My Cruel Lover (Wicked Poison #3) - T.L. Smith Page 0,13
drinking to remove the thoughts of my dead girlfriend,” I spit back at him and turn to leave, but he moves quickly and grabs my wrist.
“Keep your mouth shut about things that don’t concern you,” he says through gritted teeth.
I pull my arm free and sneer right in his face. “Fuck you, Beckham.” With quick feet, I climb down, and when I reach the bottom, his mother is waiting.
She checks me over, then looks up the tree but says nothing.
I walk past her and hope to God I can leave soon.
Chapter 7
Beckham
Sitting in a kids’ treehouse was not how I wanted to spend my day, but it’s how I plan for the rest of this party to go.
“Beckham Harley.” I groan when I hear my mother’s voice. “Get your ass down here … now.”
I could ignore her.
She may go away.
But the possibility is low.
Very low.
Because she’s a powerhouse, and my mother doesn’t walk away from much, even when it’s best she does.
I crawl to the opening, and there she is, looking up at me.
Rylee had a tough time with mother. She wanted nothing more than for her to be with Anderson, but she wasn’t aware of what a complete asshole he was to her. I almost hated my mother for that.
Almost.
“What?” I say, glaring down.
Mom taps her foot and locks eyes with me. I take a deep breath and pull myself down until I’m standing in front of her.
“He came to see you, you know.” I take a step, but then the raised voice halts my stride. “Stop walking away. You’ve done it for too many years, and now it’s time to face your demons.”
“What would you know about demons?” I ask.
“I lost my first love, too, Beckham. Your father wasn’t the only man I have been with. I know loss, better than the next person. And I am telling you, you need to grow up.”
I’m surprised by her words. Not once has she shared that information with any of us before.
“I am grown up. Just ask any one of my lady friends,” I say and wiggle my eyebrows. She leans forward and clips me on the back of my head. “Ouch, what was that for?” I ask, rubbing my head over zealously.
“Go over and congratulate your sister, and for God’s sake, act normal.”
“I already knew … before all of you,” I reply. I don’t know why she thinks otherwise, Rylee and I are close.
“Of course, you did. You two are crazy inseparable. Anyone would think I had triplets,” she says as she walks off. Knowing I have to follow, I do.
“Where did you go?” Rylee asks, walking up to me with a glass of wine in her hand.
“He snuck up to the treehouse,” our mother chimes in.
Rylee laughs and shakes her head.
We wait until Mom wanders off before Rylee grabs the bottle in my hand and looks up at me. “Now go and apologize to Jacinta. We all heard what you said. You were rude.”
Scrunching my nose up at her, I furrow my brows. Being surrounded by women isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. They are bossy and overbearing most of the time.
“I’m not apologizing to my employee.”
“Go,” Rylee snaps.
She’s small, but she can be vicious. So, I give her a nod and take a deep breath. I look around for Jacinta but don’t see her anywhere. What I do see is someone who I don’t think I’ve met before standing next to Glenn, her eyes down as she reads something on her phone.
“Beckham, you remember Tamara?” I do, but only vaguely. She was one of Paige’s only friends.
She looks up at me and smiles. “It’s good to see you again.” Her eyes rake over me, and I know that look well.
“Tamara was coming over to bring me food, and when I told her I was coming to see you, she wanted to come.” Glenn lets me know. I look to Tamara and raise my eyebrow at her.
Tamara walks over and slips her arm through mine. “It’s been so long. Catch me up on all things in Beckham’s world.”
Tamara is my type—the type I fuck, that is.
Blonde, petite, and totally doable.
Easy pickings.
She looks up at me with doe eyes, and I know what she wants and the reason she is here.
It’s not just to see me.
It is what she can get out of me.
“Care to get me a drink?” she asks, looking down at my empty bottle.
“Follow me,” I reply and walk back into the house.
Her hands don’t