Page 12 of Craved By You (Dark Desires Duet #1)

Astrid

H aileigh beamed in my direction, but something felt a bit off as I noticed her eyes start to well up. “He snuck into the women’s locker room?” she paused for a moment as a look of concern came over her face. “What if he would have gotten caught?”

I shook my head, agreeing that yes it was risky, but for the first time in my life, I felt so alive.

There was a fluctuation in Haileigh’s voice. “It sounds like you had a perfect day from start to finish.” ????

“ I did.” I swooned as I took a bite of my Italian hoagie, and before I had a chance to swallow, I asked the million-dollar question. “Is everything okay with you?”

Over the past few weeks Haileigh hadn’t been herself.

She kept insisting that she was fine, but everything about her said otherwise.

She looked toward the ceiling, searching for the perfect answer which also gave her away immediately.

I got up and wrapped my arms around my best friend as the tears started to pour down her cheeks, dragging her eyeliner down with it. “Hey what’s wrong?”

She sniffled. “It’s Braden.”

I felt my chest get heavy and I couldn’t help but think the worst. “Is everything okay?”

“ He has been acting weird since I got home from that first concert we went to,” she started to explain, pausing to gather her composure. “Then, when I brought it up the other day he started acting even more strangely.” Haileigh began wailing again.

I pulled her in closer to me, holding her tightly. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“ It’s not,” Haileigh choked out between sobs. “He’s leaving.”

Stunned, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Haileigh and Braden had the perfect relationship, or so I thought. “But why?”

“ I’m the only person he’s ever been with, and suddenly he feels like he never had a chance to do the things I’ve done.” She wiped her face, smudging what little of her makeup was still in place.

I was more confused than I had ever been. “You have never told him he couldn’t go to a concert, or out with friends.”

“ He feels trapped.” She shrugged. “Wants to see what’s out there. See if there’s someone out there that is better than me.”

Now, I was pissed. “That can’t be true.” I started questioning if he even had ever loved her in all these years. “So, do you want me to kick his ass? Bury his body? Tell me and I’m there.”

For the first time today, Haileigh cracked a small smile, followed by a hushed laugh. “It’s fine. I’m fine, or at least I’m going to be. Someday.” She paused. “He said it’s not forever.”

I was pissed and attempting to conceal it, but I couldn’t help myself.

“So, you’re just supposed to wait around for him to be done doing whoever, wherever?

” Epic fail. I knew my face was not hiding any of my feelings now.

“You’re not going to bum around and wait for him to come home.

He chose you , he married you , he needs to keep choosing you . ”

“ I’m sure it has a lot to do with his online friends that he games with.” She shrugged. “I think one of them has made the life of being a fuck boy seem appealing.”

I couldn’t roll my eyes further into the back of my head, none of this sounded right. I just didn’t want to tell my best friend that I felt like her husband might be cheating on her. Maybe he wasn’t - I didn’t have proof either way - but I was going to find out. Somehow.

“ Okay, sunshine .” Haileigh poked fun using Colt’s nickname. “Friend time off, employee time on. Get your little booty back to work.”

I laughed as she tried to shoo me off. “There ain’t nothing little about this booty.” I winked at her, over exaggerating the swing in my hips as I walked back to the floor of the salon. But not before making a quick stop at the restroom so I could sneak a quick text to Colt.

Me : ??Can you help me with something?

Colt :?? Hey beautiful. Mouth. Fingers. Cock. You choose.

Me : ??Not like that.

I followed my message with the eyeroll emoji and another with its tongue sticking out.

Colt : ??I was kidding. What’s up?????

Me : No you weren’t. Haileigh is upset, her husband is leaving her.

Colt : ??Chris will be happy to hear that.

Me : ??Colt.

Colt : ??Sorry, how can I help?

Me : ??Is there any way you can find out why?????

Colt : ??You want me to stalk him? That sounds a bit crazy, I wouldn’t know the first thing about any of this.

Me : ?You don’t know a guy who might… I don’t know, know a guy?

There was a long pause before Colt responded and I felt myself getting shaky. What was I doing? Why did I assume he would be able to help?

Just then the bathroom door swung open and Haileigh stood there staring at me. “You’re not slick, your next appointment is here.” She shook her head and smiled as she walked out of the bathroom.

“ Sorry about that. She’ll be right out.” I could hear her telling the person who was waiting on me. I put my phone in my back pocket and returned to the floor, questioning my sanity, but knowing I was about to nail this haircut.

???

After work, I checked my phone, realizing that Colt had never responded.

“ Great, he probably thinks I’m crazy,” I said out loud, leaning against my car, wishing that I would get a response.

“ You are crazy, but in the best way.” I was startled when a familiar voice boomed from behind me. I turned around to see Colt standing there. “These reminded me of you.” He handed me the most gorgeous bouquet I had ever seen, a sunflower amongst a dozen black roses with accents of baby’s breath.

I leapt into his embrace. “It’s beautiful.” I wound my arms around him as I planted a kiss to his lips. He responded by lifting me off the ground, his hands finding the curve of my ass as he moved us around, deepening the kiss against the car.

I could hear Haileigh yell at us from across the street, “Get a room!” causing us to break our connection with a fit of laughter.

I rolled my eyes as Colt set me down and kissed my forehead. “That woman is going to be the death of me.”

“ Give her a break, she’s going through a rough time.” Colt raised his brow at me. “Now, what have you eaten today?”

“ An italian hoagie,” I responded matter-of-factly. Normally, I didn’t eat lunch, but he didn’t need to know that.

He examined me carefully. “What about water?”

I smirked and thought about my response. “Mixed with coffee.” At my response, Colt released a deep exhale and didn’t appear amused. “Yes, I’ve had water… with lemon.”

“ Acceptable.” He seemed to be evaluating my every word now. “Do you want to grab dinner before the concert?”

I rolled my eyes at him and in a sarcastic tone said, “Oh no, more time with you?” Thankfully, he understood me more than anyone I’ve ever met. “Oh, is it cool if Haileigh comes to the concert, too?”

Colt glanced over and grabbed my hand, bringing it up to his lips. “The more the merrier.”

I quickly looked around him and yelled at Haileigh, issuing the invitation. It took no time for her to respond that she would see me there which made me even more excited. I would have someone backstage with me that I could fawn over the band with.

“ Can we go now?” I asked, pretending that I had been waiting on him.

Colt looked toward the sky, probably asking the gods what he did to deserve the energy I was giving him. “Let’s get out of here.”