My mother pins him with her death stare as I get up.
“I have to go. Work tomorrow,” I say, leaning down and kissing my mother’s cheek, followed by my father’s.
“You can still change your mind,” my mother calls out to me.
I don’t answer.
Because that is not happening.
Hell hasn’t frozen over the last time I looked.
Chapter 14
August
To say I haven’t woken up without my cock rock fucking hard since I last had Rylee would be an understatement.
Rich girl hasn’t called.
Rich girl hasn’t visited.
And for some reason, I like that about her.
I’m sitting at the front of the house waiting for Paige to finish school. Today’s the day she’s meant to come over, and she has been hounding me to get fresh pastry, and the other ingredients so she can make quiches.
However, I am unsettled as it’s getting late and she isn’t here.
Standing back up and going inside, I reach for my phone and call her. When the phone picks up, my heart almost stops.
“August boy, what you doing, my man?”
I pull the phone away from my ear to make sure I dialed the right number, and sure enough, I know it’s correct.
“Why the fuck do you have my sister’s phone?”
“Oh, come on, August… you know why. I fuck your mother.” He cackles.
That cackle makes me want to throw something, or better yet, break his damn jaw.
“Hey, look… I need you to do something for me.”
“No,” I reply while sliding on my shoes.
“Come on, August, just like old times. I need a favor, and, well… Paige isn’t in the mood to do it right now.”
“What do you mean… isn’t in the mood?”
“Like mother, like daughter. You should know this. Are you really that blind?”
“Where is she?”
“I told you, I need you first,” he says again. I hear a giggle in the background and close my front door.
“Go to Alfred’s and collect for me. You know what to do. You haven’t forgotten.” He hangs up, and I resist the urge to throw my phone, to smash it into a million pieces.
Alfred is a local dealer who usually owes Josh a lot of money. Back then, with all the other stupid jobs I did for Josh, he would make me collect from him. Sometimes beat his clients up and take whatever they had on them.
Last time, it was his car.
I start running, arriving at Alfred’s place as quickly as I can. When I get to the front of the house, I don’t bother to knock, simply kick open the door and find Alfred by himself, sitting on the floor with his merch in front of him.
This is why he always owes money, because he uses it.
His hollow eyes blink a few times and glance up to find me standing in his living room. It takes him a second to realize it’s me before he starts scooting backward on his ass, spilling product all over himself and the floor.
“You’re back.” His voice croaks as he speaks.
“Where’s the payment, Alfred? I have to go.”
He looks over to his television and nods. I rush over and open the black box sitting in front of the unit. Yanking up the lid, I see the cash.
“He set you up, you know. Why are you back with him?”
“I’m not,” I reply before heading out, box in hand, leaving him to get high all by him fucking self.
I only have one job, protecting my sister, she’s all that matters right now.
Josh is sitting out the front when I march to him. He has a cigarette in one hand and a glass of alcohol in the other. His eyes fall to the black box in my hand, then to me, and he shows me his rotten teeth in some sort of sneer.
“I knew you could do it,” he says, then nods to the money. “Take half as your payment.”
I throw the entire box at him, and he moves just in time for it to miss smashing into his useless head. Josh doesn’t live in the dumps like most drug pushers. No. The man isn’t stupid and doesn’t smoke nor use his product, but he does prefer the same drug as my mother, alcohol.
“Paige,” I yell.
The front door opens. Even though it’s a fucking mess inside, the outside has you fooled. Appearances make it look like it’s owned by someone who cares. Not someone who doesn’t give two shits about anyone or anything but himself.
When I see my mother standing there, I shake my head. “Where’s Paige?”
“August, come now… have a drink.”
I turn