Page 72 of Devil to Pay: Cutter

There’s notenough bourbon in the state to make me forget today. Being seen at the funeral home was rough, to say the least. Everyone showed up. I’m surprised they weren’t brandishing torches and pitchforks to drive me out. Half the town still hates me for Logan. The other half, for my leaving my dad, even though they didn’t want me to stay in the first place.

And the hits just keep on coming. I’m stuck sitting on the curb outside my dad’s house waiting to see if Hadley will change her mind about giving me a place to stay. She’s thus far refused to let me in.

He’s my dad. I loved him even if I had to stay away. And it’s not like he couldn’t have come to visit me. I’d have welcomed him into my home at any time. We talked semi-regularly on the phone, but it just so happens that he went out and found himself a replacement for both me and mom in one fell swoop. Old enough to sleep with and young enough to be his daughter, Hadley didn’t want to visit, so they didn’t visit. Booty over DNA. She never liked to not be the center of my father’s attention. Of course, this tidbit gets ignored by everyone but me. One of the perks of being homegrown.

I hang my head in my hands, defeated. She’s not going to open the door.

“Elise?”

I look up and smile, returning the crooked smile of the gorgeous man with the peanut butter bun walking my way.He has tattoos!Holy wow, somehow they’d escaped my attention in the darkened bar earlier. Because let’s face it, there’s something super sexy about a man with tattoos.

“Hey. Mark, right?”

His crooked smile grows even bigger.

“How’s it going?” I ask, wishing we had met under different circumstances.

“Ah, you know… If I was doin’ any better, I’d have to be twins. How ’bout you?”

“If you’re twins, then I’m a miscarriage.”

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