Page 47 of Tricked in October
Julian was running the bar and Izzy lived near the mountains. The Whitleys were close to downtown, but she’d already asked enough of them. Her thumb landed on Howard Hoffman. He was the closest, but he too had just helped her. Wasn’t there a limit to how many favors someone did for one person? Because Kelsey was pretty certain she’d reached it with every person in her life. And she hated to think that.
Crossing her fingers, she hoped the long-term friendship between Howard and her mom was still strong. She checked the time first. Howard went to bed early and it was almost ten. She sucked in a breath and prayed.
Howard picked up on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Mr. Hoffman, it’s Kelsey. Kelsey O’Henry,” she specified when he didn’t respond.
“Kelsey? Everything okay with your van?”
“Oh yes, it’s fine. Um…” She hesitated. “I was wondering if you could do me a favor?”
“What’s wrong?”
She dropped her chin to her chest. “It’s my mama.”
There was a sigh followed by a long silent pause on the other end of the line. She didn’t need to elaborate further. He knew her mama well enough to know.
“Where is she?”
“Cosmos.”
“Tell her to sit tight. I’m on my way.”
Relief flooded her chest, and she pinched her eyes shut. “Thank you. Please, come by anytime next week for a beer on the house.”
“Not a problem.” Mr. Hoffman hung up the phone.
She hated that nagging feeling of owing someone. And if it wasn’t for her alcoholic mother or dead husband, she wouldn’t.
The sound of the toilet flushing interrupted her pity party. She’d almost forgotten about Davis. Which in turn meant she’d almost forgotten about the intimate moment shared between them in the bed only minutes before.
Picking up a pillow, she buried her face in it. She needed advice from a friend and debated texting Isabella. And not the friend who was currently holed up in the bathroom of their shared hotel room. Over ten years of friendship and not once had they ever shared a romantic moment.
Now they’d shared three in the last couple of weeks. Was mercury in retrograde and she needed somewhere to invest this new chaotic energy? Was her dry spell finally catching up with her? She and Ricky did always have a healthy sex life.
Whatever it was, she needed to make sense of it. And before something happened again.
She never thought she’d be thankful for her mama’s addiction. But she may have very well saved her from making a huge mistake, causing the ruin of their friendship. She decided against texting Isabella. Confessing her feelings to Izzy would mean they wouldn’t be private anymore, and she had to admit, keeping this thing between her and Davis hidden felt more exciting.
Instead, she went to the bathroom door and knocked gently. “Hey, you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
But if he was good, he wouldn’t still be locked in the bathroom. Maybe he was just embarrassed. Which he didn’t need to be with her. Later, she’d tease him relentlessly, sure, but right now, she wanted to help. She wanted to be there for him like he was always there for her.
“Do you need anything? Some ginger ale or something?”
There was a pause before he said, “No, I’m fine. Thanks. You should get some sleep.”
“You do remember who you’re talking to, right?”
“Yes, and you should remember I’m the last person you need to worry about.”
“Pft,” she grunted and whipped around. She snatched the room card off the desk. “I’ll be back,” she hollered before slipping out the door and not bothering to wait for a response.
With no luck in the vending machine, Kelsey took the elevator to the lobby in search of ginger ale.
