“Angel, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry I treated you like shit without ever trying to get to know you first. I’m so used to strippers being around my family and using me to fuck my brother that I just… I made a shitty assumption. That’s on me and nothing to do with you, I should’ve listened to Poe and not been a fucking asshole to you.”
I look at Poe but her eyes are clear and open, she’s ready to accept whatever decision I come to. I guess I can give this girl a chance. I mean… I think maybe things with Tomi might sort themselves out? God, I don’t want to get my fucking hopes up again.
I step out of my doorframe and usher them in. “I don’t have much furniture yet and there’s no TV, sorry.”
Trink shrugs and stalks in without any reservation. Poe grins at me and slings an arm around my shoulders. “Like we give a shit about chairs. I brought beer and we can order pizza. Let’s talk shit about dumbass boys and cars.”
I scoff and roll my eyes at her but, damn, it feels so good to have friends and Poe is the best one a girl like me could ever ask for.
Even if her brother is the Devil himself.
Jesus.
I’ve got to stop thinking about that shit.
Poe pulls some beers out of her bag and I don’t at all wanna question her on where she got them because her sources seem endless. Trink orders a pizza and I insist on paying for it even when they both fight me.
The first slice is like heaven. Cheesy, pepperoni goodness, nothing can beat the taste. Everything is perfect until Trink ruins it.
“So tell me about Tomi, he told Mom he’s bringing you to family dinner on Sunday.”
I startle and try not to freak the hell out. “What do you mean? What about him?”
Trink laughs and Poe nudges her even though she’s grinning like a loony. “He told me he was ‘struck. I know what that shit means so how do you feel about him?”
I squint a little at her. “What the hell does ‘struck mean?”
The smiles slide off of both of their faces. Trink recovers first. “You don’t know? That asshole didn’t tell you?”
I shake my head, fiddling with the label on the beer. I’m trying not to be upset that he’s been running his mouth about me, especially with his sister. I didn’t know they were that close. Shit, I didn’t know he did Sunday dinners at his parents’ place either. They’re closer than I would have ever thought. Jesus, no wonder Trink hated me. I’m the slut stripper who sucked her brother off in The Boulevard office.
“The Callaghan men are cursed,” Trink whispers and Poe snorts at her.
“Blessed. Keely says they’re blessed but sometimes blessings go… wrong.”
I blush. Are they talking about dick sizes right now? Because that’s just too fucking weird.
“They’re ‘struck by the hand of God, Pops says. They meet the woman of their dreams and they feel it like a bolt of lightning through their chests, and they know they belong to that woman.”
I place the bottle down slowly onto the floor before I spill that shit everywhere with the shaking of my damn hand.
Trink goes on. “Hawk was lovestruck. Met Keely, knocked her up, happily ever after and all that. King and Hell were both cuntstruck. The women they felt that bolt of lightning for were terrible, gave ‘em nothing but their boys and years of chaos to clean up.”
Poe leans forward, her eyes all dreamy looking. “Someday, I’m fucking praying Rue feels that for me. I just need to grow up enough for him to see me as a woman and not a fucking kid.”
I force a little smile on my face for her but my chest feels like it’s been carved out, my heart and everything else just fucking scooped out until I’m an empty cavern.
“Tomi told Keely the other day that you ‘struck him. He’s been trying to figure out what the fuck to do ever since.”
Christ.
That’s why he hated me so much.
I’m the fuck up, the failure, the fucking stripper he’s been cursed to want even though he’d rather anyone else but me. Oh my fucking God, this is worse than I thought.
Poe’s eyes soften. “Angel, you’re not a cunt. There’s no way this’ll be a bad thing. You’re one of the kindest, strongest, most loyal people I’ve ever met.”
I smile at her