Chapter 24 Solana #2
School passes in a blur of lectures I don’t hear and notes I don’t take. At rehearsals for Moonshine & Magnolia, I fumble lines I’ve known for weeks. The director keeps asking if I’m okay, and I force a smile and blame it on pre-show nerves.
But the truth is, I can barely concentrate on anything except the ache in my chest where Silver used to be.
The worst part is the nights. I’ve gotten so used to sleeping in Silver’s bed, feeling safe in his arms, that my own house feels foreign.
I can’t even step into my bedroom without seeing Kel’s blood on the floor no matter how many times it’s been scrubbed clean. When I try to lay in my bed, I’m jerking and twisting from the harrowing memory of how he’d thrown me down and groped my body.
So I sleep on the couch, telling myself I’m just watching TV and accidentally dozing off. When Uncle Eddie finds me there at three a.m., I lie and say I fell asleep watching a movie. When Moses asks why I’m on the couch again the next morning, I mumble something about my room being too cold.
Babysitting Jack has become awkward too. Rachel’s been giving me strange looks when she comes home, long stares that make me wonder if she knows.
Maybe Tabby told her about the lip gloss. Maybe she can smell her ex-husband on me somehow.
“Can you help Jack grab the grocery bags from the car?” Rachel asks one afternoon as I’m packing up my things—phone, journal, the book I brought but didn’t read because I spent the whole time thinking about Silver.
“Oh yeah, of course,” I say, grateful for the chance to exit the kitchen. I’ve dreaded spending any time alone with his ex-wife since the Tabby situation.
Jack groans dramatically. “Aw man! Mom, why can’t we pay somebody to do this?”
“Use those big strong muscles,” I tease him, ruffling his hair. “Just like your dad.”
My encouragement works, putting the battery in his back as his face brightens and he yells, “Challenge accepted!” before running off.
But I’ve only reminded myself of Silver at a time I should probably be trying to forget about him.
When will we see each other again? Will things ever go back to how they were before Tabby almost caught us?
Saturday arrives with Moses dragging me to another Steel Kings event at the Steel Saloon.
“You need to get out more,” he says, which is rich coming from someone who disappears for days at a time.
The patio is decorated with lights and streamers, which seems excessive for a regular party. Especially considering it’s a motorcycle club.
Apparently today’s event is an extra-special occasion.
I settle at the table with the old ladies, half listening to their conversation.
“Why are we having another barbecue?” Korine asks, looking confused. “It’s not even warm enough for this.”
Teysha shoots her a knowing smile. “Oh, you’ll see. Just wait.”
“Teysha, can you even hold water?” Zoe scolds, laughing lightly.
Teysha shrugs, still smiling as she bounces baby Chloe on her knee. “Nope, never could. Probably never will. Ask Logan—I’m the worst liar.”
“So you do know?” Korine asks. She glances over at Sydney who’s sitting on her other side. “You’re behind this, aren’t you? You and Cash.”
“I plead the fifth,” Sydney says ambiguously.
Their effortless friendship makes me ache for the same. I’d thought Shay and Yvette were my friends, but it turned out they were using me for some cruel joke. Their loyalty was with Kel and Kel only.
It’s even worse that everywhere I look, I’m surrounded by love—Mick and Korine’s mother, Sunny, flirt by the buffet table, both sixty-somethings obviously crushing on each other.
Zoe joins Ozzie at his DJ setup to dance together, the two of them laughing as they try to outdo each other’s moves.
Logan wanders over and plays with his daughter while Teysha watches with heart eyes.
Everyone has someone except me.
My gaze drifts across the patio and finds Silver talking with Mace and Tito. We’ve avoided any contact or acknowledgment at all today, opting to be even more discreet than usual.
As if sensing my stare, he looks up and our eyes lock. My heart flutters like a trapped bird, a familiar spark of electricity crackling between us even from twenty feet away.
Cash steps into the middle of the patio and breaks the moment. “Can I have everybody’s attention?”
The patio quiets down, many glancing over with curiosity. Korine looks most confused of all, eyes rounding as he takes her hand and pulls her up to stand with him.
“Kori, it’s no secret you’re my best friend,” he begins with a small, handsome smile. “You have been since we were, what, six years old? You’ve been there through everything—the good, the bad, the absolutely batshit insane times.”
A few people in the crowd chuckle. I glance over at Korine’s mom and notice how she wipes at her eyes as if they’ve gone misty. Mick slides an arm around her shoulders in comfort.
Cash’s speech continues.
“You’ve seen me at my worst, and you somehow still love me,” he says. “I can’t imagine my life without—”
“HOW COULD YOU?!”
Everyone turns as Rachel storms onto the patio, her face twisted red with fury, the same shade as her hair. She marches straight to Silver, and before anyone can react, her hand slams into his cheek in an abrupt, hard slap across the face.
“How could you, Jack?” she screams. “How could you sleep with the babysitter?!”