Page 9 of 12 Months of Mayhem

“Next one is here,” Jinx announced. I’d never been so glad to hear her voice. “I can show you out,” she offered Annette.

“I know my way,” Annette clipped out as she stood up from the chair. Then she gathered her purse and turned in my direction. “Can’t wait to see you again, Dalton. Thank you so much for squeezing me in. That was so sweet of you.”

Then she breezed out the door.

“What the fuck was up with her?” Jinx asked.

“I used to work with her years ago. Ran into her in Chambers when Anson and I stopped to grab stuff. Then I got so lucky that since I’m the new guy, I got stuck squeezing in her consult,” I muttered.

Jinx looked at me like I was nuts. “Umm, that had nothing to do with you being the new guy.”

“Huh?”

“She specifically requested you,” she explained like I was a child.

Chapter Four

Ryian

“I Need You Most Of All” — Stephen Sanchez

“See you Monday! Have a good weekend,” Myrah called out as she walked to the next row over where she was parked. Brian and Esther had parked on the other side of the lot and had already branched off in that direction as we left the building.

“Bye!” I replied as I dug around in my tote for my keys. “Why the hell don’t I ever remember to put those fucking things in one of the outside pockets?” I grumbled to myself.

Impatience wasn’t helping. I couldn’t wait to get to Dalton’s. He promised me he had dinner waiting, and after Anson went to sleep, he’d run me a bath. Again. He was spoiling me.

For once, I didn’t have to feel guilty about leaving my mom alone. Uncle Bowie had some things going on in town, so he was staying at Mom’s for a few days.

It was getting harder and harder to keep myself from giving in to Dalton. There was nothing I wanted more than to move myself and Anson in with him. Not only because I was madly in love with him, but because I wanted us to be a family in every sense of the word.

Yet, I was so afraid to leave my mom. When I’d moved back from Chicago to help her out, I hadn’t known the extent of what was going on with her. All she’d told me was that she was getting harassed “a little” at the store. She wouldn’t really elaborate, and I assumed maybe some little punk kids were stealing or causing trouble, but thankfully, I hadn’t seen them since I’d been back.

Once I’d returned to New Orleans and it was confirmed she had breast cancer, I’d gone through a bit of an internal panic. It was one thing to be a nurse and take care of patients with a myriad of medical issues—but when it was your mom?

Totally not the same.

“Ah-ha!” I triumphantly whispered to myself when I saw the glint of my keys in the parking lot light. I pulled them out, and with the smile still on my face, I walked around to the driver’s side, only for that same smile to fall as I stopped dead in my tracks.

“What the fuck?” I furiously shouted as my work bag fell off my shoulder and dropped to the ground next to me.

Carved into the side of my truck in huge letters was “I’M SPREADING STDs.”

I was so fucking mad that I was shaking as I got my phone out of my scrub pocket and called Dalton.

“Hey, gorgeous. You on your way?”

Ordinarily, his version of hello would’ve had me smiling. Instead, I burst out crying, which was so unlike me. Yet I was tired from a long shift, upset that my truck I’d worked hard for was trashed, and confused as to who could’ve done such a thing. I was so damn angry.

“Babe, talk to me. What’s going on?” Dalton’s voice remained calm, and my emotions fed off of that and clung to that sound.

“M-M-My truck,” I angrily stuttered out as my chest heaved. “W-W-Why would s-s-someone d-d-d-do this?”

“Ryian. What happened?” he firmly demanded. When I explained what was going on, I heard him cover the phone. Then he was back. “Babe, don’t touch it. Stay on the phone with me.”

“I need to call the police,” I insisted.

“No. Dallas just contacted your uncle. He’s on his way.”

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