“You need to leave me alone before I call the sheriff,” I warn, trying to wriggle my arm from his grasp.
He smirks. “You love me. You wouldn’t do that.”
“I wouldn’t?” I ask, arching a brow up at him.
He frowns, taking a step back as he shakes his head once. Slowly, his gaze lifts back up to mine. “No, you wouldn’t. Known you since you was thirteen, Tulip. Know you wouldn’t do that shit to me, not ever. I’ll give you some time, a couple more weeks, but then you’re letting me back home and back inside.”
Without responding to his words, I turn my back to him and look over my shoulder. “Why don’t you go back to Raylee? I’m sure she’d want you more than I do,” I snort.
He shakes his head, his eyes narrowing toward me. “Ray’s fun and all, but you’re my girl, Tulip.”
“I’m not.”
Turning away from him, I march toward the breakroom, never looking back. I don’t need to. Joey is my past and should have been months, no years, ago. He’s a user, an emotional abuser and for some reason, I had decided that I deserved everything he gave me. Maybe I do. But I don’t think that I should accept it.
Leaning against a small table, I sink down and close my eyes for a moment. My phone buzzes and I look down at it dancing along the tabletop before I smirk. It’s a text from Exeter.
EXETER: DINNER TOMORROW NIGHT. SIX. MY PLACE. BRING HUMMINGBIRD CAKE.
I could be offended that Exeter is inviting me to dinner solely so that I’ll make her some hummingbird cake, but since she’s almost eight months pregnant, and probably my best friend, I’m not.
I’LL BE THERE.
EXETER: WITH CAKE?
LOL. YES. WITH CAKE.
EXETER: YESSSSS
Shaking my head, I can’t stop the smile from playing on my lips at the exchange. I’m glad that the dinner party is a Thursday night instead of any other night of the week, since that is my one day off from my second job.
“He’s still out there,” Charlie announces as she sinks down in the chair next to me.
I grunt, not wishing to talk about Joey, or even think about him anymore. I just want him to fade away. I want to forget that I wasted so many years on him, on the hopes that we could have a decent future. I’m not fool enough, never have been, to hope for some grand life. But decent, I would take decent and hold on with two hands.
“I have a feeling that I’ll never get rid of him,” I sigh.
She lets out a small laugh, leaning forward, her eyes wide and a smirk playing on her lips. “Get another man. Let him sort that out for you, at least long enough that this one is sent packing for good.”
Shaking my head, I can’t help but laugh with her. “I wish it was that easy, but I don’t think it is. Plus, I’m not ready for someone else. I need to be alone for a while I think.”
Charlie snorts. “Girl,” she says, focusing on me. “What you need is to find a man who can rock your world between the sheets. Doesn’t have to be serious, just seriously good.”
Pressing my lips together, my eyes widen as I think about the only man that I’ve ever been with aside from Joey. Louis Kingston. God, even thinking about him sends a thrill throughout my entire body.
Months have passed and it’s like I can feel his presence just thinking about him. “Who is he?” Charlie asks.
Shaking myself out of my Louis trance, I lift my gaze to her. “Doesn’t matter.”
“You deserve the man who put that expression on your face just thinking about him,” she announces as she stands to her feet. “You better get out there, it’s almost time.”
Without another word, I watch her walk away from me. Inhaling a deep breath, I know that she’s right. I do need to get back out there. Closing my eyes for another moment, I jump when my phone dances against the tabletop again.
CHANNING: DID EXETER JUST TEXT ME THAT HUMMINGBIRD CAKE AND YOU ARE COMING OVER TOMORROW NIGHT?
A short burst of laughter escapes as my other pregnant friend asks about cake.
YES. BOTH CAKE AND I WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE.
CHANNING: CAN’T WAIT. TO SEE YOU AND EAT CAKE.
ME TOO.
Powering down my phone, I stand up and make my way over to my bag. Dropping the device in the front zipper pocket, I let out an audible sigh as I follow the same path that Charlie just took and make my way out of the lounge.
My lips twitch into a smile at the thought of seeing my friends again. I haven’t seen them since the night that I found Raylee riding Joey in my living room on that damn couch he spent his days and nights lounging on.
Exeter, Channing, Wyatt, and Rylan helped me move that piece of shit furniture out of the apartment and I watched in glee as they threw it over the banister. It cracked and broke as it landed on the asphalt below.
It was downright satisfying, even if it means that I don’t have anything to sit on in my living room. I’m honestly okay with that.
Wrenching open the door, I inhale a deep breath as the music fills my body from the outside in. I plaster on my fakest smile as I make my way out of the small room and into the wolf’s den.
LOUIS
Stepping off the plane, I can’t help but take in the entire area around me. I’m not surprised to see Beaumont waiting for me at the end of the tarmac, much like I waited for him when he came home after his stint in rehab and shutting everyone out.
“Good to see you, brother,” he says as soon as I’m close enough to hear.
Snorting, I reach out and wrap my fingers around his shoulder, bringing him into me for a hug. “We’re a fucking mess, yeah?” I murmur.
“Speak for yourself,” he chuckles, taking a step back.
Looking down into his eyes, I see it.
Happiness.
He’s so fucking happy that it practically oozes out of him.
Fucker.
“Girls are doing a thing tomorrow night. I’m warning you because you did the same for me when I came back into town. You also know that there’s no way around it,” he states.
Chuckling, I walk over to the back of his truck and toss my bag into the bed. “Yeah, I suspected that they’d do something,” I say. Opening the truck door, I climb inside and let out an exhale.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Beaumont asks as he starts the engine and shifts it into drive.
“Not really,” I truthfully admit. “Thinking I don’t have much of a choice though.”
He laughs, but it’s strained. “You don’t have to say anything if you really don’t want to, but I think it would be good to talk about it,” he offers.
“I drank almost ten grand worth of cognac. I’d never even tasted it before, only beer. But I opened a bottle, then another, then another.”
“And everything you were feeling disappeared for a while, right?”
“Yeah.” I nod.
He clears his throat as he turns down the country road that we both call home. “It doesn’t fix it though, Louis. Never will. All it does is put a very temporary Band-Aid on it. Trust me.”