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“I don’t care who he is. All you boys think you can have any girls you want and leave Shady with nothin’. Fuck you, fuck him, and fuck the rest of you.” With that, he takes a step forward and swings his fist toward my face.
Ready for this to be over and done with, I lean to the left and catch his swing and bring his arm high and behind his back. He shouts and starts struggling against me. I slam him down face first on a nearby picnic table and cuff his wrists.
Leaning down, I say in his ear, “You stupid fuck. You should have just let her go.”
“Eat shit, you bastard. She was asking for it,” Shady grunts back at me.
I pull him up by his wrists, flip him around, and growl in his face, “Get a fucking clue. A woman doesn’t ask for something she doesn’t want. Andshe didn’t want it!”
With that, I drag his sorry ass across the courtyard and down to the station a couple blocks away, where he’ll sleep off his drink in a cell. As soon as I slam the door, Shady slumps on the bed and falls promptly asleep.
I run my hands through my hair and sit at my desk. Opening the bottom drawer, I pull out a shot glass and the bottle of Jack I have in there for when I need it. Glancing down, I see a worn-out picture sitting at the bottom. Picking the picture up, I study it. You can tell it’s been handled a lot because of the worn and frayed edges. In it I’m carrying Mia piggyback style. We’re both laughing.Surrounding us are Jaxon, Anna, Nick, and Kaylee. It was taken the year I graduated, which made Mia sixteen.
We were all over at Jaxon, Mia, and Anna’s house for one of their mom’s barbeques. Mia looks so different in this picture. Her hair is long and luscious, and the only piercings she has are small hoop rings in each ear. Her body is flawless and devoid of any ink. The Mia then was sweet, innocent, and meek. The Mia now is fiery, outspoken, and wild. I loved the Mia back then, but the Mia now drives me insane with lust. The colors on her smooth skin and the piercings adorning her body have me craving to see if she has them in forbidden places.
I take the photo and put it back in the drawer. Shooting back a couple of shots, I cap the bottle and put it away as well. I get to my feet and make my way to the little room that holds a simple military-style cot. When I have someone in one of the cells, I sleep here so they aren’t left alone. The bed is short and lumpy, but it is what it is. It’s not very often I have to use it.
Stripping down to my boxer briefs, I grab the cover at the end of the bed. I throw that over my waist once I’m settled. Ten minutes later, I fall asleep to the sounds of Shady’s snoring in the next room.
THE NEXT AFTERNOON, I’m in my gym in the basement of my house. When I knew I wanted to update the house, I decided to put in a home gym as well. Jaded Hollow doesn’t have a gym, instead you have to drive to the nearest decent-size town, which is forty-five minutes away. It’s a pain in the ass to travel that far, but I did it for years to keep in shape.
After I’m finished with my workout, I take a shower and get dressed. I head over to Maggie’s Diner for some lunch. When I walk in, most of the booths are taken. I find an empty one in the back and settle in. I never look at the menu anymore, haven’t hadto in years. I’ve eaten here so much that I know everything that’s on it.
A couple minutes later, a cute little blonde by the name of Karyn strolls over carrying her notepad and pen in one hand and a pot of coffee and a mug in the other.
After setting down the mug and pouring some coffee, she asks in a soft voice, “Hey, Mac, you want the usual?”
She’s short and her blonde hair is cut into a bob. She’s wearing a pair of tan capris and a black button-up shirt with white tennis shoes. Over that is a standard red apron that all the waitresses wear. She’s only been in town a couple years, and the last I heard she and Ethan, another friend, were getting serious.
I offer her a smile. “Yes, please.”
“Gotcha! Coming right up,” she says, and flounces away without writing anything in her notepad.
I watch her walk away before picking up my coffee. I take a swallow and place it back on the table at the same time the door jingles opens. Nick walks in and looks around a minute before spotting me and starting in my direction.
I feel bad for the poor guy. After losing Anna, it took him a year before he would step foot back in this place. It carried too many bad memories for him.
When he makes it to my table, he takes a seat across from me.
“Hey, man, what’s up?” I ask him.
“Nothin’,” he rumbles back at me. “Headed out on a job and decided to eat before I left.”
“How long you gonna be gone for?”
“Don’t know, but I hope a helluva lot longer than last time.”
I raise my eyebrows at his answer. “Bad week?”
He runs his hands through his hair, slightly pulling at the strands and mumbles, “You have no fucking clue.”
Our conversation is interrupted when Karyn walks up with another mug and sets it down in front of Nick. She silently pours coffee in it and smiles at both Nick and me.
“Thanks, Karyn,” Nick mutters.
“No problem, Nick. You want your usual as well?” she asks.
“Yeah, sure, whatever’s fine,” he says distractedly.
