With a snort, I begin to cash out my drawer. “Thanks. Ex-boyfriend’s mom,” I say with a shiver.
He laughs. “Been there.”
Without another word, he turns from me and I finish clocking out for the day, glad that my interaction with him is finished, at least for now. I wish that I were done working, but I’m not. I have to go home, shower, and get dressed for job number two. With my head down, I hurry toward my car only to slam into a hard body as I reach the driver’s side.
“Tullie,” his deep voice rumbles as I lift my head to look up into his eyes.
Jade green orbs meet mine and my breath hitches. “Why are you here?” I breathe.
He smirks, his gaze searching my own before it dips to my lips then lifts back to meet my eyes. “Wanted to talk to you for a minute, you said you had another job, so I didn’t want to take up too much time.”
“I do and I’m on my way home to get dressed for it,” I snap.
His lips turn down into a small frown before they twitch into a grin. “Tullie,” he purrs. “Do you have a lunch break tomorrow?”
Biting the corner of my lip, my eyes shift to the side and I let out a sigh. “Yeah, forty-five minutes.”
“I’ll bring lunch to you if you want?”
“Why? What do you want to say to me?”
He shakes his head, then dips his chin and I can feel his breath against my lips, but he doesn’t touch my mouth with his own. Instead, he just stays there, and like an addict, I get high off of his breaths.
“So many things, but I want to ask you a few questions and we don’t have time right now,” he rasps.
“Okay,” I exhale. “Twelve-thirty.”
“I’ll be here. Still love Bill’s Burgers’ turkey salad and fried pickles?” he asks, taking a step back from me.
I mourn the loss of his body near my own. I wish that I was brave enough to beg him to come closer to me again. I’m not though and instead of begging, I step to the side to allow him to push off of my car so that I can get inside and head home before I go to work.
“Tulip?” he calls just as I yank the handle of my door. Stopping, I turn to look at him from over my shoulder. “It’s good to be home,” he says softly.
I don’t get a chance to ask him what he means. He turns from me and I watch his retreating form as he jogs toward his big lifted expensive truck. Instead of watching him climb inside and drive away, I decide to sink into my sedan’s front seat, start my engine and get the fuck out before I do something really desperately stupid.
LOUIS
I don’t sleep for a second night in a row. It’s fucking ridiculous, and each time I try to close my eyes, I see Antoni and his family. I reach for the sleeping pills that a doctor prescribed for me, then I decide against them and toss them into the drawer of my nightstand.
Throwing the sheets off of my body, I get dressed and internally decide to do something different tonight. Instead of going down to my gym, I decide to go on a run outside. I haven’t gone on a long distance run in a hell of a long time and I need to keep my endurance up.
I make my way toward town instead of running just around my property like I normally would. I live about ten miles outside of town. A twenty-mile run would assuredly tire me out long enough to sleep maybe an hour or two without a nightmare to interrupt me.
Putting my AirPods in my ears, I find my running playlist and push shuffle. With one last long inhale, I let my breath out and start on my trek.
It’s dark outside, well after ten in the evening and I probably shouldn’t be running down these dirt roads in the country with the abundant number of wild animals roaming around, but right now I’m not thinking in my right mind.
All I can think about is Antoni, and I need to get that whole thing out of my head.
I run.
Eyes forward, legs pumping, sweat pouring down my body. Almost two hours later, I stop when my watch alerts me to my ten-mile distance that I set for myself.
Placing my hands on my hips, I lean over slightly and attempt to catch my breath. I realize that I’m in a parking lot. Lifting my head, I look at the building. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going really, just that I was heading toward town.
Headlights.
The name flashes above the small metal building. It’s obviously a barndominium, similar to Wyatt’s home, except I have a feeling this looks much different on the inside. I’ve never been here before, didn’t even know that it existed, though I’m not sure how.
Smirking, I glance at the time on my phone and know that there is one person who is awake enough to text me back.
GALLUP HAS A STRIP CLUB?
FORD: HEADLIGHTS?
THAT IS CHEESY AS FUCK.
FORD: IT’S GALLUP. WE HAVE A FUCKING SHIT TON OF DEER. DIDN’T SAY WE WAS SMART.
EVER BEEN INSIDE?
FORD: I’M SINGLE. ALL MY FRIENDS ARE MARRIED. GOT NOTHING ELSE TO DO. IT’S BEEN A WHILE. NO SNATCH THOUGH. THEY KEEP THEIR BOTTOMS ON.
I chuckle at the exchange and at the fact that Ford knows exactly what goes on in that building. I lift my gaze up to the building again, my eyes scanning the parking lot and they stop on something. My entire body locks up.
TOMORROW NIGHT. MIDNIGHT.
FORD: MEET YOU THERE.
Shoving my phone in my pocket, I start to walk toward the car that caught my attention a few moments ago. Stopping at the driver’s side, I glance into the vehicle and I let out a grunt. I know who drives this car, and the teal water bottle in the cup holder confirms my suspicion.
Seems someone is holding onto a secret.
I think about slipping inside to see for myself, but I decide that I’ll come by tomorrow with Ford. Granted, I’m not sure that I want him to see what I suspect we’re going to discover behind the doors of Headlights.
Fucking shit.
Shaking my head, I turn my AirPods back up and I start my ten-mile jog back home. I’m going to throttle her. Turn her over my knees and spank the absolute fucking shit out of her. She’ll have deserved it too. Every fucking bit of it.
By the time I make it back home, I’m no calmer than I was while making my discovery. I don’t know if I’ll be able to see her tomorrow, to look her in the eye without demanding an explanation or some kind of answer from her.
Slamming my front door behind me, I’m too worked up to head to bed, so instead, I make my way into my home gym and decide to spend some time lifting weights in hopes of easing my anger.
The only good news about this is that I no longer have Antoni and his family on my mind.
The bad news is that I still can’t fucking sleep.
Chapter Four
TULIP
I can’t decide if I’m relieved or disappointed when my favorite meal arrives by way of one of the waitresses instead of Louis.
There’s a note attached that claims he’s sorry, but he couldn’t make it. I give the waitress a few extra dollars, knowing that Louis probably already paid a ton to get her out here, especially since Bill’s Burgers doesn’t deliver.