The Road To Heaven (Allendale Four 3)

I shrugged. “Maybe she has some kind of news. Maybe she just wants to see if you kept your good looks. The tabloids are going crazy trying to get an update.”

He ignored my tabloid comment. “Heaven was vague when I asked her about it. I think she knows.”

“Maybe Amber and Ginger will move back to Allendale, too, and the whole gang will be here again.” I laughed.

“It’s been weird being back,” Hayden said quietly. “A lot of old feelings, I guess.”

That time I didn’t meet his eye. I knew about old feelings and how they screwed with a guy’s head…and heart. Ever since the blind date with Heaven and then Hayden’s injuries, our lives had been tossed back together again. It was nice. And incredibly hard. None of us really knew what to do or how to handle it. So far, it’d been mostly avoiding it and one another, if possible.

“We’re meeting Anderson there?”

“Yeah he’ll ride over from his parents’ house.”

“And Heaven?”

“She’ll probably meet us at the restaurant.”

“I know she’s busy and has job that requires a lot of her time, but she’s only been over once since I got back,” he replied. “I’m getting a weird vibe from her.”

“What?” I asked. “The ‘your ex doesn’t want to see you’ vibe? Welcome to the club, Hayden. And fuck no, she doesn’t want to see you—especially not with Sabine around here.”

He looked away at her name and said quietly, “Things are complicated with Sabine. When the endorsements started rolling in, Bryant felt like I needed more visibility. I wasn’t up to it alone. Sabine…she was a good option.”

I leaned against the dresser. “I’m not judging you for dating someone, Hayden. None of us are.”

“I’m not—”

I held up my hand. “Seriously, it’s better to own it and move on. It’s what we’ve all been trying to do, and honestly it may be the first step toward that for the rest of us. If you can find someone else—be with someone else—then maybe there’s a chance for the rest of us.”

His gray eyes flicked to mine and his jaw tightened. “Do you really think that?”

No, I wanted to say. Fuck no. But I wasn’t telling him that I lay awake at night pining over the girl I let get away—that we let get away.

“I do,” I said, carefully helping him off the bed. He grunted and looked down at his feet. His left ankle was swollen and wrapped.

“I need some socks.”

“Oh, right.” I grimaced. “Jackson and I flipped for it. I had to help you with your pants. He’s on sock duty. There’s no way in hell I’m touching your feet.”

Hayden cursed me under his breath and despite it all, it was really nice having him back home again.

19

Heaven

“Before they get here, I need to know everything going on with you and the guys.”

We were all meeting at the restaurant at six. Or so I was told. I showed up first and Amber’s sly smile suggested something was off. It only took a little arm twisting for her to reveal that she’d told me to come early so she could talk to me about Hayden being home, us all being at the party together and how I felt about it.

I took a swallow of my drink before answering, feeling the warm burn down my throat. No chance in hell I’d get through the night sober.

“Nothing,” I said. “Nothing is going on with me and the guys, other than, I guess, friendship.”

“Friendship. You and the Allendale Four?” She eyed me skeptically.

“We’re making it work—for Hayden.”

“And everyone is cool with it?” She took a sip of her own drink.