Chapter 5
FIVE
Delusion was one hell of a bad bitch, and time was her enabler.
You see, with time, I had convinced myself that I was over Tyler.
His betrayal was something I would hold on to until I was old and gray on principle.
The crush was a different story, and in the last four years and three months, give or take, I had convinced myself I was over it.
I thought yesterday was a fluke, you know. Time can suspend feelings, and you just need a little extra time to catch up on them once they sneak up on you.
Now that I had some decent sleep, there was no reason whatsoever for my vagina to get the tingles at seeing Tyler Kane’s abs. Not one single reason whatsoever.
Damn him for looking good without a shirt.
Why the hell wasn’t he wearing a shirt?
Pretending he wasn’t behind me was a feat all on its own. I was sure I could earn a Guinness World Record by the restraint I was showing.
“For fuck’s sake, Astrid, drop this bullshit,” he growled.
Don’t look back.
Don’t look back.
Do not look back.
It was like being in a scary movie and trying not to look back at the serial killer, except without the killing.
Instead, I flipped my hair even though it wasn’t bothering me.
“So, about my car, is it ready?”
Adam was enjoying this, I could tell by the grin on his face. He looked at me and then at Tyler, and I knew whatever he said would rile his little brother up.
However, I didn’t get a chance to hear what Adam was about to say because one second, I was making eye contact with Adam, and the next, my world spun.
Tyler, now with a shirt on, spun me around. Just as I glared at him and opened my mouth to curse him out, something dug into my belly.
That something was Tyler’s shoulder as I now found myself upside down and looking at his ass.
Damn, he had a great butt.
“Put me down, you fucking asshole,” I demanded as I punched his back.
Not too hard because the last thing I wanted was for him to drop me.
Oooh, I could sue his ass if he did that.
The thought of suing him held appeal. Shakira did say women no longer cried—they billed.
“Stop behaving like a bitch, Astrid. That’s not who you are.”
“Adam, if you don’t tell Tylenol over here to put me down, I swear to God I will sue for sexual harassment!”
Adam did not come to my rescue, but I did hear him cracking up—and loudly.
Tyler put me down once we were next to my car.
He was not impressed by my little outburst. His jaw was set as he looked at me, and his eyes didn’t stray from my face. It was like he was trying to find a hint of the girl he used to know.
He was going to stare forever because that girl was gone.
“Talk to me, Astrid,” he pleaded.
I crossed my arms, still angry at the fact that he called me a bitch.
“Listen here, Tymbal , and listen well. You don’t get to call me a bitch. You do not know me. You do not get to have an opinion on my life.”
He flinched.
“You can’t even say my name?” His voice was a low hiss. “We were friends for years, Astrid. Best fucking friends. What we had doesn’t end in one night.”
My throat constricted.
What we had. Apparently, I was the only one who cherished our friendship—maybe a little too much because I felt something else for him.
I was stupid.
“Trust takes years to cultivate, and all it takes is one moment to make it go away,” I choked out.
His eyes flashed, and some of the anger went away.
“Now, can you tell me about my car, or do I have to get Adam so he can help me?”
I turned my body toward the hood of my car, effectively stopping any talk about us. It took a second, and I heard Tyler sigh.
“Bring your car in three months. You were driving on fucking fumes. I know you know better than to wait on an oil change.”
Ty left the keys on the hood of my car, and I didn’t turn even though I wanted to. I heard the door open and close, and then I was left alone, telling myself that I shouldn’t cry. I felt stupid because I wanted to run after my once best friend.
The garage door opened, letting me know Ty had given up. Whether that was a good or bad thing, I did not let myself think about it. I wanted to drive off with the music blasting so it could drown out my thoughts, but I had to be a responsible adult.
Augh.
My life would have been much simpler if I had found a stupid job outside of this town. Taking a deep breath, I ignored the smell of motors and old tools—it smelled comforting, like my childhood, except everything was foreign now.
When I came back out to the reception area, Tyler was nowhere to be seen. Adam was leaning on the counter, and in his mouth was the horchata boba I set there before he hugged me.
“You’re welcome for the drink, Adam.”
My tone was sarcastic, which went right over his head.
“Augh! Why can’t anyone around here call me Ak?” he said good-naturedly.
I looked at him blankly because I was not going to call him that.
Adam took another big gulp of my drink and then made a show of sighing as he set it back down.
“Thank you, darling. I really needed a pick-me-up.”
I rolled my eyes and decided to call it a loss.
“How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing.”
My stomach dipped.
“Come on. Give me the price,” I insisted.
Adam leaned on the counter with both hands and gave me a once-over.
This time, it wasn’t flirty like before.
Adam was a manwhore, and everyone knew a leopard didn’t change its spots overnight.
Growing up with the Kane brothers, there were three things I could count on.
One was that Ezekiel Kane put the B in brooding.
Two was that Adam would always be in the middle of girl drama, and three—well, three proved to be wrong.
The third thing used to be that Tyler Kane would always be there for me.
“Astrid, you’re family.”
“I’m not,” I corrected him right away.
This made him smile.
“You’re like a little sister. I can’t charge my little sister.”
I glared at him.
“Besides, Tylenol would kill me if I charged you.”
There was no privacy in this damn place.
“You’re going to pay for this,” I warned him, which was ironic to say this since I wasn’t paying for shit right now.
The asshole just took another slurp of my used-to-be drink. Shaking my head, I marched back to my car.
“Remember to be back in three months!” Adam yelled after me.
I had been back less than twenty-four hours, and I already felt exhausted.
The next morning, I was exhausted. You know, when you replay a fight over and over in your head, and then you make up even more scenarios and have complete conversation breakdowns of what to do for each one of them? Yeah, that happened.
Completely normal stuff, right?
It was the journalist in me.
I told myself it was just the nerves of a new job and not because I was feeling remorseful over yesterday’s actions.
“Stop behaving like a bitch, Astrid. That’s not who you are.”
Never in our twelve years of friendship did he ever call me a bitch, not even playing around.
The Kane brothers might have lost their momma young, but Mr. Kane did a fine job with them.
You did not call women bitches even if you were playing around.
That just opened the door to other forms of disrespect.
“Stupid asshole,” I mumbled as I got up.
My first day of work would have been better if I had a coffee shop I could stop by. The Willow Grove Herald was in Willow Grove, and going to that quirky little coffee shop in Sunny Pines would have made me late. I did not have an extra twenty minutes to spare.
I walked out the door at the same time as our next-door neighbor did.
I had to do a double take because I knew everyone in this town, but she was someone I had never seen before.
If it weren’t for her fancy car sitting in her driveway, the designer clothing would have been a dead giveaway that she wasn’t from around here.
She was older than me, but man was she pretty.
My eyes didn’t latch on to her designer bag. No, my eyes were on the iced coffee in her hand. It looked expensive and tasty. The cup was clear with no logo, which meant she had a fancy coffee machine in her house.
We must befriend her ASAP!
“Hey!” I waved my hand at her.
She looked a little taken aback to be spoken to.
“Hello,” she replied.
“You’re new around here, aren’t you?”
Her smile was polite.
“I’ve been here for months now. I would say you’re the new one.”
“I’m back from college. This is my hometown.” The last part was said with less enthusiasm. “Do you like it here?”
“There is something charming about getting lost in a small town,” she added.
Obviously, she wasn’t trying to avoid her ex-best friend. One did not hide in the same town they grew up in.
I took a step toward her.
“I’m Astrid,” I said as I extended my hand so I could shake hers.
“Rachel,” she replied as she shook my hand.
“Well, I’m sure I’ll see you around,” I told her.
I went to my car before I opened my big fat mouth and asked her if I could have my own latte—now, that would be bad manners. The drive to work was fast. There was no traffic and no cops, so that meant I had free rein to step on the gas.
My car had just been serviced, and it ran smoothly—way better than it had the day before. The way it ran was more than just fixing a tire and an oil change, and that didn’t sit well with me.
Hell, I already knew he went above and beyond. The fucker cleaned my car. I mean, it wasn’t that messy, just a few bottles of water here and there, plus all my road trip snacks. If I wasn’t in a fight with the guy, I might have been embarrassed.
I did not want to owe Tyler Kane anything, even if it meant spending my money on fixing my car.
As a girl, I was sure nothing sucked more than taking your car to the garage and finding out that all that extra money you thought you were going to have would be wasted on auto parts.
Clothes, makeup, books, hell, even groceries were all an acceptable place to blow your cash—but cars? That sucked.
Once I was outside the doors to The Willow Grove Herald , I sighed.
“We officially begin to adult now.”