Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 80074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“Have you taken a look around, Cash? You weren’t raised in an environment like this.”
“It ain’t that bad.” He shrugged. “Beats sleepin’ at the shelter I donate money to.”
My eyes widened, burstin’ out of my head. “You’ve been stayin’ at shelters?”
“Not since I got this dig. The owner, Margot, has been lettin’ me stay here for the last month rent-free, as long as I play a few times a week for the after-hours crowd.”
“Why didn’t you tell me it was this bad? You always made it sound like you were okay.”
“I am.”
“Cash, this is not okay. This is beyond okay. I’m certain I just saw a roach—”
“That’s Roger. He’s my roommate.”
I frowned.
“Relax, I’m fuckin’ wit’ you.” He plopped on the couch, throwin’ his feet on the table. “Did you lose your sense of humor on the drive over here?”
“I’m not convinced I won’t need a shot when I leave here.”
“Since when is my best friend scared of a little grit and grime? That fancy college rubbin’ off on you?”
“Since her best friend is livin’ in it.”
“Come here.” He patted the cushion next to him. “Tell me what’s goin’ on. You alright?”
I shook my head no, eyein’ the filth.
“Harley, you want to sit on my bed instead? Probably the cleanest thing in here.”
“I highly doubt that. I saw the way those women were lookin’ at you out there.”
He grinned. “I’m a starvin’ musician. This place doesn’t exactly make panties drop for me, darlin’.”
I took a few swigs of my beer, needin’ the alcohol to try to forget what happened tonight. From Shiloh to Jackson, and now Cash...
It was one thing right after another.
“How long you been strugglin’ like this?”
He shrugged. “Since I dropped out of school and moved out here.”
“Cash, that was almost three years ago.”
“What do you want me to say, Harley? You want me to lie?”
“Of course not. You could call your par—”
“I know you didn’t drive all this way to talk about my parents disownin’ me.”
“I still hate it happened in the first place.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t peaches and cream for me either. My jaw still ain’t right.” He chuckled, blowin’ it off like it was nothin’.
“Your dad didn’t mean it, Cash.”
“He laid my ass out on the ground when I told him I was droppin’ out of school to move here. Whatever happened to supportin’ your kids no matter what? I guess that just flew out their fuckin’ window.”
“They just want what’s best for you.”
“They have a shitty fuckin’ way of showin’ it.”
“Cash, you put them through hell, and you know it.”
“’Cuz they were always against everythin’ I wanted to do. It didn’t matter what it was, it was constant. If it didn’t fit into the perfect image of what they wanted for me it wasn’t allowed. It wasn’t good enough. My old man is a detective. Do you have any idea how hard it was to be perfect for him? He lives by a wrong or right code, and if he thought it was wrong ... there was no gettin’ through to him.”
“You’re tellin’ me they haven’t tried to make amends? After all these years?”
“I wouldn’t know, I have no phone.”
“Oh my God.” My hand flew to my forehead. “You always told me you didn’t have a cellphone ’cuz you hated the damn things. Not ’cuz you couldn’t afford one. How could I be so stupid?”
“It’s mostly ’cuz I hate the damn things.”
“And you have no social media.”
“Harley, social media is for people who want to show off their lives. Does it look like I have anythin’ to show?”
I was about to reply, except I was rendered speechless when he leaned forward and pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket.
“Whoa. When did you start smokin’?”
Lookin’ around the room, he patted his jeans for what I assumed was a lighter. Yankin’ out a pack of matches instead to light up his cigarette.
Damn, he couldn’t even afford a lighter?
He took a long, heavy drag and blew the smoke out toward his left, away from me. Knowin’ how much I hated those cancer sticks.
“Curves my appetite,” he simply stated, almost causin’ me to burst into tears again.
“Oh my God, Cash. How did I not see this? How could I not hear it in your voice when we talked on the phone from the random numbers you’d call me from every Sunday? You’re like my brother, and I didn’t know this was the reality of your life right now. What. The. Fuck. This is not okay.” In less than three strides, I was carefully sittin’ on the coffee table in front of him. Not puttin’ all my weight down on the flimsy wood.
“Listen.” I took the cigarette from his fingers and stubbed it out on the disgustin’ floor. “I get scholarship money from school every month that I don’t need. My daddy takes care of everythin’ for me. You can have it. We can get you a decent apartment, groceries, get you back on your feet. I’ll help you, Cash.”