Until Alex - J. Nathan Page 0,67

owed someone else money.

This wasn’t the life my mother wanted for me. Hell. This wasn’t the life I wanted for me.

But how could I explain it to someone like Alex? How could I explain why I worked with Remy? How could I tell her about all the evil things I’d done?

I couldn’t unleash my demons on her innocent soul. I wouldn’t. She was better off believing I was a selfish lying dick.

“Come on, Hayden.” Marisol tapped on the bathroom door. “Let me in.”

I reached back and unlocked the door, careful not to exacerbate my injuries.

Marisol pushed it open and stepped inside, all five feet of her squeezing in behind me. “Take off your shirt.”

“That’s usually my line,” I choked, having a hell of a time getting the words out.

“I’m glad to see you’ve still got your sense of humor. Wait. Since when do you make jokes, Mr. Serious?”

“Fuck off.”

“That’s more like it.” Marisol lifted my shirt, dragging it cautiously over my head before tossing it to the floor. She ran her hands gently along my sides. Then moved them around to my front, inspecting my ribs. I could see in the mirror they were black and purple.

“Owww,” I growled through clenched teeth.

“They’re definitely broken.”

“No shit.”

Ignoring my grumbling, she continued her examination. “Let me clean up the cuts and then wrap the ribs.”

With my hands white-knuckling the sink, I leaned forward and carefully dropped my head. Any movement still hurt like a son of a bitch.

Marisol plucked the pieces of glass from my skin with tweezers, and cleaned the cuts on my sides with antiseptic. Each touch sent a fierce bite tearing through me, sucking the air right out of my lungs. “What do you think about my lung?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“Do I really need to say it?”

“I’m a big boy.”

“You need to be checked out by a doctor.”

“Not happening.”

“You’re a stubborn ass, you know that, right?” She huffed a long drawn out breath. “Hypothetically speaking, if you were to go to the ER and they thought it was only a small puncture, they’d send you home to wait it out. See if it got worse.”

I wanted to nod, but thought better of moving.

“Just promise me you’ll call me if it’s not healing or your breathing’s still labored.”

I’d lost count of the number of times Marisol swooped in to take care of my sorry ass over the years. Her family had been my last foster family—the only caring one. Marisol commuted to nursing school while I lived there. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t get the foster brother she’d hoped for. The type that hung out and went places with her. It wasn’t that I’d been a prick to her. I just already worked for Cooper at the time and was biding my time until I saved up enough cash to move out on my own.

My head whipped up at the same time Marisol ripped the bandage off the back of my left shoulder. “It’s so much prettier than the other one.”

“Can you put that back on and just wrap my ribs, please?”

“Don’t angels usually have blue eyes and blonde hair?”

I dropped my head, squeezing my eyes. “Marisol, I swear to God if you don’t shut up and help me, I’m going to—”

Her hands disappeared from my back. I imagined them planted on her pear-shaped hips. “You’re going to what?”

I shook my head, defeated and in a hell of a lot of pain.

“So you gonna tell me who that girl was out there?”

I shook my head again, wincing at the sharp pains accompanying the motion.

“She looked really pretty in that dress.”

“I didn’t notice,” I muttered, lying through my teeth.

“I saw the tie and shirt on your chair. Were you going somewhere?”

I shook my head. And down deep, I wondered if that lie had actually been the truth all along.

ALEX

I’d spent the last twenty-four hours buried under a blanket on the sofa.

But once the cushions at my feet sagged, I knew my aunt was done respecting my privacy. “You want to talk about it?”

I peeked out and shook my head.

“Alex…” She sighed. “I’ve been trying to give you space. Please tell me if I’ve been wrong to do that.” When I didn’t answer, she expelled another breath. “Tell me what you need and I’ll do it. If it’s counseling, I’ll get you the best counselor in the state. If it’s school, I’ll get you tutors. If it’s money, I’ll get it for you. It’s all yours soon anyway. Just talk to