“You okay?” I ask as I get our dinner prepared.
“Just peachy.” She’s still looking up at the ceiling.
“Come on, darlin’. It couldn’t be that bad,” I tell her as I plate our food. If she keeps drinking the second bottle of wine, she’ll be praying to the porcelain throne.
“I’m not sure on that, but that’s nice of you to say.” She blows out a puff of air. It’s deep and heavy. That’s when I know something isn’t right.
I stop what I’m doing, abandoning everything, for Hadley. She doesn’t even realize how tightly we’ve entwined our lives. I’ve dropped everything for her more times than I can count, and boy does she reciprocate, even if it’s something as mundane as picking up my dry cleaning or me picking up Friday night dinners.
Hadley sees me coming. She moves her legs from the edge of the chair, making room for me to slide in beside her. I wrap my arm around her shoulder. She places her hand on my chest, my heart beating rapidly beneath her palm. Hadley’s head burrows into the crook of my neck. On these rare occurrences where she lets her shield drop like she is right now, it makes me want so much more than this best-friend status she has us in.
I let out a breath trying to come up with the right words so she doesn’t close down again, when she says, “I really am becoming the person my parents said I would.”
“Look at me.” My hand that isn’t wrapped around her shoulder tips up her chin, so she can look at my eyes. Her parents aren’t like most. It’s something we’ve talked about on end. They aren’t bad per say, expect a lot out of their daughter career wise, but being loving parents, that they were not. It’s why she wanted to start fresh while in college. She landed in Nashville and didn’t feel the need to go back home to Missouri when she graduated, which is saying something.
Hadley’s eyes peer up at me. There’s so much written inside them. I can see the defeat. “You are nothing like that. You have so much in front of you. Fuck, you set goals and achieve them. You don’t give up. It’s not in your vocabulary, darlin’. Whatever is going on, you’ll get through it, and I’ll help you every step of the way.”
“I’m not so sure about that, but I love that you have so much faith in me.” Her head drops back down onto my chest. I play with her hair as she relaxes, not caring that our food is getting cold. If this is what she needs, I’ll be her peace on a turbulent day.
To think I almost said fuck no to Tyler when he told me Hadley needed a place. Not only that, but I saw the look in his eyes that said he’d bring her up to his apartment. I knew he was there for her on more than one occasion. If she needed extra money, he’d let her man the bar to rake in the tips. There was no way he really wanted Hadley in his apartment. It would mess with his bachelor ways that come with owning a bar. The few times I met her, I knew she was feisty, quick witted, and wore her heart on her sleeve. It was a no-brainer she’d be my roommate. Now she’s more though. So much fucking more.ThreeHadleyMy stomach grumbling causes the heaviness to disappear from the air surrounding us. Coop slides out from underneath me, his hand held out for me to take.
“Ready to eat?” he questions, taking my hand in his. I stand up, steady on my feet. I’m kind of unsure how that happens, seeing how much wine I’ve consumed.
“Yeah, I’m starving.” Cooper’s arm goes around my waist, and I sink into his side. I’m firmly planted next to him. We’ve cuddled on the couch before while watching movies, and he’s carried me to bed on more than one occasion. Something tells me that this will be one of those nights. I can smell our dinner. It causes my senses to perk up. “I don’t know how you haven’t been snatched up. It’s probably me, isn’t it?” My insecurities are rearing their ugly head today, man.
“You’re not cramping my style, and we’re not going there.” He gives me a pointed look.
“Okay.” I raise my hands up in a not touching that subject signal. Coop and I make up our plates. Instead of eating in the living room, I bypass it for the balcony. There’s something calming about the wind blowing, the lights turning on at dusk, and watching people.
“Out here tonight, huh?” Cooper says as he sits beside me. He really does have the crème de la crème apartments in Nashville. It puts Tyler’s to shame. To be fair, his is over a bar.