Mess Us Up – Jaxson Kidman Page 0,50
you?”
“I’m on the beach,” she says. “I’m standing at the shore. I feel like just walking into the water. But I bet the waves would throw me right back. Just reject me, right?”
“What happened?”
Violet cries.
Taz is still behind me.
He starts to get out of his truck.
I put my window down and wave him off.
“Violet, tell me where you are on the beach,” I say. “I’ll come find you right now. We can talk. Okay?”
“You have so much going on though,” she says. “My problems shouldn’t be yours.”
“It’s fine. You’re my best friend.”
“I just… I’ve been trying really hard to lose weight, Jolie. You know? I just want to be good enough…”
I shut my eyes.
Fuck.
“Just tell me where you are,” I say. “Or text me. I’m coming your way right now.”
“Thank you, Jolie,” Violet says.
I get out of my car and Taz is almost standing in the middle of the road.
“What the fuck, darling?” he yells to me.
“I have to turn around and go somewhere else first,” I say.
“Why?”
“It’s about Violet…”
“Violet,” Taz says. “I’m coming with you.”
I nod.
That’s what I’m afraid of, Taz.
I know right where Violet is when she texts me a picture.
There’s a private area of the beach just behind her parent’s house.
It’s a little tough to get to because there’s overgrowth but when you get there, it’s really cool. It has a deserted island feel to it.
“What the hell is this about?” Taz growls at me.
“I said you could follow me,” I say to him. “Not come down to the beach.”
“Fuck that,” he says. “What’s wrong with Violet?”
“Personal.”
“I’m going to be right in the middle of this, Jolie,” Taz says.
I stop and look back at him. “You don’t care, do you?”
“Care about what?”
“Anything,” I say.
“I care about knowing what’s wrong with Violet,” he says.
I shake my head and keep walking.
I jump off an old branch down to the sand.
I hear the rush of the waves and I see Violet standing at the shore.
When I break out into a run, I can feel Taz running right with me.
As I get closer to Violet, she starts to run.
The second she sees Taz, her face burns red.
“What the fuck is going on, darling?” Taz asks.
Violet covers her mouth, then her face.
She turns and shakes her head.
“I’m sorry,” I say to Violet. “Taz just… invited himself.”
“Who do I have to kill?” Taz asks.
Violet cries and then laughs.
“Why are you here?” she asks Taz.
“Because you need someone,” Taz says. He touches her back. “And I’m that someone.”
“Oh, hell no,” I say. I snap my fingers and point to Taz. “Turn off the nice guy act right now, Taz.”
“What?” he asks.
“Jolie, I know he’s full of shit,” Violet says. She wipes the corners of her eyes. “Trust me, I’m not that stupid.”
“I don’t think you’re stupid at all,” Taz says.
Violet smiles at him. “Thanks.”
“Tell me what’s going on,” I say to her. “Just pretend Taz isn’t here.”
Taz inches away.
Violet faces me. “I feel so dumb right now.”
“Why?”
“Liam.”
“The cowboy rancher dude?” Taz asks.
“Taz,” I growl.
“Sorry,” he says.
“He… he told everyone that… that I was too big to enjoy.”
I suck in a breath.
I feel fire burning inside me.
I hug Violet so she can cry.
Taz looks at me and curls his lip.
Violet is such a strong, badass person… but that one word… it just grabs her and hurts her so much.
“I’ve been working out, Jolie,” she says. “I really have. I mean, I didn’t realize I wasn’t good enough for-”
“Fuck this,” Taz yells.
Before I can say a word, Taz is right behind Violet.
His hands touch her hips.
I back way.
“You listen to me, darling,” Taz says in a mean voice. “You don’t ever let some pencil-dick motherfucker tell you you’re too big for him. He’s not big enough for you. You tell me where this piece of shit is right now and I’ll shove a cowboy hat so far up his ass, he’ll be coughing up leather or straw or whatever the fuck it’s made out of. Got it?”
“Taz,” I say.
“No,” he says in an even deeper voice. “Look down at my hands, Violet.”
Violet’s cheeks are bright red.
She looks down at his hands.
“These hands are made for this, darling,” Taz says. “Don’t ever forget it.”
Taz lets Violet go and walks away.
He’s pissed.
I’ve never seen Taz like that before.
It almost makes me want to blush.
“Whoa,” Violet says.
“Whoa is right,” I say.
“That was real.”
“Yeah, I think it was.”
“I think I’m turned on.”
“That I don’t want to hear,” I say.
Violet wipes the corners of her eyes again. “I can’t believe I