“No problem,” she said with a nervous smile.
“Thanks,” I said to her before making a circle in the air with my finger and telling the boys, “Let’s go!”
We were supposed to meet with Stuart’s supplier tonight, but I had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen, since Hailey had taken his goddamn phone. I sighed in frustration.
Hollywood shoved his fingers into his wife’s hair and kissed her goodbye. I debated going to check on Hailey myself, but we were on a time crunch and I was the goddamn president. I refused to look like a pussy.
So instead, I roared out of the lot, pipes crackling and my brothers at my back.
15
Hailey
“Stop and Say You Love Me”—Evans Blue
A knock on the door woke me, and I sleepily pushed up in the bed. “Yeah?” I croaked.
Blonde hair streaked with hot pink piled in a messy bun was the first thing I saw as a woman peeked in. “Hey,” she said with a soft grin. “Snow asked me to come check on you. I brought you a sandwich and some chips.”
My stomach dropped and my chest ached at what this woman might be to him.
“Um, okay?” I didn’t know what to say, because I was dying to ask her.
She brought in a bamboo tray and set it on the bedside table. Then she dropped into the desk chair and crossed long, tanned legs. Her shorts had barely covered her ass, and she had a loose-fitting off-the-shoulder shirt over a tank top. She looked perfectly sloppy in the sexiest of ways, and I instantly hated her.
My stomach rumbled.
“I made the sandwich plain cuz I didn’t know what you liked. There’s some mayo and mustard packets on there. If you want me to get lettuce and tomato, I can. Oh, and I made some Chai tea and grabbed a bottle of water.” She shrugged as she apologetically wrinkled her nose. It only made her more adorable, and I really despised her then. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to claw her big blue eyes out.
“It’s fine. Who are you?” I asked in an offhand tone. My gaze flicked up from where I doctored the sandwich to covertly look at her.
A knowing smirk lit her face, and I fought growling. “I’m Tasha. You can call me Tash. I’m not with Snow and never have been,” she said before she pulled her disgustingly plush lips between her teeth. That’s when what she said registered and made me feel like an asshole.
“Oh.” My face flamed as I shoved the food in my face. I’d had some awfully hateful thoughts about her that she hadn’t deserved.
An awkward silence was broken only by the sound of my chewing. I’d gotten halfway through the meal when I stopped. Frozen stock-still, my hands began to shake, and my eyes went wide.
After nearly falling on my face, I gracelessly scrambled out of the bed. I bolted to the bathroom, where I proceeded to vomit up every bite I’d eaten. “Ugh,” I moaned after the last round of dry heaves.
“Damn, I’m not the best cook, but I’ve never had that response to my sandwiches.” Tash’s voice came from the open doorway. Slowly, I rolled my head in her direction. My entire body was trembling.
“I’m sorry. I think it’s all the stress,” I muttered thickly before I carefully climbed up, using the wall for support. On shaking legs, I shuffled to the sink and cupped my hand in the running water to rinse the vile taste from my mouth. Spotting a tube of toothpaste, I put some on my finger and brushed my teeth as best as I could.
When I moved toward the door, Tash backed up, and I could see a calculating gleam in those pale blue eyes. It took a lot for me to make it back to the bed, even with her supporting me.
She tucked me in like a mother would as she chewed on her lip. “Have you been sick before this?”
“A couple times, but with everything that’s happened lately, my nerves are shot.”
“It’s not my business, but, um, could you be pregnant?”
“Absolutely not.”
“No chance at all?”
If I was honest, I couldn’t say that for sure. Nervously, I tried to think of when I’d had my period last, but I drew a blank. It could’ve been last week, but I honestly couldn’t think. Grimacing slightly, I shrugged.
She blew out a big breath. “Okay. Chill here for a second. ‘Kay?”
Closing my eyes, I nodded.
Tash was gone a few minutes before she returned with a small box in her hands. “They say the best time to take one is first thing in the morning, but we can see what it says, then maybe do another one in the morning?”
“You got a stockpile of those?” I grumbled.
“Sort of.” She shrugged but didn’t meet my gaze. My heart went out to her if she was constantly having to check to see if she was pregnant. Didn’t they make sure their club girls were on birth control? God, I hoped they used condoms. The stuff from that TV show flashed through my head, and my stomach churned a bit.
“Oh” was all I could say.
“I mean, they keep them in the infirmary, you know, just in case.” Her cheeks flushed a rosy pink, which made her dusting of freckles stand out. She really was a pretty girl, and I wondered about her story. I really wanted to ask, but it seemed rude.
“You think I should use it now?” Suddenly, I wanted to cling to her like she was my best friend. I hated to admit I was terrified because Luke and I weren’t together, together.
What if he thought I’d gotten pregnant on purpose to try to trap him? I huffed out in frustration as I threw the covers back again and traipsed back to the bathroom. It didn’t matter. I’d deal with whatever the plastic stick said. If it was on my own, so be it.
