“I have to get ready,” she says, then proceeds to lie on my chest, her hair fanning over my face. “I have work.”
I smack her ass, and she yelps, then giggles.
“Do you see it?” she asks, pulling back carefully once she gets off of me.
“See what?” I ask, sitting up and watching her grab her clothing and start to get dressed. She doesn’t answer until her car keys are in her hand and she’s walking out the door. Those dark eyes slide over to me, her hair cascading down her back in luscious curls.
“How beautiful we could be together.” Rylee winks, and then she’s gone.
I don’t disagree. I think a life with Rylee would be great. But it’s not just her, it’s everyone else as well.
My life isn’t as easy as she thinks it is, and that’s the damn problem.
Dreaming of a life with her is the stupidest thing I could do. Reaching for my bag of groceries, I walk out of the store. In the parking lot, I spot them straight away. Anderson and Josh both turn to face me, Anderson looking down on me, as if I’m scum. To him, I might just be, but to me, he is much, much worse.
“We’ve been waiting,” Josh says, his arms crossed over his chest.
Anderson walks over first, his eyes assessing me. He isn’t taller than me, he comes to my hairline, and he definitely isn’t stronger than me. He may have been the high school football star, but since then, all he’s done is party and fuck, and it shows on his body.
I turn to go in the opposite direction when Anderson steps in my way, his eyes flick to my bag and then he reaches for it, pulling out a bottle of cream that Paige requested to make some cakes.
He throws it on the ground, and my eyes follow it as the white substance leaks out in a pattern all over the asphalt.
“I know what you did, you scum,” Anderson says, leaning in.
“How am I going to spread that over Rylee’s body if it’s now on the ground?” I reply. “She likes it when I fuck and taste every part of her.”
These words have the desired effect. It makes Anderson’s hands bunch into tight fists, and he attempts to swing at me. I drop, seeing his fist coming, then move out of the way. He growls and steps up to me again, and Josh, who is now behind me, kicks at the back of my legs. Only one bends, but it gives me enough leeway to turn and punch him straight in his gut, making him fall to the ground, his breath now gone.
Turning back to Anderson, he smirks and goes to step up to me again.
“Piece of shit, that’s all you are,” he spits.
“Your mother didn’t think so.” I smirk, and his eyes turn to slits as he runs at me. I step out of the way, my foot catching his, making him slide to the ground face-first. He screams but gets back up quickly. All the while, Josh is still rolling around, cradling his stomach like a baby.
“Don’t you talk about my mother like that, you piece of shit.” He runs at me again, and this time, I let him. When his body makes contact with mine, I have to brace myself for the impact. He may have lost some muscle, but he can still run and tackle, obviously.
“Get the fuck up.” We both turn to the rent-a-cop standing next to us, his hand on his belt as he evaluates us.
“Fuck off, Larry,” Anderson says, his fist cocking back to hit me. I move, getting back on my two feet as Josh does.
“I’ll kill you, August. You fuck everything up. Where’s your mother?”
So she really did leave.
Holy shit.
“Where is she?” he screams.
“What do you care?” I ask.
Honestly, why the fuck does he care? He used and abused her. There’s no reason he should care about her whereabouts right now.
“She’s mine,” he says with anger, one hand holding onto his stomach.
“No. It seems she isn’t.”
“She never loved you. Complained about you all your life,” he tells me like it might hurt me. As if those words could do more than make me smile. I don’t care about the woman, about what she does with her life or anything else for that matter.
“That’s great to hear.” I pick up my bag of groceries, trying to move away from the shitshow in front of me.
“Fuck off, Larry,” Anderson says again to the rent-a-cop.
“No can do, boys. Videos here show what just happened.” He points to the cameras overhead. “So unless you want extra charges, you should leave now,” Larry says.
I watch him standing ready for them.
Josh’s eyes fall to me, and he smiles, but it’s more like a grimace before he grabs Anderson by the arm and marches off.