A FILTHY Enemy - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,35

what I’m doing here. That text message you sent… so proper, it was bullshit. You’re embarrassed you showed up the way you did. I’ve seen you puke before. I’ve seen you drunk. I’ve seen it all, okay? Right now you look hurt. You look taken back. And you’re a little freaked out over song royalties…”

Abby knocked my hand away from her arm.

“Some guy grabbed my ass today, okay?”

“What?” I asked.

Oh, hello there, little spark of jealousy…

“It’s… it wasn’t even that he did it. It was the way he talked. And the way he acted in front of his family, you know?”

“Wait a second,” I said. “Who grabbed your ass? What are you talking about?”

Abby shut her eyes. “We had a birthday to go to. To sing. We were dressed as princesses.” She opened her eyes. “Okay? The father of the girl was this sick pervert. His wife was taking pictures and he was touching my ass. It just…” She sighed. “That little girl was so happy we were there. And then at the end, he asked me how much to…”

“To what?” I asked, my lip curling with anger.

“Nothing.”

“How much to… what?” I asked.

“To sleep with me,” she said. “Okay?”

“So this married guy offered to pay you extra to fuck you while you wore a princess costume?” I asked.

“Wow, Reed,” she said. “That’s one way to put it.”

“I’m just saying the truth,” I said. “And that’s fucked up, Abby. You don’t deserve that.”

Abby laughed and clapped her hands together. “There it is. You finally said something right. I don’t deserve it. That’s right. I don’t deserve it. And there’s plenty of other times I didn’t deserve it either. Right?”

Now she was throwing knives at me.

Going for my heart. And my memory.

I watched her wipe the corners of her eyes.

She turned and walked into the night.

I didn’t chase after her.

I just stood there and thought.

Thinking wasn’t a good thing for me.

Thinking led to decisions.

And decisions led to my life changing.

I wasn’t going to let Abby change my life again.

But maybe it was already too late for that.

I went back to Jay’s place to crash for the night.

I just needed the noise and the people.

He and Sab were in the pool, playing a game of who could stay under the water longest…

They were enjoying a little underwater snack.

I went to the bar and got caught up on some whiskey drinking.

I tossed back three shots to start.

I noticed Dex wasn’t around.

He must have bolted to hang with Candice.

When I saw Nash, he was sitting on the top of the hot tub while Liv was in it.

She was fully clothed.

Too bad.

I grinned.

I got another shot.

Then one more for the road.

And by road, I meant working my way into Jay’s house to crash hard.

The pit of my stomach was on fire and it wasn’t from the whiskey.

I couldn’t stop picturing some asshole grabbing Abby’s ass. While she was dressed as a princess, trying to make ends meet…

Because of what you did to her.

“No,” I whispered to myself as I walked through Jay’s house.

It wasn’t me.

Right?

I couldn’t stop picturing her crying and walking away.

I moved into one of Jay’s hallways.

It had a long curve to it that led to the guest wing of the house.

There were guitars all over the walls.

Each one from a show that meant something to him.

At the middle of the curve in the hallway there was a window that looked out to nothing.

I was sure the view was better in the daytime.

I put my hands to the glass and just stood there.

The whiskey was kicking in.

That was good.

I saw a movement to my left and when I turned my head there was a woman coming my way.

Her hair pulled back. Wearing a long, black FILTHY LINE shirt.

I nodded to her.

She nodded back.

“Coming or going?” she asked.

“I’d prefer to come and then go,” I said.

She stopped walking right behind me and touched my back. “Long day? You look stressed and tense?”

“And who the fuck are you?” I asked.

“A masseuse,” she said. “Jay’s personal masseuse.”

Her hands ran down my back and dug into muscle.

I laughed. “I bet I can guess what you spend most of your time rubbing.”

“Your point?” she asked.

“I have none,” I said.

“I’m showered and going to crash for the night,” she said. “What kind of company are you looking for? Business or personal?”

“You know the answer to that, honey,” I said.

Her hands moved down to the front of my body and she opened my jeans.

I looked down at her hands as they