Mess Us Up – Jaxson Kidman Page 0,68
easy, Violet,” I whisper.
“I know it’s not. I’m sorry for anything I’ve said that wasn’t supportive. It’s not easy to just let go of someone. I know you love him.”
“There’s a part of me that loves it all… but then it gets so real.”
“I know.”
I blink. I don’t want to cry.
I don’t want Mama Dae to be sick. I don’t want Mama Dae to have had Declan come after me.
I still haven’t told Violet that part. I probably won’t either. She wouldn’t understand. I kind of feel like Mac right now. I’m the one protecting Violet from that life. Keeping her on the outside the best I can. Letting her see the sexy side of it with these bad boys who have no fear, but not going too far because when you realize what they did…
“What are you going to do?” Violet asks.
“I have no idea,” I say.
“My offer still stands. For us. Together.”
“You’re a good friend,” I say. “Thanks for being here.”
“I’m sorry you’re going through so much,” Violet says. “With your family. With Mac. It’s a lot to have happen at once. I always knew you hated law school.”
“I didn’t hate it.”
“Yes, you did.” Violet laughs. “You never wanted that. You thought you did. You were going to take the easy path. The one right in front of you.”
“Is that so bad?” I ask.
“No,” Violet says. “I would do the same thing myself.”
I step away from Violet. “Good. Because the way I feel right now… I don’t know what to do. I feel like my entire life has come to a standstill. Yet the world is moving along just fine. I feel left behind.”
“You’re not left behind, Jolie. You never really told me what happened with Mac. And I know you saw him again today.”
“I just can’t talk about it,” I say.
I walk away from Violet.
This thing with Mac isn’t over yet.
We have at least one more conversation to have.
No matter what the ending is.
“Holy shit,” Violet yells. “Jolie… holy shit…”
“What?” I ask.
“You need to come see this right now.”
I grab the phone from Violet’s hand and stare at it.
It’s a conversation made up of screenshots.
About Ado.
“He’s missing,” Violet says. “Like you went missing…”
I shake my head. “No. This isn’t the same thing at all.”
“How do you know?”
I read the conversation.
There’s a picture of a flyer with Ado’s picture on it.
Completely and totally missing.
But this…
“Jolie?” Violet asks.
I hand the phone back to her. “What?”
“Why are you not freaking out?”
“Why would I?”
“You knew about this, didn’t you? This has something to do with Mac, right?”
Her eyes grow wide.
I smile. “Violet, stop. Of course I’m freaked out. But who knows what really happened here. Maybe Ado got drunk and hurt himself by accident. Maybe he pissed off the wrong person. I don’t know. Am I supposed to carry this with me?”
“No,” Violet says.
She’s not buying what I’m saying.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I sound cold right now. I’m just… I’m in my own feelings.”
“I get it,” she says. “This is just… wow. He’s missing. It wasn’t like this when you went missing. You could tell that was controlled, you know?”
“Let’s just forget about it all,” I say. “Let’s have a drink or something.”
“I’ll never argue with that. Can we go down to the beach?”
“If you want to,” I say.
“We can get a little tipsy and flirt with hot surfers.”
“Sounds like a crazy night,” I say. “Are there surfers on the beach in the dark though?”
“There’s guys,” she says. “A nice smile and a dick… I’m in.”
I laugh. “Oh, Violet, I love you.”
“Let’s pack a bag and find some nice smiles and dicks.”
“A nice smile and a dick,” I say. “I’m going to get a shirt made with that on it for you.”
We both laugh.
And we both stop laughing at the sound of a knock at my door.
Violet looks at the door, probably wondering who it is. Like a normal person would. For me, I’m looking at the door, wondering who’s going to attack me next.
I’m not sure that feeling will ever go away.
“Maybe they’re coming to us,” Violet whispers. “They heard us.”
“Who heard us?” I ask.
“The guys with the nice smiles and dicks,” Violet says.
I wave a hand at her and go to the door.
“Who is it?” I call out.
“It’s Les.”
I look back at Violet.
“Told you so,” she says with a big smile.
I roll my eyes and open the door.
“Are you here to say goodbye to me?” I ask.
“No,” Les says. “Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Hey, Les,” Violet says.
“Hey,”