Page 125 of Trailer Trash

God, he manipulated me worse than Evan just did.

And I let him.

33

Killian

It’s two in the morning, and I park the car behind an old bar. The streetlights don’t reach here. There’s a dumpster. A wild rooster sits on top of it. I keep the car idling to use the A/C. It’s too muggy outside to open the windows.

“Thanks for the ride,” says Asher, who unbuckles his seatbelt.

Buzz, buzz.

I check the notification and immediately squint.

It’s an e-mail.

“Four thousand dollars has been successfully deposited...”

I open Harlow’s bank account. The pending transaction has her ex’s name on it.

What in the fuck?

Why’d he send her that much cash?

I open the camera app. The trailer’s dark. Harlow’s in bed. She’s alone. Good.

A mild sense of relief washes over me. It doesn’t mean nothing happened, but at least he didn’t stay the night.

I should watch the playback.

“Nothing happened,” I mutter to myself.

She wouldn’t do that. No fucking way. I got her off tonight. She wouldn’t hook up with two guys in one night. She isn’t Nina.

I take a bump of cocaine, trying to snap out of it.

“You should’ve stayed with her,” says Asher, who grabs the bag and ladles a scoop of powder. “I don’t know why you came to me.”

“You told me to come help you!” I roar.

“Easy. Easy. Chill. I think you’ve been snorting too much of this shit.”

He twists the bag, closing it tightly, as if he’s telling me the party is over. I snatch it from him and open it.

“It’s my coke. I say when I’m done.”

“That stuff will make anyone lose their mind. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up with a police helicopter chasing you down the street or blowing your brains out for no good reason.”

I shake my head. “You love coke. Don’t act like you didn’t get me started on it all those years ago.”

He leans back in the seat and muses. The energy shifts, dark and solemn. “It wasn’t the drugs that made me say that stuff. Everything I said was true.”

My pulse inches higher. I swallow, not sure I’m ready to hear this.

“Fuck you,” I growl. “The least you could do is apologize.”

“Kill, I swear. It wasn’t the drugs. What I said, I meant.”