Chapter 15 Zoey
ZOEY
I love my sister, but sometimes she’s over the top. Well, maybe more than sometimes. She’s been a drama queen since the day I was born—and well before that, from what my mother says. But sometimes it’s even a bit much for me, which is saying something because I’m a drama llama too.
“Another cup?” I ask her when she finally takes a breath.
She’s been yammering about Mark for over an hour. She’s venting everything I’m feeling and going over our tragic past with him, which we were luckily able to escape for years while he was behind bars.
“I really shouldn’t,” she replies, but she lifts her cup, wanting a top off.
The girl is a bigger caffeine addict than me. I wasn’t sure she was going to survive not having any during her pregnancy, but the moment the baby came out, she downed coffee like it was the best thing in the world.
“How did things go with Hunter last night?” Lulu takes a sip and closes her eyes, savoring the mid-level coffee like it’s a life-changing experience. “Did he stay all night?”
“We fell asleep on the couch watching a movie.”
She raises a perfectly styled eyebrow. “Opposite sides of the couch or the same?”
I set my mug down on the counter and lean forward on my elbows. “We may have snuggled.”
Her other eyebrow lifts, making a matching set. “You cuddled?” she gasps and covers her mouth. “Zoey’s a cuddler.”
“It was an extreme situation.” I pick at a dried food spot on the granite. I hate this counter. It is impossible to find every bit of dirt unless you get down to eye level with the stone. “I wasn’t myself.”
“When I walked into your apartment and you two were taking care of Harlow, I have to say the entire scene made my heart skip a little.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, sissy.”
She waves me off with her free hand, careful not to spill any of her coffee. “I’m not, but I know you like him, and he likes you.”
“I know. We told each other last night after he wouldn’t leave,” I confess. She’ll find out eventually, and honestly, I need to tell someone. And there’s no better person than her. She knows all my secrets, and I know hers.
“You told each other?” She’s so interested in the answer, she places her coffee on the counter and gives me her undivided attention. “Like, told each other, told each other?”
“Uh…” I stammer, staring at her. “How else do you say it? He said he liked me.” I pause and think about how the conversation happened. “He said it twice, and then I told him how I felt too.”
“That’s huge, Zo,” she says softly and reaches out to touch my hand. “I’m proud and excited for you.”
“It could go nowhere.”
“Is he staying again tonight?”
I nod. “He said he’ll walk me home from work tonight and stay. He said he doesn’t want me to be alone until we have the Mark situation under control.”
Lulu sighs. “Oliver’s losing it over this entire clusterfuck. He wouldn’t let me come over here alone. He dropped me off and took Harlow to do a job before they swing back to get me. I’m not interested in having a babysitter again.”
“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“Don’t,” she snaps, tightening her hand on mine. “Don’t apologize for him. You’re not at fault for Mark being a freaking lunatic.”
“Okay,” I breathe. “You’re right.”
“Now, tell me more about Hunter.”
“What about him?” I grab my coffee again, done with all the touchy-feely stuff.
“Is he a good kisser?”
“We haven’t kissed.”
Her mouth hangs open like I just announced something shocking. “You’re kidding me.”
I shake my head. “We’re taking things slow.”
“I’m going to have gray hair by the time you two act on your feelings.”
I roll my eyes. “He’s going through a lot too.”
“Like what?”
“He moved here earlier than he planned to be closer to his daughter while his ex goes through cancer treatment.”
Lulu clutches her chest. “Oh my God. That’s so sad. The little girl has to be so scared.”
“They’re doing a good job of keeping her in the loop and also keeping her calm.”
“I don’t know if I could do that.”
“Who could in our family?” I ask and crack a smile.
“The sky is always falling with us.” She shrugs. “Dad would’ve kept us calm, though.”
“Lucio has been trying to keep us calm his entire life—and often without success,” I tell her.
“You better not let him hear you call him Lucio.”
We giggle, sounding so much like we did when we were little girls and up to no good.
“I’m too old to ground,” I say as I push away from the counter to dump what’s left of my coffee in the sink.
“That’s a travesty.”
“What?” I ask her without looking over my shoulder.
“Wasting coffee.”
“You should walk around with an IV of it all day.”
“If I could, I would. Thankfully, Harlow is sleeping through the night now. I felt like the walking dead for a while.”
“I couldn’t do it.”
“Yes, you could. Someday, you will.”
“I’m never having kids, Lu.”
She gasps and grabs the counter like she is about to fall off her stool. “What? You can’t be serious. Why would you say that?”
I turn around, leaning back against the counter in front of the sink. “I was there when Harlow was born.”
“I remember. Vaguely, but I remember. Parts of that day were a blur.”
“Not a blur for me,” I mutter under my breath. “Childbirth is horrifying. I promised myself as I watched my beautiful niece being born that I was never putting myself through that.”
Lulu slaps her hand over her eyes and groans. “You’re an idiot.”
“I am not.”
“Sure, it hurts, but it’s worth it. I barely remember the pain from that day, and the epidural kicked ass. You have more than one tattoo, don’t you?”
“A tattoo is nothing like your body splitting open as a human being tears its way out.”
“I didn’t split open. Hell, I didn’t even tear. Not even a little,” she says.
I don’t know if she thinks her answer is going to make me change my mind, but it doesn’t. I will never—and I mean never—get the visuals from that day out of my head.
I cover my mouth, holding back the bile that’s rising in my throat just thinking about that being a possibility. “You can talk until you’re blue in the face about how beautiful it is, but my answer will always be the same…never happening.”
“Whatever,” she mumbles, waving me off like I’m being silly. “Well, the man already has one kid. I’m sure he’ll want another.”
I stare at her, dumbfounded. In her head, she already has us married off and starting a family. I’ve known the guy only a few weeks at most, and we haven’t even kissed. She’s jumping way ahead of herself—hell, way ahead of me.
“He has one. That’s enough.”
Lulu’s about to say something, but her phone buzzes. “Oliver’s back. I have to go. Need a ride to the bar?” She slides off the stool and takes a final sip of her coffee.
“No. Mason’s coming to get me,” I tell her.
I know my sister hates feeling like she has a babysitter, but now, she’s doing it to me. I’m surprised my parents aren’t at my door to watch over me until Mark is out of the picture.
She gives me a bear hug and a kiss on the cheek. “You stay safe.”
“You too,” I tell her, hoping Mark’s attention stays on me and away from her.
When Lulu opens the door, Mason’s already standing in the hallway.
I roll my eyes and sigh. A girl can’t get a little alone time when there’s a stalker on the loose. I’m already over the entire situation, and it’s only just begun.
“Oh good. You’re here,” Lulu says to him before she pops up on her tiptoes and gives Mason a kiss on the cheek. “Keep an eye on her.”
“Keep an eye out for him. I don’t need any more eyes on me,” I correct her.
“I got it,” Mason tells her as she heads toward the elevator to her husband and baby waiting in the truck outside.
Mason stalks into the apartment and kicks off his shoes. “I’m exhausted,” he says as he makes his way to my couch and collapses. “I’m ready to go back to bed.”
“Close your eyes. I need some time to get ready before we head to the bar.”
“Can I have like thirty minutes?”
I glance down at my watch and realize he’s way earlier than he needs to be. “You can have forty-five.”
“Thank God,” he breathes and closes his eyes.
Old me would’ve immediately started plotting how to slip out of the apartment without him waking up, but I’m not a teenager anymore and I have more sense…at least sometimes I do.
“I’m going to hop in the shower and get ready. I’ll wake you when I’m ready.”
Exactly forty-five minutes later, I’m finished.
I didn’t wash my hair today because I didn’t have the time and opted for an updo to make my locks a little more manageable.
I put on a thick sweater with a long-sleeved shirt underneath for when I become overheated at the bar, which happens often in the winter.
My jeans are snug this morning, but I always get bloated when I am stressed out.
And to feel a little more empowered, I decide to wear my black combat boots instead of my knee-length boots with stiletto heels.
“Mason.” I bump the edge of the couch with my hip. “I’m ready.”
He stretches and groans, taking up the entire couch with his large frame. “That was fast.”
“I could start the shift without you, and you can meet me there.”
“No,” he says as he pulls his body upward to a sitting position. “Can’t do that.”
Of course not. He’s been tasked with my protection, and if he didn’t walk me to work, my mother would chew his ear off.
“Then let’s go,” I say, grabbing my coat from the hook near the door, ready to get the day started.
The bar is busier than we expected. That’s become a common occurrence lately because the only other restaurant on the block was turned into an upscale salon. I can’t complain, though, because we are making more money than we ever have since the place was opened more than fifty years ago.
As I deliver a pizza to a table of women having cocktails after work, the door to the bar opens and Hunter walks in.
“Can I get you anything else?” I ask the women as I set the pizza down on their table.
“No. We’re good. We’ll need another round in a bit,” the one woman with blond hair says as she hands out the plates I left earlier.