Read One Moment (The Little Hollow Series Book 1) for Free Online Page B

around her place; it was a shit hole. I may have vowed she was on her own but I couldn’t let her live like that. I was there until after ten, getting rid of all the takeout boxes and bottles strewn all over the place. There wasn’t one surface not covered in something and it disgusted me that she allowed herself to live like this.
    I’d forgotten all about the hair infested puke puddle that was awaiting me back at the salon and sighed as I went in the back to get paper towels and bleach to clean it up.
    Trying to put it all out my head as I entered my apartment, I knocked on Kee’s door to see if she was still awake to talk about the decorations for the fundraiser this weekend. So much to do, so little time. I didn’t know why we’d been roped into doing this but with three days left, we should probably organize something. When there was no answer, I started to worry. Had she really been out for this long with Lewis? Did she even make it into Sharlington? I was about to call her cell when I heard the faint sound of the bell on the salon door chime.
    Panic over.
    “Hey, stranger, where’ve you been?” I had a smirk on my face as Keeley turned around and walked, or more like power walked, towards the bathroom.
    “Well I…eww what’s that smell. Are you sick?” She came back out with her fingers pegged over her nose. I’d forgotten to clean the toilet and spray something to mask the smell of puke.
    “Sorry, Kee, my heads not with it. My mom turned up.” I rolled my eyes and Kee clicked her tongue.
    “Seriously? Can she not just behave like a grown woman for more than five seconds? You okay, Sam?” As I was cleaning up my mom’s puke on the outside of our toilet bowl, I was far from okay.
    “I have to be don’t I? Anyway, stop trying to change the subject. When you’re out of the bathroom, you’re not skipping a detail.” I winked at her and shut the door on my way out.
    “There’s nothing to spill. I got there and it was awkward, he was sitting with some guy, some hot guy may I add.” She wiggled her brows at me before continuing, “So I feel like a third wheel and get shunned into a booth while they have a conversation. Then we order food while he tried to make awkward small talk, making an even more awkward moment, awkward! The end!” She huffed.
    I laughed. “Jeez, say awkward one more time.” I got an evil look in return. “And that so wasn’t ‘The End’, Keeley, it’s nearly ten-thirty at night! Spill.”
    She looked down. “Oh shh, there’s nothing to tell, we ate and then he made some excuse that his mom needed him straight after. Great guy, thanks, Sam. I spent the rest of my night sitting down at the beach.” She gave me the thumbs up and I chuckled.
    “He really is a great guy and it more than likely wasn’t an excuse, Kee.” She looked up at me disbelievingly. “Honestly, he’s his mom’s emergency contact. She had a stroke nearly seven years ago that paralysed her so he has to look after her now.”
    She hit her face with her palm. “Well don’t I feel like a douchebag. After he said what I thought was a huge excuse I told him I was paying for myself and he could shove his money up his ass, that I wasn’t owing him anything.”
    I couldn’t hold in my laughter as I quickly moved out the way of one of her swats. “It’s not funny, Sam! I’m thick skinned but I’m not an asshole. A little pre-warning wouldn’t have gone a miss!” She hung her head in her hands.
    “Ah, don’t worry about it, he would’ve known you wouldn’t be aware of his situation, I think. But hey, sorry to change the subject, but we need to talk decorations.”
    Cue the signature eye roll. “Anything but that I beg of you.” She was so dramatic.
    “Well, we should probably come up with at least some balloons or something.” Jumping up, I grabbed my notepad off the coffee table. “So the theme is Kickin’ it country, any ideas?”
    Kee made a gesture of sticking her fingers down her