off to meet Manuel. The entire ride is going to be filled with thoughts of her. Thoughts of her crying, and of her dying. Everything that we’ve endured over the last few months is eating away at me.
Chapter 28
Whitley
“What are you thinkin’?” The guy I’ve come to know as Ink asks sitting down next to me.
“That I hate being here. It’s boring and I need to go to work,” I mumble under my breath.
“You tired of bein’ here already? Mason not keepin’ you happy darlin’?” he smirks.
“Can I go to work or am I being held captive?” I snap. Ink chuckles and shoves out of his chair.
“You’re free to go as far as I’m concerned. Your other boyfriend left his car for you,” he huffs as he turns to walk away.
Shoving quickly out of my chair I snap, “What the fuck is your problem?”
Ink turns and his eyes are deadly. He stalks toward me until he’s close enough to wrap his hand around my throat and push me against the wall. He holds me there and stares into my eyes. My heart has kicked up a notch. This is not the way Mason holds me. This is evil. It’s deadly.
“You fuck with my boy’s head. I don’t like it. He sees somethin’ in you, and I just don’t see it. I respect Mason and his choices which is why I haven’t fucked with you, but you keep pushin’ a man like Mason and he will snap. You can’t play with his emotions the way you are.” His eyes are hard and his stare is lethal.
“I’m not doing anything to him. He won’t listen to me. Don’t you think I’ve tried to tell him? I don’t want him to waste his time on me anymore than you do.”
When I snap this, Ink releases me. He takes a step back and watches me intently. He doesn’t say anything else just turns and walks away from me.
I take that as my chance to get the hell out of here. I need to get to work. I need to get away from all of this shit. I can clear my head and be me when I’m at Joe’s. If anyone will understand its Joe.
Hurrying out the front door I jump in the car Jake left and take off. Rolling the windows down I let the wind blow through the car hoping it will take all of the negative that I feel right now away. I’m not naïve enough to believe it will work, but it’s worth a try.
The drive to Joe’s doesn’t take long, and I smile as soon as it comes into sight. I park around the back, jump out of car, and head in through the back door. Taking in a lungful of stale air and I sigh.
“Joe!” I yell as I walk through the back room. When the door flies open I smile.
“What are you doing here?” he asks as if he’s surprised to see me.
“Uh, coming to work. What the hell did you think I was doing?” I tease.
“Mason said you wouldn’t be in this week.”
“Mason doesn’t run my life,” I tell him before pulling him into a hug. Joe hugs me back with a smile playing at his face when he pulls away.
“Trouble in paradise?” he asks with a laugh.
“I didn’t know we were in paradise?”
I wiggle my eyebrows at him and head out front. As soon as I step foot behind the bar a sense of peace rushes over me. This is my home. It has been for a long time now. Joe took me in when no one else wanted me. He gave me a job when everyone else thought I was just a homeless junkie.
“Hey Whitley!” I hear my name being called. I grab a beer, pop the cap, and slide it down the bar.
“Hey Mike, that one’s on me.”
I wink at him and settle into my routine. Serving drinks and being nice to people has always been easy for me. I enjoy the light conversation. It makes the night go by faster, but I also like meeting new people.
“Whit!” Carla squeals from the other end of the bar. I turn on my heel and grin when I see her rushing to me. I lean over the bar and hug her tightly.
“Has that hottie been keeping you locked up? Joe said you were taking off for a while,” she says quickly.
“No way. I’m my own person. I just had a lot going on. How have you