Page 127 of Talk Nerdy To Me
I can’t bring myself to tell him that we made ourselves look like hot-tempered kids.
“I said some shit they probably didn’t like very much, and was eventually escorted out by security. They may or may not be pressing charges for the glass door Sticks broke on his way out.”
“Fuck’s sake,” Tag says under his breath.
He doesn’t even know it was Vince Jaggons who took our spot. Well, not personally, but still…it feels personal.
“Since Dane can’t give us our spot at Silk back, we’re probably going to have to start over somewhere else with a new set of players. There’s not much left here for us now,” I state a little bitterly.
“Don’t be extreme, Base. I can make some calls for you. Money makes bad memories go away really quickly for most of these guys, and—”
“I don’t want you paying my way into a spot I earned, Tag. I appreciate the offer and all, but that’s not how we’re doing this, or we’ll never feel like we earned it.”
I hear the groan he tries to suppress, like he just can’t understand why in the world I’d want to work for something he could freely give me.
“You get what you pay for, Tag. They’ll pay it back in spades, and I’ll—”
“Lose your soul and shit. I know the song and dance. Call me before you run off to find a new spot to start all over.”
As soon as his call ends, Randy’s ringing in. I press ignore and keep driving, clearing my head as much as possible before I pull up at my house.
My mom’s car is in the driveway when I warily put on the brake, and my eyebrows hit my hairline as I push open the door. Mom’s laughter inside the house confirms that this is really happening at the worst possible time.
Clearing my throat, I plaster on a smile and step inside. Her laughter dies the second she sees me, and pity wells up in her expression.
“Sorry, sweetie. I just heard about Britt. I know you were falling hard for—”
“I really don’t want to talk about it right now,” I cut in.
“But I do, so we should,” she argues, causing me to quirk my eyebrow. “What? Did I raise you to think it’s okay to tell people when they can and can’t talk about things?”
The lightbulb goes on quickly.
“I see what you’re doing,” I tell her, pointing a finger as I back toward the door. Sticks makes an uncomfortable wiggle off the couch before stiffly walking out like he’s trying to avoid getting in trouble too. “This is a little different than that situation. Which one of you dicks told her?”
“Not me,” Sticks says as he shuts the door to his room.
Randy and Taylor both shake their heads before Taylor awkwardly exits like he can’t get out fast enough.
Randy just grins as he pops a piece of candy into his mouth.
“How’s it different?” Mom asks me.
“For one, it’s actually none of your business,” I remind her in the most respectful fucking tone I can muster, and she gives me the I’m-about-to-ground-your-ass-for-a-year look. “Tag called you, didn’t he?”
“No. His wife did, because she’s a damn fine woman who’s worried about you. And I don’t blame her for being worried after what I heard you idiots did after losing your spot on the—”
I don’t hear what else she says, because I walk out and slam the door. I’m too pissed to talk to my mother right now, and I can’t risk saying the wrong shit.
“You don’t even see your hypocrisy, Base. It’s growing by the day, because you just think you’re being—”
I shut out her voice again as I start my loud truck. Ash called my fucking mother? This day needs to stop being this day.
I haul ass to Tag’s house, and I don’t even waste time shutting the door to my truck when I park. Without even thinking about it, I jab the doorbell over and over. My fists clench and unclench, and I try to keep my temper in check, even as my jaw tics and my foot taps.
Ash is the one to open the door, and her eyes widen in surprise when she sees me.
“Base, what’s—”
