Page 47 of No Romeo
She snatched a packet of Pop-Tarts from the box before Bellamy could swipe it. “Too slow,” she said like a brat and then lifted the pastry in a makeshift fuck-you toast on her way out of the room. I took a quick glance at her ass, almost hanging out of that shirt and my aggravation over Pop-Tarts turned into aggravation over my swelling dick.
The guys were right.
This living arrangement would be akin to some kind of apocalypse—possibly just for my balls and dignity. What in the hell had I done to myself?
“Again,” Wolf chuckled. “You’re one doomed motherfucker.”
I turned on the sofa and flipped him off. “Shut up, cocksucker. Nothing on my ass is doomed outside of my finances.”
He fell into the recliner with a heavy sigh. “Allour finances are doomed. Because Tony’s in jail.”
When it rained in Dayton, it poured liquid shit.
Chapter16
LOLA
My first night in Hendrix’s house was uneventful.He played PlayStation. I stayed in my room. It was all very civil.
Although, midway through my crappy post-church Sunday shift, I still felt sick from the Pop-Tarts I’d stolen and eaten this morning.
Based on the fact that my current customer asked for his two dollars’ worth of change, I figured my already black mood was about to descend into abysmal.
Fake-smiling like a clown, I placed his money on the table.
The man took it and tossed a tiny booklet with the wordsJesus Saveson top of his crumbs.
His finger tapped over it as he pushed out of the booth. “That’s the best tip I could ever leave you, sweetie.”
My face heated. My blood pressure ticked up, thumping in my temples. I wanted to scream, but instead, I smiled through gritted teeth. “Jesus doesn’t pay the bills, though. Does he, sir?”
Without waiting for some pious, entitled response, I turned away, leaving his booklet on the table.
I was halfway to the drink station to grab a pitcher of sweet tea for a refill when the hostess passed by. “Table thirty-two asked to be seated in your section, Lola.”
I glanced across the restaurant. Max Harford and a bruised Ethan Taylor sat in the corner booth amongst a group of girls, all glaring at me like I’d just crapped in their designer bags. Just what I needed today.
I approached the table, willing, patient, and forcing a smile when I asked what I could get them to drink.Two of the girls ordered Diet Coke. Then I came to Ethan.
“I’ll take a sweet tea and your piece of shit boyfriend in a set of handcuffs,” he said, and the table erupted in laughter.
I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself, then drown him in the pitcher of sweet tea. But before I could…
“Wait,” the only brunette in the bunch said, her judgmental glare dragging over me. “She’sthe girl Hendrix Hunt dated?” She tossed her head back with an annoying laugh. “If that’s his standard… Maybe I’ll date Dayton’s hot bad boy just to break his white-trash heart.”
Another round of raucous laughter bounced around the booth of assholes, and my annoyance erupted into a mushroom cloud of sheer wrath.
“Sweet tea, for you, too?” I asked. But before she could answer, I raised the pitcher and dumped it over her head.
She shrieked, and the hum of conversation in the restaurant immediately fell silent.
“Fuck every one of you spoiled, daddy-issue-riddled assholes.” Then I slammed the pitcher down on the table and turned around. The stares of almost everyone in the restaurant followed me as I walked off.
It wasn’t until I’d passed the restrooms that Pete shouted my name, telling me to get in the office. I was one hundred percent getting fired.
I rounded the bar, already untying my apron from around my waist. “Don’t bother firing me.” I shoved the apron against his chest. “I quit serving these pretentious dickheads.”
Then I went to the back, grabbed my bookbag, and walked out.
