Once I’m in the bar, I scan the room looking for Trista when my gaze catches Keaston standing with his back to the bar and his head turned in my direction. I’d forgotten. How could I have forgotten him?
Making my way toward him, I’m careful not to get too close. I’m okay with Hawk, but other men, I don’t know when I’ll be ready to be near them again. Keaston must sense my hesitation, because he doesn’t move an inch as I approach, in fact, he freezes.
“You okay?” he asks, his voice low and husky.
“I will be,” I admit truthfully. I am not okay right now, and I probably won’t be for a long time, but I think that I will be, eventually.
He dips his chin in a short nod. “I’m leaving, headed down to LA.”
“When?” I ask.
“Tomorrow, guys here got me in with the Beasts down there to prospect.”
“You want to be a Savage Beast?” I gasp.
He smirks. “Like it. A group of like-minded men. I feel good being here, I don’t feel so lost.”
Pressing my lips together, I nod a couple of times. “Thank you, Keaston. I don’t think that I ever truly thanked you properly, but thank you.”
He presses his lips together, his gaze searching mine. “There’s no reason for your thanks. Your man was right. I was protecting you, partially to help you, but mostly because I wanted you, but it’s me who should be thanking you,” he says.
I blink, unsure of what he’s about to say next. I bite the inside of my cheek as I wait, and I must admit that I’m a little surprised by the end of him expressing gratefulness and thanks. It is definitely not what I expect him to say, not at all.
“Without you forcing Hawk to bring me, I would have never found this club and I would have never found Sable.”
“Sable?” I ask.
He dips his chin. “Yeah, I’m taking her with me.”
I almost breathe a sigh of relief, mainly because I can’t stand the old ho, but then I press my lips together. I don’t want a nice guy like Keaston to be stuck with someone like that, not her. He deserves someone better. He’s good, genuinely he is a good person.
“You know what she is?” I ask on a whisper.
Though judging her feels really fucking shitty, mainly because I am not much different than her, not in the slightest. I want to make sure he knows exactly what he’s getting when it comes to her.
“She is a clubwhore, I get that. I know what it means, and I’m good with that. She makes me happy, that’s all I care about,” he states.
I’m unable to hold my smile back, it takes over as I look at him. He’s happy. Truly happy and in turn that makes me feel the same way. I’m just glad that I didn’t hurt his feelings, especially after all he did for me, I’m glad that he doesn’t feel as if I led him on, because that was the last thing that I ever wanted to do.
“I’m so happy for you, Keaston.”
“Thanks, babe. You good?” he asks again.
Licking my lips, I nod my head. “I’m really good,” I admit.
I am too, being with Hawk now, it’s exactly what I imagined it could be. Ignoring all of the shit that the senator put us through, pushing that aside, what we have now is what I wanted. It’s everything and it’s real.
“Good, you know I’ll see you again, yeah?” he asks.
Smiling, I give him a jerk of my chin in a nod. “Yeah, I do.”
“You’re one of a kind, Avah. A true badass bitch, babe.”
Laughing, I shake my head a couple of times as Trista appears next to me. She asks me if I’m ready and I nod my head, but before I walk away, I know that this will probably be my last time to talk to Keaston, the party tonight, then him leaving tomorrow doesn’t really give us another opportunity.
“Be happy, with her, with yourself.”
“You got that right, babe.”
Chapter Thirty-One
AVAH
Taylee sits next to me, quiet as she can possibly be, and it almost appears as if she wishes that she could disappear into the chair as the technician paints her toenails.
Our hair is done, mine taking longer than usual because my extensions were such a mess, I think that the stylist cried a little as she worked on me. Now they’re out, my hair is thinner and shorter, but it needs a good long break.
“So Sable is leaving, you’re staying, and you and my dad are being gross together. Seems like life is going to be back to normal and it’s going to be good,” Trista chats from the other side of me.
“Don’t say that,” I warn.
“Why?”
“Don’t jinx shit. Life is never good for long, something always happens,” I point out.
“Always,” Taylee whispers.
“So, what’s going on with you and Worm?” Trista asks, changing the subject.
I’m glad for the topic change, because I want to know too. They seem pretty cozy. I think he likes her but I’m not getting an extremely sexy connection between them yet. Not in a burning desire kind of way, so I don’t think anything has happened between them yet. I’m super curious.
Taylee’s cheeks turn bright red and I wonder if it is more of a sexy than cozy after all. I watch as she squirms in her chair, letting out a heavy sigh before she looks down at her lap, then lifts her gaze up and shifts it to meet mine. Her eyes flick from me to Trista, then back to me again.
“I really like him,” she whispers. “He’s kind, smart, and funny, but he doesn’t feel the same way.”
I let out a bark of laughter at the same time Trista giggles behind me.
“Girl,” I
