Better If He Goes (Always You #1) - Allie Everhart Page 0,84

than good. It's awesome. I'm glad you're finally thinking of yourself for once." I smile. "Any chance you might move to Dallas?"

She smiles back. "I don't know, but I'll definitely come visit you if you get a job there. I liked Texas, even though I was only there for an hour."

"What do you mean? When did you go to Texas?"

She doesn't answer, her eyes darting to Brad.

He clears his throat. "We took a drive one day."

"And you drove to Texas?" I ask.

"Yeah. Just across the border. Riley said she'd never been there, and I was bored and wanted to take a drive, so we went. We didn't plan it. It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing."

"When was this?" I ask Riley.

"I don't know. Maybe a month ago?" She gives me a nervous smile and shrugs. "It wasn't a big deal."

"It is to you. You've never left the state. Why didn't you tell me this?"

"I thought you'd get mad," she says. "Not really mad, but annoyed that you didn't get to go with us."

"I am annoyed. Why didn't you invite me to come with?"

"You were getting ready for your date," Brad explains. "It was back when we were doing all those double dates. I asked if you wanted to go somewhere and you told me you had to get ready to go out that night."

"You still could've told me."

"We're telling you now," Riley says. "So anyway, how did Heather take the news of your breakup?"

"She was upset. Crying. Wouldn't even let me take her home."

"That's too bad," Riley says.

"Oh, and her friend wants to see you again," I say to Brad.

"What friend?"

"Kari. She wants to go out with you again."

"What the hell? We went out like a month ago and I haven't talked to her since."

"Guess she never got over you."

"Did you tell Heather I'm not interested?"

"Yeah, but I doubt that'll stop Kari from calling you. Or she might show up at the pool."

He sighs. "Great, so now I have a stalker." His phone rings. "It's my mom." He sends it to voicemail.

"You should answer it," I tell him. "She's probably telling you when she'll be here."

Brad's parents still haven't come here. It doesn't surprise me. They're not great at following through on their plans.

"They'll be here next weekend," Brad says. "Didn't your mom tell you?"

"I haven't seen her in days. I don't know what's going on with her, but she's never home anymore."

"Maybe she made some new friends," Riley says, sipping her drink.

"Even if she did, it's not like her to go out. She'd rather be at home watching TV and doing her crafts."

Brad and Riley exchange glances and I get that nagging feeling again that something's going on. Is there something they're not telling me? Something that involves my mom? Is she looking for a new job? Planning to move? If so, they don't need to keep that a secret. I don't care if she moves.

"My mom's just confirming the time," Brad says as he reads the text. "She says they'll be here around six."

"Are we all still going to dinner?" I ask.

"Yeah. I invited Riley too."

"To save me from a night with the drunk butcher," she mutters.

I laugh. "I know you don't like him, but I really want to meet this guy."

"Stop over later. I'm sure he'll be there."

"Maybe I will. It's been a while since I've been to your place." I hug her into my side. "We need to hang out more now that I'm single again. I miss you."

She doesn't respond, but I catch her eyes going to Brad. He gives her a look, and again, I feel like they're talking to each other with those looks. What the hell's going on with them? And why aren't they telling me?

Chapter Twenty

Riley

It's Friday morning at the salon and we're having a staff meeting to meet the new owner. All we know so far is it's a woman from Texas. I have no idea why she'd want to buy a salon in small-town Oklahoma, but maybe we'll find out today.

"I feel sick," April whispers to me as we wait for the meeting to start. "What if she shows up and fires everyone?"

"Then she wouldn't have anyone to do the work and the place would have to close."

"She could bring in new people. A whole new staff."

"And risk losing all our existing clients? Not gonna happen. People want their regular hairstylist. They don't want someone new."

"I could try waitressing, although I tried that once and totally sucked. I spilled an