Page 43 of Craved By Lust

This is a man’s handwriting… but it’s not that son of a bitch’s who was at her house. I looked over his schoolwork and analyzed his writing. He doesn’t write like this…it seems my baby has more cockroaches around her than I thought.I see I’m not being as proactive about protecting what’s mine as I need to be.

I throw the bag and the card in the trash and pull out my phone.

#7 : Get more eyes on my girl

Idiot #4 : How many?

#7: Is that that even a real fucking question?

Idiot #4 : You’re right. Done and dispatched.

#7: Also take the key sitting in the bowl in my room and make sure to put cameras up in baby’s place and in the classes she attends.

Idiot # 3 : I’ll do it. The others are out getting equipment, but which key is it? There is like 20 of them!

#7: Oh they are all the same. I made extras in case I lost one.

Idiot # 3 : For fucks sake this is overkill.

#7: No such thing

I go over to her and put the good shit on her knee and cheek, then sit next to her, just breathing her in, wanting to pull her into my arms.I should have known some stupid shit like respecting her privacy wasn’t going to work.Now I have no idea what the fuck was happening in the time I was gone, but it’s a mistake I’ll remedy. I will never let anything happen to you again.

I place a kiss on her fingertips next to my face and watch her breathe peacefully.

How can I miss her even though she’s right here? Damn.

Chapter 10

Post Game Sorrows

JESSICA

Ilook over to see Duval throw a Hail Mary to Tek, but before I see it leave his hand, some mother fucker steamrolls me, knocking me flat on my ass and sending the wind flying from me.FUCK!

From the distance, I hear the crowd shout but fuck that. What matters is the loud and grating sound of the whistle in my ear, making me grit my teeth and shove the big mother fucker off. He just smiles cockily and runs backward to his team.

I snatch off my helmet, glancing up at the score, heartbroken.We lost…

Panting in disbelief, I fist my hands in anguish because this game should have been in the bag. I just stand there, throat dry, staring as the crowds filter off the stands and my team glide somberly by me. I place my hands on my knees, looking up, and out of the corner of my eye, I see pale blondish white hair, and my heart sinks further.Wait! Frank?!

I do a double take, eyes roaming over the stands, but it must have been a figment of my imagination.Of course, Frank wouldn’t be here…but what isn’t my imagination is my mom’s shocked face and my dad holding his head, looking grief-stricken.Shit… I’m not going to hear the end of this tonight…

I look at the turf, sweating, feeling like at any moment, I’ll break. I take a step forward, but my right calf is on fucking fire right now…I must have strained it when that big mother fucker steamrolled me.I feel a pat on my back and look up to see Tek standing there with his bandana on, breathing hard.

“Come on, Jess.” He gently takes my arm and places it over his shoulder, helping me limp towards the lockers as I see we are now the only players standing in the middle of the field.

When we enter, the entire team is sitting with their heads down, and no one says a word. Hell, even Duval has his head back with a damp towel on his face. Tek and I take a seat just as the coach walks in and sighs.

“Good job, you guys,” he leads. “You all played a good game.” He claps, and him saying that makes the loss hurt more. “I know there were a few individual mistakes on the field, but I don’t want you guys to think about that right now. What I want you to focus on is this loss. This loss represents lack of unity, lack of spirit, and lack of respect for your teammates,” he voices passionately, and I hold in the tear, ignoring the pang in my chest. “You guys let this loss burn in you. Let’s not let this happen again, got it?”

“Got it, Coach,” we shout half-heartedly.

“No, I asked if you fucking got it!” He puts a bit more bass in his voice and we sit up straight.

“GOT IT, COACH!” we shout, this time with feeling.

“Good. Now wash up,” he tells us and we all stand, and Tek and I go to file out side by side.

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