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“Not right now,” he growled.
Kasey jumped in then, along with Austin. Suddenly, doors were slamming, and the car was moving.
It didn’t take long before my stomach sent bad signals.
“I think we need to pull over,” I warned.
“We’re almost home,” Austin answered.
“We need to pull over… NOW!”
Within an instant, I was out of the backseat, retching on the side of the road.
One of the guys held my hair, while another rubbed my back. And still another told me it would be okay. To just let it rip.
And I did just that.
Heaven help me, but I think I may have drunk a little too much.
I AWOKE TO the sound of someone lightly snoring, with the sun pouring in through a window I didn’t recognize. I took a deep breath and realized I felt like total shit.
When I rolled over on my back, I saw Austin lying next to me, sound asleep.
I quickly picked up my blanket and peeked under it. I still wore my bra, panties, garter belt, and stockings. Obviously, nothing happened between us last night, which came as a relief. I could remember us having sex in the waiting room of Dirty Coyote, but I didn’t remember anything else.
Nothing.
Not even how I got into his bed.
“Hey, Ace,” Austin said, then pulled me in closer. “Let’s just stay here all day.”
“As much as I would like that, I have three kids waiting for me.”
“Not today. My parents are taking them to the cemetery.”
“Say that again. I thought you said something about your parents and the cemetery? That can’t be true.”
“It is. Not to be maudlin, but it’s two years today that Emily’s mom died. My parents like to take Emily there on the anniversary. The other kids like to tag along.”
I slid away from his grip. “Why aren’t you going?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just have morning sex instead.”
I moved even further away. “I don’t think so. You obviously have some issues that you’re not addressing.”
He rolled on his back, then pushed himself up on the headboard. “I’ve dealt with it, and I have to move on, or I won’t ever have a life. Emily needs me to be strong. She doesn’t need me to be mourning her mom twenty-four-seven. I already did that during the first year, and Emily suffered for it. I won’t do that again. I’m supposed to move on now, and that’s what I’m doing.”
“Says who?”
“Says every book I’ve ever read about grief.”
I stared at him for a moment, knowing damn well he was still hurting and staying away just made the hurt deeper. “Have you ever gone to the cemetery with Emily?”
“I don’t know… no… yes… maybe once.”
“Did they leave yet?”
He glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. “They’ll leave in about a half hour.”
