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The front door opened, and Savina appeared carrying a large cardboard box. She wore her usual t-shirt and jeans, with her hair in a high ponytail. As she carefully walked up the ramp into the U-Haul parked near the front door, Hal leaned against Warren’s SUV. The rapid beating of his heart could only partially be blamed on his relief that she was okay.
Shit, this was gonna be harder than he thought.
Just don’t make it weird.
He grimaced. Savina had already made it weird by sneaking out of his apartment sometime between when they’d fallen asleep and when Hal woke at his usual six thirty. He grimaced and scrubbed his hand over his face, ignoring his instinct to duck behind the SUV when Savina came out of the U-Haul.
To his relief, she didn’t look his way, just continued into the house. He studied her perfect ass, hating that it made him half-hard even though he knew he’d never be with her again.
He wouldn’t say that last night had been a mistake, being with Savina had been everything he’d ever dreamed it could be, but the guilt he felt was a heavy weight that felt impossible to carry.
Did Savina carry that same guilt? Was that why she’d left without waking him?
He was pretty sure the answer was yes, and that fucking gutted him. Savina shouldn’t and didn’t deserve to have any guilt.
He hurried forward when Harper and the owner of Red Door Tattoo shop walked out of the door, balancing an empty bookshelf between them.
“Harper, let me help with that.” Hal slid his hands around the bookshelf, taking its weight as Harper stepped back.
“Thank you, Hal.”
Moving carefully, they loaded the bookshelf into the U-Haul, sliding it in next to a second bookshelf and a stack of boxes.
Harper had followed them into the U-Haul, and she shifted one of the boxes into a more secure spot before smiling at him. “Hal, have you met Addie’s boyfriend, Preacher? He owns the tattoo shop on Main Street. ”
Addie was Addison Moore, a schoolteacher and Harper’s best friend since they were kids.
Hal shook Preacher’s hand. The big man had a firm grip and a ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibe that was a direct contrast to Addie’s sweet and gentle nature. Still, there must have been a strong connection between them. Addison’s name was tattooed on Preacher’s forearm in a large, thick font.
“Nice to meet you,” Hal said.
“You too,” Preacher said.
“Hal is a vet tech at the clinic,” Harper said to Preacher. “The best vet tech at the clinic, which makes it a bit of a miracle that Nathan gave him the Saturday off to help Dad move.”
“Jade and Allie are just as good as me,” Hal said.
“So not true.” Harper slid her arm around his waist and squeezed affectionately as Preacher walked down the ramp of the U-haul and headed into the house. “Thank you for helping today.”
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “The starter went on my car last night, and I had to deal with getting it towed this morning.”
“Shit, that sucks. But you’re not even late.” Harper followed him down the ramp and toward the house. “Kira and Conner were here early, so we started early. Addie and Preacher and Aunt Savina just got here five minutes ago.”
He tried not to stiffen at Savina’s name but must have done a piss poor job of it because Harper said, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He opened the screen door, stopping so quickly when he saw Savina right there with another box that Harper bumped into the back of him.
“Oof,” Harper said. “What’s happening up there?” She peered around him. “Hey, Savina.”
“Hi, sweetie.” Savina glanced at him quickly before looking away. “Hello, Hal.”
“Hi, Savina.”
After an awkward silence, Savina said, “Excuse me,” and squeezed past him and out the door.
Hal ignored his urge to readjust his dick which hadn’t failed to notice the brief brush of Savina’s ass against it as she moved past him.
Harper popped up in front of him with suspicion written all over her face. “Did you and Savina fight?”
