Blacklisted (Loveless, Texas #3) - Jay Crownover Page 0,95

when she ordered me to meet her at the local diner for a quick breakfast. She still sounded tired, and a little bit cranky, so I didn’t dare argue with her. I rushed through the rest of my routine because I only had a few free hours to spare before leaving for work.

I was jogging toward the entrance of the diner when I caught sight of Kody angrily pacing back and forth in front of the doors. She seemed to be talking to herself under her breath, and it was easy enough to tell she was not pleased with something, or someone.

My first thought was that she was mad at me for waking her up and then running late, but as soon as her eyes landed on me, she went pale and all her anger turned to something that looked a lot like sympathy.

“Sorry I’m late. My mind is a little all over the place today.” I gasped in surprise when she pulled me close and locked her arms around me in a rib-cracking hug. “Oof. Is everything okay?” For a brief moment, I was worried that something bad might’ve happened with the baby or to Hill while he was on assignment. Kody was always touchy and expressive, but this was a lot, even for her.

Kody squeezed me even tighter, making me squeak in protest. I peeled myself out of her suffocating grip and put my hands on her shoulders.

“What’s gotten into you this morning?”

Like a switch had been flipped all her anger was back full force. Her freckled face turned a bright pink, and her green eyes blazed with an intensity that was almost scary. I’d seen her look this way before. She’d had a similar expression when she confronted me about Conrad leaving everything he owned to me in his will. At the time we didn’t know Ashby had been behind that fiasco as well. She was trying to drive a wedge between me and my new siblings before they’d even thought to welcome me to the family. Kody was the one who confronted me, and we almost came to blows. I’d been frightened of her then; now I was terrified to find out exactly where her fury was directed. She only let a handful of people get close to her, and this level of heat and aggravation meant someone important had set her off.

“You’re not serious about Shot, are you? Please tell me you were calling me this morning to tell me that the two of you broke up because you realized how different you are and it’ll never work out between the two of you.” She grabbed my hands and was practically begging me to confirm her furious rush of words.

I felt my eyebrows shoot up to nearly my hairline as she clutched my fingers in a painful grip. “Well, no. I did call because Shot and I got into a little squabble recently and I wanted your advice on how to best go about apologizing. I’m not the best at communicating when it comes to my feelings or understanding someone else’s. I’m better about being honest with how I’m feeling with him, but talking to him this time is too important to just wing it and hope for the best.”

She frowned and dropped my hands so she could shove hers through her unruly curls. She grabbed handfuls of her wild hair, her frustration and anger palpable. “I really am going to kill him. Or I’m going to have Hill do it for me. I’m sure he knows how to get away with murder.”

Completely confused over the tone and direction of this conversation, I tossed my hands up in the air and demanded, “Can you tell me what in the hell is going on? You’re stressing me out.” And my nerves were already stretched painfully thin.

Heaving a sigh so deep it sounded like it came from the very depths of her soul, she looked directly at me and told me in a flat tone, “Shot just went into a motel room with some random redheaded woman. I confronted him and he didn’t even deny that he was up to something sketchy. I mean, I know he used to be a player and never really took anyone he was involved with too seriously, but I would’ve put money on the fact that you were different. He seemed…smitten with you. He was so much softer and gentler with you than I’ve ever seen him. I can’t believe he