Page 86 of The Sound Of Us

I’m shaking with the most evil fury. With the most sickening humiliation. I want to run away and hide. Die even, maybe. So I wouldn’t have to hear Frank’s voice ever again.

In my madness, I stalk over to Mrs. Dalton. “Is everything okay, Axel dear?”

“Nothing much. Just Frank. He’s a little upset.”

“Is he causing trouble?”

“Not yet, but I need to get out of here, Mrs. Dalton. But please can I borrow your phone?”

She digs inside her pocket, unlocks it and hands it over to me.

I bring up Eli’s name and type. The bookstore? As soon as possible?

Mrs. Dalton looks over at the screen. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to see, but I’ll make sure we get done quickly.”

She smiles at me sadly. “You deserve happiness, Axel darling. And sometimes, you have to steal it.”

I force a smile and thank her. When I look back at Eli, his phone is in his hand. He looks up and nods faintly.

“Hey, I saw Frank spitting fire in the parking lot. What happened?” Ben comes up behind me.

“He’s drunk. He tried to push me around a little. But it’s fine. Nothing happened.”

“I hate that fucking asshole.”

“Yeah, anyway, the books we didn’t sell? Why don’t you drop me and Pepper off at the bookstore? I’ll sort them out. You can leave me there, and me and Pepper will walk back.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ll leave them in the car and we’ll sort it out in the morning.”

Fuck.

“Uh, actually, Frank asked for extra soda for his late shifts, so I’ll pick some up and walk home when I’m done, so it’s no problem.”

“Okay, come on then. But I’ll help you and drop you off at home.”

Mrs. Dalton, who’d been standing there listening while Eli moved around the back of the stall packing up, seems to be tired of listening to us.

“Ben, dear,” she calls out. “Don’t you have to go fetch your mom for prayer meeting tonight?”

“Yeah, but that’s at seven. It’s not even six yet.”

“Well, she’s part of the prayer warriors, so we need her there early. Please finish up dropping Axel off and make sure she gets to the church on time.”

Ben shrugs and agrees, not knowing how complicit he is in my affair right now.

When we’re all packed up, I scout the emptying park for Frank. He’s nowhere to be seen. Probably made plans to drink at one of the guys’ places before going home. The thought makes me sick. He was embarrassed today when Eli blocked me and when his friend corrected him. And then when he realized he was wrong, he’d tried to deflect it by coming after me. I’m not surprised, but fuck, in front of people? Frank loves for people to think he’s amazing. Eli must have really pissed him off.

I don’t even know why I bothered to correct him. It was such a stupid thing to fight over. It wasn’t worth it, that’s for sure.

But as I pack Ben’s car and I watch Eli pack his car, it’s easy to forget everything when, in a few minutes, I’ll be where I belong. Underneath Eli, with his cock deep in my ass.

Ben rants about Frank all the way to the bookstore, finishing with, “Why the fuck doesn’t he get his own fucking soda, anyway?”

“We can talk about it tomorrow,” I say. And then, with the bookstore keys digging into my palm, I remind him, “Your mom’s a prayer warrior, remember?”

“Oh yeah. It’s only the one crate left. You want me to help you?”

“Nah, it’s fine.” I pop the leather handle of the petty cash box into Pepper’s mouth and she trots to the bookstore and waits for me.

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