Page 104 of Dissolving Prejudice

“Sure,” I cut in without lingering to hear the rest of his sentence before going after Shay-Lee.

Despite the chilly weather, I was sweating my balls off and could use a drink or two to calm down my nerves, which only grew stronger after I couldn’t find Shay-Lee near the bar stand. Shit. Where did he go? Looking around, most of the guests were outside in the yard, so the house stood empty. Maybe he snuck back out? Deciding to wash my face with some cold water before going to look for him, I went toward the bathroom, and lucky me, Shay-Lee was just stepping out of it, and we bumped into one another in the hallway.

“Why the fuck is he here?” I hissed the words that had weighed in my heart since Jordan showed up.

“I don’t fucking know, okay?” he snapped while keeping his voice low.

“What do you mean you don’t know? You said he left.”

Shay-Lee muffled a curse while running his fingers through his hair. “I know. Fuck. I know, okay?” He took a sharp inhale of air before hissing it out with the word “fuck.” “I’ll figure things out, okay? You just need to stay chill until this party ends.”

“Stay chill?” I snarled, feeling my blood boiling. “How the fuck can I do that when he’s all over you?”

Shay-Lee pinned me with a harsh look. “You’re gonna have to find a way ’cause I’m not going to cause a scene in the middle of Soren’s party.”

Not pleased with his tone, I frowned. “You make it sound like this is my fault.”

“It isn’t—” He started yelling before lowering his voice. “It isn’t your fault. Fuck.” Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “He just blindsided me by coming here, and I’m fucking pissed. But I promise you it will be alright.” Moving toward me, he cupped my jaw with one hand. “Trust me, okay?”

I didn’t want to because until now, whenever he’d asked me to trust him, it often ended badly, to say the least. But being a fucking pussy whenever it came to saying no to those baby blues, I sighed. “Fine.”

Pleased with my cooperation, he dropped his hand and was ready to leave when I grabbed his wrist.

“Remember, you owe me a fucking treat tonight.”

A wicked smile took over his lips. “I already have an idea in mind.” He winked before walking away and leaving me to stand by the damn bathroom.

What a fucking mess.

I did end up washing my face, and after grabbing a bottle of beer, I went back outside, where I blended into a boring conversation my boys were having about school. Andrei was blabbering about his latest exams while Levi mentioned some crap called computer science? Just hearing him say words like Java and Python made me realize I was probably dumb as fuck because wasn’t a python some sort of snake? At least Jessie was there to join my immense lack of understanding, and at some point, we just watched cat videos on his phone.

It was getting late when guests started leaving, and by now, with the sun almost set, the party had turned intimate. I spent some time with June and Cyrus and even grabbed a beer with Mel, Chief’s mom, who I hadn’t seen in years.

Tired and ready for this day to end, I sat around the fire pit to get warmed up.

“What’s up, man?” Andrei asked after sitting on the sofa beside me.

“Nothing much,” I said, not taking my eyes away from the dancing flames.

“You sure? You seem pissed.”

I stayed quiet, and he seized the moment to shift closer. “You know you can talk to me, right?”

I acknowledged him with a half smile before movement caught my eye, and I focused my sight on Shay-Lee, who stood across the yard while speaking with Soren. If only I could snatch him away right fucking now.

“Is there something going on between you two?”

Andrei’s voice intruded my thoughts, and I turned to face him. The second our eyes crossed, I knew there was no point hiding the truth, and I gave him a short nod.

“Shit, man.”

A deep crease formed between his brows, which looked even deeper due to the lights reflecting on his face from the fire.

“When did it start?”

“Thailand.”

He snorted. “So the trip was successful after all.”