“Going out tonight?” she asks, plopping down beside me, looking over my button-down shirt and jeans.
“Yes.” No reason to lie to her. I promised April dinner.
I watch her stick her bottom lip out. “I was hoping we could hang out.”
“I have plans,” I state, reaching out and taking a drink of my water. It’s amazing that I haven’t had an alcoholic drink in over a week.
“With who?”
“Since when do you care who I spend my time with?” I ask. April mentioned Jimmy coming into Roses today and ordering her flowers. I was hopeful that meant they were fucking, and she’d get off my back, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
She averts her eyes to the table. “Well, I was talking to Trey, and he said that you paid off a debt for a guy. And that you asked Tanner to leave his sister alone.”
I roll my eyes. Fucking Trey. He can’t keep a secret to save his life. That’s another reason I quit hanging out with him. “That doesn’t concern you,” I state.
Instead of getting mad, she reaches out and touches my arm.
I pull away. “I need to get going.”
She reaches into her shorts pocket and pulls out a pill bottle that I know contains ecstasy. The same one from the night in her penthouse after we gambled here. “I wanted to party with you tonight.”
I shake my head. “Can’t.” I pull out my cell when I feel it vibrate again.
It’s a picture from April. Opening it up, I see her standing in front of a full-length mirror in a little black dress with black heels on. She has the front of her hair up in a high ponytail the rest is down and curled. Her makeup’s done heavy with the black liner just how I love it and her lips painted dark.
“Do you love her?” Lucy asks.
I remove my eyes from the picture to meet hers. Lucy looks like she hasn’t been to bed yet. She probably hasn’t. Her dark eyes are cloudy, her makeup messy, and I know she’s high. Lucy never goes a day without a fix. Sometimes, it’s just weed, and others, it’s something more.
“I don’t know her.” I lie. I’ve never hid things from Lucy because we both understand what we are—fuck buddies, and that’s it. So for her to be this concerned about where I’m going tonight and who with is a big red flag. I won’t give her any reason to confront April. Because that’s exactly what she would do. And April already questioned my involvement with Lucy earlier in my office today. I don’t want Lucy going to her and saying anything that can get me in hot water with April.
“Have you fucked her?”
“Jesus, Lucy.” I push my chair back from the table. “That is none of your business.”
She doesn’t look the least bit angry. Drugs will do that to you. Numb you to everything. I know. That’s why I did it. I stand and reach out to the glass of water on the table and down what’s left of it, needing to get the fuck out of here.
“Hey, man.” Trey re-enters the room, pocketing his cell. “The kid is fighting here tonight.”
I grind my teeth and look at my watch. “What time?” I have an hour before I have to pick up April.
“Seven.”
I nod and sit back down in the seat. “I want his ass in here the moment he arrives,” I snap. I’m going to beat his ass before he even enters the ring. He’s not going to take drugs from me. He’s not going to be doing drugs at all. I won’t allow him to do that to April. She already has enough going on.
“So … you’re staying?” Lucy asks, her voice full of excitement.
“Not for you,” I growl, my good mood gone to shit.
APRIL
I pace my living room, my eyes on the clock hanging on the wall. He’s two hours late. I haven’t called his cell once. He never responded to my picture. He was talking to me and then just vanished. I’ve never been ghosted before, but I’m pretty sure this is what it’s like.
I’m furious. So fucking pissed that he stood me up.
And that I fell for it in the first place. Things were going well, right? Did I say or do something that made me look desperate? Or in love? What could have scared him off? He’s been just as clingy as I have and seemed generally interested. I’ve been blown off before, and he never once made me feel unwanted or that he needed space. I would have backed off and given it to him.
Did I say something last night while I was drunk? Honestly, the night is kind of blurry. I remember his fight. Me being turned on. The drinks. Then I went home with him. Gave him head. After that, shit gets foggy. So I could have said something to him but wouldn’t he have mentioned that to me this morning when he woke me up and kissed me goodbye? Why make plans if he wasn’t going to show?