holding his arms out wide. “Good to see you, ya fucking bastard. Though, I think you’ve forgotten that rule we had about me getting my cock wet before everything else. ’Cause we hadn’t quite got to that part yet,” he mused, popping the cap of his bottle on the counter.
“Sorry I interrupted your underage fuck fest.”
He snorted, throwing back half the beer before he answered, “She’s eighteen.”
“You could be her fucking father.”
“I was going more for daddy.” He chuckled before pausing and looking over at me, seeing the clearly unimpressed look on my face.
I didn’t fuck with teenage girls. Ever. Of age or not. Teen girls should be dating teen boys, not motherfuckers like Slate or me, who had more problems than they were even aware existed.
Slate rolled his eyes and let out a short, airy laugh. “Look, she’s Amy’s daughter. She was having some fucking issues with a guy at school. She asked me to help her sort him out, so he’d leave her alone. And that…” he pointed upstairs, “… was meant to be my thanks.”
“Well, I’m sure she’ll write you a nice card or something.” I deadpanned. “Maybe her teacher will help her put something together in arts and craft time. Sorry, our thank-you fuck didn’t work out. Here’s a pretty flower I drew all by myse—”
A dishcloth went flying past my head, barely missing my nose. I looked up just in time to see him rush at me, so I planted my feet and leaned in, ready for the attack.
“Oh, Mr. President thinks he’s hot shit now!” Slate hooked me around the neck, his other hand messing with my hair. “I’m sorry, your majesty, I didn’t realize you were in today.”
Throwing my elbow back, I caught him off guard, hitting him right up in between his rib cage. It forced the air from his lungs, and he stumbled back, coughing hard, fighting to catch a breath, but not before I hooked my leg out and swept his feet out from underneath him, his body going down like a fucking block of concrete in a river. The long hard groan of pain he let out should have made me feel guilty.
It didn’t.
The shit this fucker has done to me—
I’ll be paying him back for the rest of his damn life.
Because he’s a bastard.
And because I fucking love him.
“That was uncalled for,” he croaked, still writhing in pain. I held out my hand, and he slapped his into it, letting me drag his aching body to his feet. “Mother. Fucker.”
“Come on, dumbass,” I said and smacked him on the back. “Go get your panties on. We have to get back for church.”
He gasped mockingly. “You come in here, interrupt my booty call, then issue demands?”
“It’s Scarlet’s fucking birthday. I’m going to be the least of your worries if you aren’t there.”
“Can’t risk her coming after me,” he joked, rolling his eyes. “Your sister is a little psycho.”
AVERY
The cool night air whipped at my face, sending an instant chill sweeping through me.
The second the heavy library doors clicked shut behind me, the lights one by one began to flicker off like a Mexican wave until the entire building was cast into darkness. The librarians had been waiting impatiently for me to leave, and I’d used every single second of time up until eight o’clock.
It was now 8:01 p.m., and I needed to hurry and get to Empire before my shift started in thirty minutes.
I rushed down the stairs, pulling up the app on my phone that told me my Uber was just around the corner. As I was about to slip the phone back into my pocket, it started to buzz, Holly’s grinning face lighting up the screen.
Smiling, I rolled my eyes and hit answer. “I’ve got work,” I stated, knowing that this was probably another ploy to get me to go out with her tonight.
“Ave?” she croaked, causing my back to snap straight and the amused smile to fall from my lips. “Can you come get me? Please?”
I looked up, seeing the lights of my Uber cruising down the street toward me. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
Holly was never anything but bright and peppy, yet, thanks to my run-in with her buddies the other day, I was starting to wonder what she was covering with that constant smile. Which was why my heart dropped when I heard her whispering to me through the phone, “I’m at Beta Beta. I think someone put something in my drink. I can’t