Page 53 of Right Side of Paradise

Better With You Than Without

Nobody said a word at the breakfast table this morning. Next to Rico, Christian sat across from me, pushing scrambled eggs around his plate. He was never awake this early, but I had a feeling he hadn’t come to bed after he got home last night.

There was a common thread pulling us all taut to the point of breaking, and she was out on the water instead of sitting here with us.

“We really finna let Harlow decide if we have a good day or not?”

Christian cocked his head at me like I was talking out the side of my neck. Because I was. I knew that and doubled down.

“We sitting here like teenagers who just got in trouble for cheating on a test, and now the woman we claim to love is giving us the silent treatment while we?—”

“Aye, watch out, Soul.”

Rico dropped his fork and pinned me with a hard glare.

“Or what?”

Rico scoffed, then his chair was dragging against the tile as he pushed back from the table.

“You acting flaw as hell right now because the issue ain’t fixed the second you want it to be.” An angry groove appeared in the space between his brows. “Ain’t that the same shit you usually get on me about?”

Christian cleared his throat, looking at me while he twisted his bottom lip. “I don’t claim to love Harlow. Just like I don’t claim to love you or Rico. I do . Ain’t nothing hypothetical about it.”

His voice was softer than I expected. Gentler than I deserved.

“It’s been a day and she’s trying to get through hurt she never had to deal with before. You acting like she packed her shit and left us in the middle of the night.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I mumbled, still reeling, still refusing to look at this rationally.

I was always the peacemaker. Always the one who looked at everything from all sides before jumping to conclusions.

But something about this felt too familiar for me to take it as calmly as they wanted me to.

Rico stood up and scowled. “We got enough going on, so I won’t say what I want to right now.”

Those words lingered over the breakfast table even after he slammed his office door behind him.

“You okay?” Christian’s hand was on top of mine. Firm. Reassuring.

Looking up from my half-eaten plate, I met his gaze and shook my head. “We supposed to be okay with being disposable if she up and leaves again?”

“I—” his jaw worked as his voice abandoned him. “That’s not what we meant. Why you jumping to a scenario where she leaves?”

“Because she has before.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” His hand on mine didn’t budge.

“Harlow has never left us on bad terms. Ever. We agreed to everything that happened that summer, and she went back to traveling after. That’s it.

You can be upset about it because we caught feelings, but let’s not act like we weren’t the ones who dropped her off at the airport. ”

I kissed my teeth.

Just because I quietly watched her walk out of my life before didn’t mean I was about to do it again. She was already sleeping in a different room and icing us out. I knew what came after that.

Slowly, Christian’s hand slid off my clenched fist and he rose from the table, yawning.

“I’m about to try to get some sleep. You good down here?”

Reluctantly, my eyes found his. “Yeah, I’m gonna go to my parents’ house.”

There was a flicker of panic he couldn’t hide on his face and my heart twisted.

Fall in love with three people , they said. It’ll be fun , they said.

But this shit had me in knots right now. Me and Christian hadn’t even crossed that line yet, and I still claimed him like he was mine. Everything was perfect before that elevator ride. And now I had to deal with the consequences of something I would never regret.

“I’ll be back before bed tonight,” I told him warily. Then I kissed his brow and walked out the front door, ignoring Rico’s closed office door and the heaviness in my heart.

“Where’s mom?” The screen door on my folks’ house rattled closed behind me.

“Hello to you too, son.” My father engulfed me in a hug I didn’t protest. “Your mama down on the beach playing with that new drone you got her for Mother’s Day.”

The chill trying to harden me thawed at his words.

River Calloway tightened his hold on me and rocked from side to side.

“What you doing on this side of town?” he asked. Like it was a one-hour drive instead of a twenty-minute walk from Rico’s house.

“Needed to see y’all,” I answered. What I needed to do was ground myself, and the walk over here had done half the work.

His embrace was doing more. Tension and defiance still bunched my muscles.

I had a crick in my neck I needed to work out and a dull throb had settled at my temples.

I knew some would look at me and say I was overreacting.

That my life didn’t begin and end with romantic love and I shouldn’t let it dictate my mood.

But my life did revolve around Christian, Harlow and Rico.

It had for twenty years now and it was easier accepting that than ignoring the truth. I wasn’t apologizing for it.

The concern on my father’s face was palpable when he pulled back from our hug and studied me. “What’s going on with you, son?”

“You got a minute to talk?”

“Always.” He led me to the living room, waiting for me to claim a spot on the sofa before he sat down in his recliner. “What’s on your mind?”

An Hour Later

“You do what I say and you won’t have to repeat yourself next time.” My dad gave me a pointed stare. “Watch what I tell ya now.”

“What are you telling him to do?” My momma hadn’t reached the living room, but her voice carried from the back of the house.

Gina Calloway slid my father a suspicious look, setting her drone and the remote control down on the coffee table. Her face softened when she looked at me. “Hey, honey.”

“Hey, momma.”

She kissed both my cheeks. “What y’all in here talking about?”

Seconds ticked by of my parents glaring at each other with no heat before my father cracked.

“I’m teaching Soul how to put his foot down.”

She sat down beside me as I explained the past twenty-four hours, tacking on my father’s advice at the end.

“River, please.” She tossed her twists over her shoulder. “Don’t listen to him, Soul. You gone be single by dinner time. That man ain’t never put his foot down in the thirty-five years we been together.”

“That’s ‘cause you know how to listen,” he said, his chin taking on a proud tilt.

“River, don’t get me started.”

“You saying you walk all over me?” His attempt at sounding offended fell flat when his eyes crinkled and his cheeks lifted.

“I ain’t saying all that,” my mother placated with a twinkle in her eye. “You got some act right in you, I never have to get too?—”

“Mom, dad.”

They snapped back to attention like they forgot I was in the house, and a snort of laughter broke through the rest of my jaded mood.

I was looking at the source of my tender heart and playful disposition right here. They were the reason I craved peace and stability because they had spent my whole life modeling that.

It was because of them I wholeheartedly believed life was easier together than apart from my loves.

I had to work in a few, but after that I needed to go home and apologize to Rico. And I needed to figure out how to be Harley’s rock instead of pushing her away the way I had with Rico this morning.

I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but the other option wasn’t one I was accepting.

I spent the rest of the morning with my parents before working a half day at the spa. When I stepped out to head home I had to do a double take when Rico was the first person I saw.

“Why are you here?”

His lips quirked. “I just met with my dad. Figured I’d wait for you before walking home.”

“You didn’t drive?”

“Nah, I needed the walk to clear my head on the way over here.” He looked at the sidewalk. “And I wanted Harlow to have the truck if she wanted to go somewhere…”

Without having to ask me for the key.

His posture said it even though his words hadn’t. He knew she was avoiding us and blamed himself for it.

“About this morning?—”

“We good,” he promised, looking up at me with his head still slightly bowed. “Everybody on edge right now and me walking off didn’t help shit.”

“I shouldn’t have come at you like that. I wasn’t thinking. I was?—”

“Hurt,” he finished for me. “I get you, Soul. I always get you.”

He closed the space between us and grabbed me by the back of my neck.

“I love you and I love us. We’ll figure out the rest.”

His lips covered mine, claiming and comforting. I kissed him back until I lost track of time and forgot where we were.

And after I broke the kiss, Rico didn’t let me get far. He kept his hand around my neck and his lips a whisper away from mine. That heady feeling, that sense of home I always felt around him, came rushing in, washing away the rest of my doubt.

“Let’s go home. I need to tell you what my dad said.”