Tomi walks in and it’s like all of the air gets sucked out of the room, one minute I’m laughing and joking with my friend and then next I can’t fucking breathe.
“It’s fine, I don’t need them anytime soon. Just have a good night,” I choke out, forcing the smile back on my face but Poe’s eyes flick between Tomi and I until a frown takes over her features.
“You should come out with us tonight! It’s just a dumb club thing but Trink and I are going out after. It would be fucking awesome with you there.”
I swallow and refuse to glance at the dark cloud in the room. “I’m beat. I’m getting bad gas station tacos and passing the fuck out, but I hope you have a great time.”
Her glare settles on Tomi. “Why are you being an asshole to her? I just wanna hang out with my fucking friends and you’re walking around being a fucking killjoy.”
I don’t want to hear a word out of his mouth, none of the vitriol he’ll spit at me, mostly because I think it’ll hurt so much worse coming from him. I think all of that shit about myself anyway but he’s just… fuck, he just knows how to pour acid into these open wounds of mine.
I shove the last of my shit into my bag and I don’t even think about it, I just push forward until I’ve got Poe in a quick hug. She grips me back hard, even in her shock she’s down for the affection, and then I stalk out of the room before I can get my ass torn open by the utter hatred.
I’ve never hated myself more than right now, than this moment of having something I didn’t even know I wanted ripped away from me.
Another short night of broken sleep ahead of me, I start the old Chevy and let the engine turn over for a second before I pull away.
I see the motorcycles go past as I wait to turn onto the highway, Posey secure and safe behind Rue on his hog.
Speck raises a hand to wave and I lift one back at him.
Tomi pretends I don’t exist.
I fucking wish it were true.
Chapter Twelve
Tomi
I give up chasing after some fucking bitch who ‘struck me but doesn’t want me and I get my head back into what I’m supposed to be doing.
Sniffing out a fucking rat.
I’m not fucking around anymore. There’s not a single fucking thing I can do to fix my cuntstruck self but there’s options for finding the rats. I leave The Boulevard after the best motherfucking blowjob of my life, I swear to God she sucked my soul straight outta my body and swallowed it down that pretty little throat of hers, and I go back to my parents’ place for the night.
The shit I need to do isn’t the type of thing I want to get disturbed while I’m doing. Keely will be fucking thrilled to have me around anyway.
So I get home, drink a couple of beers with Hawk, and then I pass the fuck out. I wake to the smell of bacon wafting through my bedroom door because my mom is a fucking saint.
I shower before I head down, no need for her to catch me smelling like a fucking bar, and when I eventually make it to the kitchen she’s setting my plate down on the kitchen table.
Just one because I’m the only one getting up this late in the afternoon.
“Big night? You’ve been working too much. I have half a mind to call King and tell him I want my son back.”
I kiss her cheek before I sit down, she has every last one of us trained for this shit. “I’m keeping myself busy. You know I hate sitting around with my thumb up my ass when there’s shit to be done.”
She hums under her breath, checking her watch. “You take after me. Hawk always did prefer the quiet times, enjoying the fruits of all his hard work.”
I scoff at her. “I doubt it. Callaghans are made of chaos and ruin, not sitting around with a fucking beer.”
She laughs at me as she scrubs the pots and pans. She’s already dressed in her scrubs, ready to head into the afternoon shift at the hospital. She works too goddamn much, they don’t need the fucking money, but she’s always been too wrapped up in her own busy schedule to worry