Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
I hated that all it took was for one single person—me—to see her in a different light, and poof, everyone liked her.
Or at least pretended to.
That was the problem with snakes. Sometimes they hid so well that you didn’t even know they were there until you were right on top of them.
June waited her turn in line at the drink fountain, and I leaned back against the wall to watch.
She was three deep in line, with a male partially behind her, when he said something to her, causing her to look over her shoulder at him.
I gritted my teeth, a sense of unease pouring through me at the thought of somebody else talking to her.
Which made me selfish.
I hated that she was getting attention now and that she was reciprocating by talking back to him.
What the fuck?
Then it was her turn to get us drinks, and I watched as the man scooted so close to her that BJ—before Johnny—she would’ve flinched. Hell, she might very well have freaked the fuck out.
But obviously, something she was doing lately was helping her get better, because she did nothing but slide to the side and offer him a smile.
Then she was at our table moments later, and I could see two spots of color high on her cheeks.
“What did he say to you?” I asked grumpily.
“Oh?” She looked back over her shoulder. “Nothing. He was saying I had nice hair.”
I grunted.
“Your hair wasn’t the only thing he was looking at,” I told her.
June snickered, and I tried not to narrow my eyes at her. Apparently, I wasn’t successful.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, concern leeching into her voice. “Is your head hurting you?”
I shrugged.
My head wasn’t the only thing that was bothering me. Apparently, I needed to get control of my mouth and actions, because all I wanted to do was haul her into my lap and show her that she was mine.
But I couldn’t do that.
I didn’t know how she’d react.
We’d spent last night wrapped up in her bed—but that was while she was asleep. The moment she woke, she pulled herself out of my hold and then completely out of the bed.
The rest of the morning was spent with her at least five feet away from me at all times. Every time I got anywhere near her, she’d move her body to counteract my closeness.
It was downright frustrating.
And after seeing her not pulling away from that other guy? Yeah, I wasn’t a happy camper.
Which was probably why I let my mouth run away from me.
I’m not really sure how everything went to hell. One second, I was there, thinking that this was going to be a good thing—me and her. And the next, she was laughing with that guy again—the one that had been crowding her at the drink fountain—and I might or might not have gotten pissed—and jealous.
See, it really wasn’t my fault that she took offense to me telling her the guy she’d been talking to was a piece of shit.
Nor was it my fault of the timing of that comment.
I never was able to hold my tongue—not when I was a kid, and definitely not now.
I probably shouldn’t be a police officer. I was a bundle of energy, and more times than not, I was the instigator in the fight.
Kind of like last night.
I hadn’t necessarily told those guys to eat shit, but I had told them they were pieces of shit.
See the difference there?
“I saw you last night,” he said. “Good job on the save. I was impressed.”
My brows lowered. “You were there?”
The man, who looked to be in his mid-twenties like us, nodded. “Yeah. I was breaking down boxes near the dumpsters. Saw the whole thing.”
“You saw the whole thing, from start to finish?” I asked for clarification.
He nodded. “Yeah. I did.”
“And you didn’t think to come over and try to help?” I casually asked.
He shrugged. “I didn’t want to be in the middle of a police brutality case. Plus, you looked like you were handling it okay.”
“So, me getting my head beat in with a two-by-four was your idea of me ‘handling it okay?’” I questioned.
He shrugged. “Like I said, I didn’t want to get in the middle of it.”
I gritted my teeth. “You’re a real piece of shit, you know that?”
He straightened his spine and looked at me like I’d just insulted his mother—which in a way I guess I had. What mother out there wants to admit that she’s got a piece of shit for a son?
“Johnny,” June started. “I think we should—”
“I think this fucker should be the one to move…don’t you?” I asked.
June snapped her mouth shut and then looked at the tables around us.
Everybody was listening.
Not that I cared.
Apparently, June did, though.
“Johnny,” she started again. “Please?”
I gritted my teeth. “Fine.”
Nobody said anything for a long while, but it really wouldn’t have mattered if we had.