Page 57 of Sweet Spot

“Oh, I was watching it. Every last bounce of those big tits down to the very last step,” Cam taunted, giving a curious frown. “You know, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that tight body before. That’s little Tessie’s neighbor right? The one who lives on the second – ”

Noelle’s yelp pierced my ear as I grabbed Cam by the throat. “I don’t feel like doing this dance again,” I said, watching his stupid face smile despite going blood red in seconds. “You got me once with Tess but you’re not going to get me again. You try again and I’ll kill you this time. How’s that?”

“Peachy.” He tried to laugh – his go-to defense mechanism – but his lips struggled to move.

“Lukas!” Noelle whispered warningly. I meant to let go but I only locked my grip tighter, going numb again. I felt his Adam’s apple trembling under my palm and his face was getting to a reddish-purple I’d never seen a person before but I didn’t budge till I felt a grip on the back of my suit – one too strong to be Noelle’s.

“Enough,” Julian growled, yanking me back till I let go of Cam and watched him fall to a knee. “Are you fucking stupid? I said don’t give him anything to work with. Did I not?” Julian hissed under his breath before releasing me with a shove. “I got this. Take a breather in your office and take Noelle with you.”

I forced myself to go. The last time I felt this rage was when I found out about the shit Cam put Tess through and as willing as I was to put Cam in the ER again, I knew I wouldn’t get lucky twice and avoid jail again. So with a hand on Noelle’s back, I guided her into my office.

When I sat her down on my couch, she hugged her knees to her chest.

“How did he – ”

“He has pictures of me,” she muttered before I could finish my question. “I never fucked him or anything. He just has pictures from nights that he came to hang out with me and Tess. Back in Philly. We were eighteen, you were busy with summer classes and he bought us beer. I was young and stupid and drunk and I let him take pictures of me that I don’t want the world to see now. So I let him in the office the past two weekends. But only because I knew he wouldn’t find any dirt on you. You have no dirt to find.” She looked up at me with wet eyes. “On the outside, you’re perfect. All your dirt’s hidden inside you.”

I swallowed, hating that I understood what she meant. “I’m sorry he did this to you, Noelle.”

“Yeah,” she said softly. “You should be because it’s on you.”

I furrowed my brow. “Okay.”

“You don’t have to believe me, but it’s true. Look at how many lives you’ve ruined, Lukas.”

I looked up at her. “You’re going to do this to me right now?”

She ignored me. “Are you ever going to love me the way I love you?” she asked. She gave me several moments to answer but when I didn’t, she shook her head, laughing despite the tears that rolled down her cheeks. “Should’ve known,” she muttered tiredly to herself. “Anyone dumb enough to love or trust you gets burned. Wyatt. Tess. Stupid me for letting you poison my head with the same bullshit hope you gave them. I thought you were going to make my life better but you only made it worse. You fucked them up, you fucked me up and I hope you fuck up that stupid slut you’re with now, too.” She hugged her arms around herself as she got up off the couch. “I’m leaving before the police get here,” she sniffled before turning to face me. “And I quit, so have a nice life. I doubt you will with all the skeletons hanging all over you but you can always keep trying,” she said, leaving just a few minutes before the police arrived.

21

LIA

I was floating on a cloud, practically skipping up the stairs of the townhouse as I returned from checking out a gorgeous commercial kitchen on Ninth Avenue. According to Elaine, she had “definite interest” in distribution from a friend who owned a "fairly large gourmet grocery.”

“Whether or not she confirms, I definitely have interest from stores across the five boroughs who would love to carry your product,” she had said on the phone, “so until you find the perfect lease for your store, start looking for commercial kitchen space. Because you’re about to have orders to fill, darlin’. Better get working STAT.”

Adrenaline was still surging through me as I got into my apartment.

It felt like I was finally starting to gain real traction on this business and I could hardly contain my excitement. I was so over the moon that when my phone rang with a call, I didn’t even look before answering with a bright and chipper, “Hello!”

“Lia?”

I stopped in the middle of the stairwell. “Dad?”

“Yes, hello.”

“Oh. Hey!” I said, my lingering brightness effectively masking my surprise. “Um… what’s up?”

“The usual, which is not a whole lot,” he said with what I hoped was content. I couldn’t tell. My father always had what Ritchie would call “old man voice.” It was just kind of a scratchy monotone. I liked to think it would be hard for me to read even if I did know him better.

“So…” I stared at the wall, hearing him lean back in his usual chair, an ugly plaid thing that sat in the corner of his room at Uncle Ted’s house. “What are you doing, Dad?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I was just sitting here. I was thinking about you and I don’t usually call when I do because I know you’re busy. But I went ahead today because I had a feeling you’d pick up as happy as you did just now. Because of all the good stuff happening for you lately.”

A smile spread across my lips as I sat right down on the steps. “Yeah. I actually just came back from looking at commercial kitchens to rent. So I can make bigger batches.”

“To sell more?” he asked with as much excitement as his voice could ever muster.