Page 48 of When You Stayed
“Yeah, it has. Where the hell have you been?” I tugged at the familiar hoodie he wore, and alarm bells sounded in my head when I realized why it seemed familiar.Taryn.
“I have a lot to tell you, but first—” he swung his head around and located Ford—“I need to talk to Ford. Will you stick around, or do you need to head back home?”
It was late, and I didn’t want to overstay an already awkward situation. One that had me nearly weeping on my way out. “I should probably go.”
Ford walked closer and snagged me with that intense glare. “We aren’t done talking, Rose.”
“Oh, I’m done, Ford. Completely finished, in fact.” I angrily explained, while my voice shook.
Connor looked between us, a dip between his brows forming. “Come on, Roy. Come hang out for a while. Please?”
Ford held my gaze, unwavering and determined. I wanted to go lick my wounds in private.
“I just want to go home, Connor. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Not until you hear me out, and you understand what happened here tonight,” Ford snapped.
Pointing at my chest defensively, I said, “I know exactly what happened. I cockblocked you. I’m so sorry, Ford, but I left in plenty of time for you to salvage that.”
“Goddammit, I was never going to fuck her. I was never going to kiss her. Fuck, you’re going to hate me for this too—” he suddenly dipped, aiming for my waist. Before I could even sputter another word, he’d pulled me up and tossed me over his shoulder.
“Okay, guess we’re doing things the hard way. Nice to know you two haven’t changed at all,” Connor droned while Ford began walking toward the kitchen.
“The cellar?” Connor asked, following Ford.
“Ford, I’m going to kill you.” I seethed while I hung over his shoulder,getting the perfect view of his ass. I lifted my head in time to see Connor smile down at me, but it was more of a smirk.
It had been years since I had gone down in the cellar, and I knew the same was true for Connor. Which was probably why he looked amazed as Ford carried me down the stairs like I was a sack of potatoes. The drafty air wrapped around me instantly. Everything was upside down for me, but I saw the shelves that had always been lined up since I was a kid, and I thought I saw a long table with chairs around it, but I wasn’t sure.
“You guys have church down here?” Connor asked after passing the table.
I tried to swing my head back to see, but Ford continued walking past the shelves until we were drawing closer to the back.
“Come on, there’s a heater in the back by some couches and chairs,” Ford replied.
Why didn’t he answer the question?
Finally, Ford flipped me over his shoulder and gently set me down on my feet, but I was so lightheaded, I fell back onto something soft. Underneath me was a two-seater couch, across from me was a recliner which Connor took, and between the furniture was a space heater. Ford laid a blanket down over me before taking a seat next to me, spreading his legs wide.
Which only made me think of Jasmine sitting atop him.
“You two seem…the same, but different,” Connor smiled as his eyes bounced between Ford and me.
Ford spoke first, replying with a bit of an incredulous scoff. “It’s been six years since you’ve seen us, Connor…so maybe you don’t exactly have a good frame of reference for it.”
“I’m sorry for that, I really am. I have my reasons, but I’m not talking about how you look. There’s like an animosity between you two…what’s going on?”
Before Ford could say there was always animosity between us, I slid my leg over my knee and bounced it. “Well, right before you got here, I nearly walked in on him fucking Jasmine Hersh.”
Connor’s brows raised like he was surprised. “The cheerleader from high school?”
“Yes, that one!” I said, right as Ford groaned.
“We were never going to fuck because I would never—I didn’t even touch her,” Ford cut off, trying to defend his actions.
I gaped at him, swinging my gaze. “She was straddling you, Ford. She was kissing?—”
Connor’s laugh was so loud that it had me snapping my mouth shut and leaning into the couch.
