AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Shit,” Bodhi says, whether in shock or disbelief, I don’t know.
“When they came for the Camaro, I told them my best friend was a cop, and it would be really hard to hide the damages from him.”
Bodhi’s head whips around and his eyes are wide with shock.
“You didn’t.”
“Yeah, stupid mistake. I know that now.” I shrug one shoulder, knowing there’s nothing I can do about it now.
“What did he do?”
I pause for a moment, collecting my thoughts. I remember it too well, that day that I realized my life would never be the same. It’s burned into my mind, a lesson that I won’t soon forget.
“He pulled a gun on me,” I say, and Bodhi jumps up from his seat beside me.
“I’ll fucking kill him!” he yells, absolutely seething.
“Hey,” I say, rounding the lounger to stand before him. “I’m okay. It scared the shit out of me, yeah. But I’m okay.” I reach out and let him wrap me in his arms.
“Please tell me that’s it,” Bodhi says, the tremor in his voice more pronounced now.
“Pretty much. He threatened my life, and my mom’s, if I chose not to cooperate. I have to make weekly payments to him, or else,” I explain.
“Or else what?”
“I don’t want to know, but I’m sure you could guess,” I sigh, letting him hold me a little tighter, and finding comfort in his embrace.
“He can’t fucking do this,” he says, voice thick with emotion.
“But he can. He is. What was I supposed to do? Even if I did call the cops and got Mateo put away, he has friends. How do I know that they won’t come collecting in his place?” I ask.
“There has to be another way.” He pulls back and looks down at me, and the desperation in his eyes is one of the reasons why I didn’t want to tell him. He’s going to feel the need to fix this, and I can’t have him doing that.
“There isn’t. Not without putting my mom, or myself, in danger,” I say.
That gives him pause. I know that he wants to lash out; I see it in his eyes, but I also see the moment that he decides to drop it, knowing it won’t help matters right now. Knowing Bodhi, though, I doubt it’s going to last long.
“So, how much do you still owe him?” he asks, steering us back over to the lounger and pulling me to his side.
“A lot,” I scoff, not even wanting to get into the specifics, “but there is a way I may be able to make a sizable dent in that department.”
I hedge the topic of the race, knowing he isn’t going to like Mateo’s involvement in it. And I wouldn’t blame him; I hate it, too.
“Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like this idea?” Bodhi sighs.
And there it is. Exactly what I wanted to avoid. I don’t want Bodhi thinking that just because I let him in and told him everything that been plaguing me over the last couple years, that he suddenly has a right to step in and take any sort of action. This is still my problem to fix. Not his.
“Who says you have to like it?” I quip, challenging him.
“No one, and that's not how I meant it, so lose the attitude, Princess,” he says, leveling me with an unamused stare.
My jaw drops open and I'm about to make a remark questioning the audacity of this man, when he leans in and sweeps his lips over mine gently, subduing my flame.
Asshole.
I don't like that he can do that.
“Chill out. You just hit me with all of this, so I’m still on edge. I’m allowed to hate this shit for you, okay?” he sighs, looking more tired than he did ten minutes ago.
