Page 4 of Bailey-Rose: The Complete Duet

A growl of frustration echoed through the phone. “LouLou hasn’t left her room in almost a week. Right after she got back from college, Lou found out the dipshit she was seeing cheated on her. She made me promise not to beat his ass, but with how hurt she is, I’m not sure I can hold back.”

Anger flared through me at the thought of someone daring to do that to my Rosie. Growing up, Crew and I had been instant best friends, but it was easy to see that his baby sister was the most important person ever to Crew. So if I wanted to hang out with him, I hung out with her, which I quickly learned was no hardship. Bailey-Rose was, hands down, the most pure, kind, loving woman I’ve ever known. As we got older, the three of us became a tight-knit group until I left for college. Being five years older than her made it challenging to stay connected, especially when I felt like I was in a whole different part of life than her.

When I came back for the summers during my first and second year, we all hung out, but then Rose drifted away and spent less time with us my third summer back. Crew and I stayed best friends, allowing me to hear what she was up to. While I didn’t get to spend time with her, I still felt like I’d been kept in the loop about her life.

Or so I thought because I knew nothing about her dating someone. Last Crew told me she’d gone to finish her degree at Golden Oaks University of Fine Arts for the last three months. How long had she been dating this guy? Where did they meet? How dare he fucking think it was okay to cheat on her while she was gone. Now I was kicking myself for not reaching out to her. In hopes of rebuilding our friendship, I wanted my moving back to be a surprise, so I made Crew promise not to tell her.

“How can I help?” I asked. “Do we need to roll up on this fucker and explain what he did was unforgivable?”

“No, she made me promise if I did anything to him, she had to be there to see it. LouLou is out for blood when it comes to Randall. Which is a new side of her,” Crew explained. “As for what you can do, I think it might be good for her to know you’re back. I’ve kept her in the loop about you just like you asked me to for her, so I know you’re still friends even after all this time. Honestly, I think she needs a little tough love, and I can’t do it when it comes to her.”

I had to laugh, knowing he wasn’t kidding when he said that. Rosie was his kryptonite, and Crew couldn’t say no to anything that wouldn’t cause her harm.

“Seriously, man,” he continued with desperation in his tone. “She looks like a sad, wet, abandoned kitten left in a box on the side of the road. I don’t know what to do. I need your help.”

I glanced at my watch and saw it was late afternoon. I was supposed to have dinner with my parents tonight, but I had plenty of time to swing by the Thatcher house first. “Give me a half hour, and I’ll be over.”

“Thanks, man, I really appreciate it,” Crew said, his relief clear. “Eli just tells me to let her be, and she’ll come out when she’s ready, but I don’t think he understands just how bad her state of mind is. Between you and me, I’m seriously fucking afraid this is the final straw, and she won’t be able to snap out of her depression. The last time it got this bad, you took her for the day, and whatever happened, she was back to her normal self.”

“Wait, she never told you what we did?” I questioned.

I knew exactly what day he was talking about, and I’d never expected her to keep it a secret. That made me curious as to why Rosie chose not to tell him when they talked about everything.

“Nope, not a word. Said it was between you and her, and nobody else needed to know,” Crew explained. “Don’t even think about telling me now, either. If she’s kept it to herself this long, it meant a lot to her.”

“All right, I’ll keep it to myself,” I assured him. “See you in thirty.”

Setting my phone down, I yanked off my shirt and headed for the bathroom. I needed to shower before going to my parents’ place, so better to be ready for dinner if I ended up needing to stay longer than expected to help Rosie. That woman had been through enough in this life to last three others. There’s no way I would let some shithead mess with her self-confidence and self-worth.

Pulling up the driveway, I entered the gate code Crew sent me since they updated it after I last used it. That didn’t surprise me one bit. Eli was the type of man to stay on top of keeping his family safe, and changing the gate code from time to time was one way to do that. I’d forgotten how far back the house sat on the property they’d owned and lived on for generations. The house itself was fairly conservative for someone of their net worth.

It was a sprawling two-story home with a cobblestone circle driveway. I’d always liked the feel of this house because even though it was large for five people, it didn’t feel that way. The biggest change since I’d been gone was Crew had a recording studio built on the side so he could work from home. I parked off to the side in the area meant for Crew’s clients, not wanting to be in the way.

I tossed the car into park and sat there for a moment. Crew and I met up all the time when I came back into town. On the other hand, Bailey-Rose and I hadn’t seen each other since I graduated college. Even then, I didn’t get a chance to do more than wave at her before her mother whisked her off for a girls’ weekend. I’d felt special, though. Rose made sure to come and support me, but the fact she didn’t even try to talk to me hurt more than I’d like to admit.

Taking a deep breath, I shoved open the door and got out. This was Bailey-Rose, the girl who cried when she found out caterpillars turned into butterflies. She couldn’t understand why the caterpillar wasn’t good enough as it was created, hating that it needed to change. Rose asked me once why caterpillars had to evolve for people to like them. I didn’t have an answer for her, and honestly, I’d never thought about it that way before. Never in my life have I met another human with such a pure heart who saw the world in technicolor instead of black and white.

When I reached the front door, it flew open, and there was Crew with a big grin on his face. “Look what the cat dragged back home.”

We both laughed as we gave each other a bro hug with some sound thumps on the back. Crew was a solid dude who took care of himself, so I grunted a little at the force of his love.

He pulled back, shaking his head. “Damn, you’ve gotten soft. Good thing you’re back so I can toughen you back up again. I’m seriously in need of a gym buddy who can keep up.”

I followed him into the house, through the grand foyer, and into the sunken living room with plush suede couches. This home was meant to be lived in, so while all the furniture was high-end, it was still practical. Crew flopped onto the loveseat and propped his feet on the coffee table. After slipping off my shoes, I followed suit and sat across from him on the chaise end of the sectional couch.

“So how does it feel to know you won’t be packing up and leaving in a few months?” Crew asked.

“Fucking amazing,” I answered. “If I’m being honest, I don’t think I realized just how much I was beginning to resent having to do that. At first, it was great. I got to see all kinds of places and visit almost every state in Preidon. Then the shininess of it all wore off once I met the guys, and our pack formed.”

My best friend dropped his feet and locked eyes with me. “Was it worth it? Going through all the hoops to find a pack?”

“Yeah, one hundred percent,” I answered without hesitation. “I get your reluctance, though, allowing someone to decide your fate. All they have is your information along with a scent card for the Scent Matchers to work with. For me, it only took a month before they called the five of us together for a meeting. Some people can wait years, but I was lucky. The strangest part of the meeting was walking into that restaurant and knowing four other people were there to see if they wanted to create a pack with you.”

Pausing, I thought back to that day when the hostess walked me back to the private room they’d reserved for us. Warrick and Yun-Sun were already there chatting when I strolled in. Gareth arrived shortly after, and then Vili burst in ten minutes later, looking like he’d rolled out of bed.

“It took us about a half hour to realize how comfortable and easy the whole thing was. It was almost as if I’d known them for years, even though we didn’t know each other’s last names.” I shrugged and grinned at Crew. “Don’t worry, though. No one is going to take your best friend status. These guys are friends for sure, but you and I… well, we’ve got history they’ll never be able to beat.”

The set of Crew’s shoulders relaxed slightly at this, but I don’t think even he realized how worried he was until I said something. Growing up and caring for Bailey-Rose didn’t leave Crew many opportunities to make friends. I know he’d never change a thing, but even if he never said it, I knew how important our friendship was to him.