect. It’s exhilarating. It’s mine .”
“We’ll see about that, babe.”
“No, baby, I’m serious. I’m taking your car. She’s my best friend now. But don’t worry, I’ll drive you to work every day,” she sasses.
A laugh comes from my throat, shaking my head. The moment she slid behind the wheel for the first time, I knew she was gonna test me on this. She almost looked as in love as she looked at me.
Almost.
“You can drive it. But it’s still mine.”
“Oh, whatever.”
“What time will you be home?”
“My last class is at one, so I can cook tonight!” The enthusiasm is clear in her voice, warming my heart. “I’ve found this new recipe I want to try.”
“Yeah?” I bring my feet up to my desk, glancing at the ceiling. “Not mac and cheese, right?”
“Oh, shut it! You love my mac and cheese! Or…” she drawls, “you could come home early and make me burgers?”
I quirk up an eyebrow. “Did you go to that burger place on campus for lunch?”
Her silence is basically a guilty plea, and my grin expands.
“What I had for lunch is none of your business.” She’s doing her best to sound unimpressed, but she’s failing miserably.
“You did, didn’t you?”
“They are too good, Bodi!” She cries out, her amusement audible. “Just for the fucking burger place I like Georgia State better than Stanford.”
“If you’re going to eat burgers for lunch every day, I’m not going to be getting you burgers for dinner as well.” I try to sound scowling, but a laugh bubbles through.
“Yeah, you are. Besides, they are not as good as yours.”
“Good to know.” I chuckle. “Are you gonna miss it when you graduate early next month?”
I’m so proud of her. It would’ve been very easy to just keep her job at KPI and work her way up over the years. She’s smart, and she would’ve been a great editor one day. She still will. But the fact that she decided to be brave, and finish her degree instead, knowing it was going to take a lot of hard work and catching up, shows how strong she really is.
“What? No. I’m going to drive up there every day, just for the damn burgers,” she jokes, though it’s probably not a joke at all.
“I’m happy you don’t regret your decision.”
“I love it, baby,” she confesses. “I’ll miss strolling around campus. It feels like I’m where I belong, you know? Like all that shit happened for a reason.”
“I’m sure it did.” Or at least I like to believe it did.
“You know what the best thing is?” I can hear the excitement in her voice, running a flutter through my stomach.
“No?”
“When my classes are done, I can come home to you.”
“That definitely is the best thing to me too.”
When Kayla decided she wanted to go back to school, I would be lying if I wasn’t scared she’d pick a school in a different state, but she put that thought to ease real quick by shoving a Georgia State University folder in my hand.
I would’ve supported her in going to whatever school she wanted to, and I’d even pay for it if that would be an issue, but I was more than relieved when I realized she was planning on going back to school in the fall and staying with me at the same time.
Because she makes me selfish when it comes to her. I want her around all day, every day. Even the office feels empty without her.
After her birthday, I officially asked her to move in with me, and I even redesigned my closet to fit all her clothes. Now, I can’t sleep if she’s not in bed with me, and I wake up a lucky man every single morning. But as much as I am selfish when it comes to her, I also want her to chase her own dreams and I want to be there to help her reach them.
“Just know that after graduation, you can come back if you want.”
She huffs, amused. “You’re only saying that so you can bend me over your desk and fuck me during work hours.”
“Definitely,” I reply, resulting in a laugh from her side.
I mean every word though. There will always be a place for her at KPI, but I know she’s also thinking about working for the foundation or maybe try her chances at a different publisher in town. To get more experience , she says. It’s a mature decision, but secretly I hope she’ll come back to KPI.
“You got that meeting with Charlotte today?” she asks.
“Yeah, she’ll be here any minute now,” I reply at the same time a knock sounds on my door. “Actually, maybe we can grab dinner with Charlotte tonight instead? If she agrees to sign, we’ll have something to celebrate.”
“Yes! That’s so exciting!” she yelps. “It’s going to be a bestseller. I can feel it in my bones.”
“I agree it has great potential. Come in!” The door opens, and I put my feet back to the floor. “I have to go now, baby. You wanna make reservations for dinner tonight? I’ll ask Charlotte–” My eyes move up, and I look into the amber brown eyes of Julie, who’s giving me a coy smile. “And Julie.”
“And Julie?”
“Yeah, Julie is here.” I frown, motioning for her to take the chair in front of my desk while I glance at the door, wondering if Charlotte is following behind her. When no one else walks through the door, I arch my brow at her. Her dirty blonde hair is up in a ponytail high on her head, and she’s wearing jeans and a cream sweater, which gives her a more casual look than what I’m used to from her.
But my frown only deepens when I take in the fatigue on her makeupless face.
“Why?” Kayla pushes.
“I don’t know, baby, but I’ll let you know as soon as I find out, okay?” Amusement is etched in my voice, and I can almost hear her roll her eyes at me through the phone.
“Fine, talk later. Love you.”
“Bye, babe. Love you too.” I hang up the phone, pointing my attention to Julie. “Hey, Jules.”
“Hey,” she offers, a little timid.
“I’m a little confused. I thought I had a meeting with Charlotte?”
“You do. But Hunter had some meetings he couldn’t get out of, so she had to bring Logan with her. Now that she’s pregnant again, I offered to come with her and help her out. She’s trying to soothe Logan to sleep in your cafeteria.” She points her thumb over her shoulder. “Life is no joke when you’re eight months pregnant and have a toddler that’s getting more mobile by the day.”
I can only imagine, and hope I will speak from experience one day, but thinking about that right has my head bobbing in agreement. “Not gonna lie, it sounds…challenging.”
“It is,” she chuckles, brushing a strand of her hair to the side.
“She can bring him in here, though. I don’t mind.”
“I know.” She gives me a tentative look. “But I wanted to talk to you for a second.”
“Okay,” I drag out the word. “Is everything alright?”
“Well, yeah. But Hunter told me that you still have some connections in L.A. I hope you can help me find a place to live for a few months.”
“You wanna move to L.A.?”
She nods.
“Why?”
“I got a new job as a brand rep for North Viking Sports. They want me to move within two weeks, or the job goes to someone else.”
“That’s amazing! Congratulations. This must be a big jump from real estate.”
Her eyes sparkle. “Thank you, it is.”
I tilt my head, suddenly realizing something. “You’re quitting your family's company? I thought you were set to take over one day?”
The sigh that goes through the room is deep, all her muscles tensing with it before her teary frown meets mine. “Let’s just say, I need a change. A big one. ”
I hold still, reading the room as much as I can.
Something is up, clearly. But Kayla hasn’t said a word, so I’m also pretty sure she’s keeping this private as much as she can.
“Are you okay?”
She shakes her head. “Not right now, but I will be.”
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
“No,” she replies, adamant. “And I’d appreciate it if you kept this for yourself. I got–I got some shit to figure out, and I need to do it alone.”
“On the other side of the country? Sounds like it’s serious, Jules.” I don’t want to push her, but it’s evident that she isn’t just making a career switch. Something is going on. Something that has her sitting in front of me, with tears threatening to fall over the rim over her brown eyes, and a gray complexion that tells me she hasn’t had a proper night of sleep in a while.
“I’ll figure it out,” she forces eye contact, begging me to read between the lines.
I move forward, resting my arms on my desk, never breaking our gazes. “Look, you’re a grown woman. One I think is more than capable of taking care of herself, but seeing you like this worries me. I’ll respect that whatever it is, you feel like you need to do it yourself, so if you are just looking for a place to stay in LA, consider it done. But I need you to understand that I’m here for you. For anything. ”
“I know,” she nods, pushing her fingers into her eyes to prevent the tears from escaping, then lifts her eyes again. “Just don’t tell Kayla, okay? I’m not ready.”
“Okay,” I agree, knowing that sometimes we need to deal with shit alone. I can’t fucking blame her after all the shit I pulled last year. “I’ll make some calls, but it will probably take a week or two before you can move in. Have you called Jason to see if you can crash at his place in the meantime?”
She lets out a sardonically chuckle, then softly wags her head. “No.”
“No?” If there’s anyone who will always be there for Julie it’s Jason. Even when Hunter and Charlotte were on the outs, they always stayed in touch, and Jason even flew out a couple times to help her deal with her on and off relationship with his brother. They have been friends since high school. Her harsh single worded answer makes no sense.
“Why not?”
She rolls her lips, her eyes casting downward. “Because he’s ghosting me.”
THE END
Continue reading the next book in the series with book 4: Forgive You (A Second Chance, Enemies-to-Lovers)