Page 14 of Baby, It's You
“I do have something for you. Not about ‘it’,” he says, while motioning a circle around his own face. “But in regard to that situation.”
“Huh?” I ask him.
Rob reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small sheet of paper. He hands it to me and I give him a confused look as he nods for me to read it.
Hi,
It’s me. The piece of shit who accidentally knocked you out. I swear I don’t usually do things like that. My name is Hunter and I’m going to include my number on here so you can contact me if you have any medical bills. Please do not hesitate to make me pay. Again, I’m so, so sorry. You can also contact me if you wish to throw a bar stool at my face and I will humbly accept the punishment.
I’m an idiot,
Hunter
P.S. I’m also sorry I ruined karaoke night for everyone.
I flip the paper over and see his phone number in large letters on the back. I snort but feel myself wanting to smile at the note. He really was so cute, and the note is kind of endearing. The edges of my lips start to tip into a grin as I ponder the note again.
I feel eyes on me, and I look up to see Rob smiling at me with one brow raised.
“Good note?”
I immediately drop my smile and shove the paper into my pocket. “Back to work, please,” I say. “Tripp is going to be here any minute.”
And just like I summoned the devil, he walks through the back door, accompanied by an old man in a suit.
Chapter 12
Hunter
I’m finishing my final set lifting weights when I hear a sudden commotion upstairs. I place the weights back on the rack and wipe the sweat off my brow when I hear yelling again and decide I need to figure out what's going on. When I get to the top of the basement steps, I see Dennis pacing back and forth in my living room. He is arguing into his phone, almost spitting the words out.
“You can’t kick me out! I’m on the lease.”
There’s a garbled response that I can’t hear on the other end of the line. “Okay. Well, then I’m going todemandto be on the lease now so you can’t kick me out.”
More ineligible talk in response.
“I mean it, Ivy. I don’t want to leave. I love you. Please, baby. Let me come back home, it will never happen again. I promise this time.”
I roll my eyes knowing that he must be referring to some type of cheating. Dennis has always been a serial cheater. I have never seen him stick with a girlfriend without finding someone else on the side. Even in high school, he would find a way to juggle girls. Not well, I might add. He always was caught within weeks but would just start the cycle again.
“Please don’t hang—” Dennis looks down at his phone and then yells out in frustration. “UUUGGHHHHH!” He then chucks his phone at my couch, where it bounces off the leather and smacks onto the wood floor, accompanied by a cracking noise.
I start to quietly walk past him so I can head up to my room for a shower. I don't want to deal with his crap. I almost make it to the bottom step before he stops me.
“Wait. Hunter, I need a favor, cousin.”
I tap my hand on the banister of my stairs and sigh at the fact that he is weaponizing our relationship. Then I slowly turn back towards him.
“What’s up?” I ask, already exasperated from what's to come.
“Can you swing by my apartment later and grab a couple boxes of my stuff? My girlfriend said she’s going to throw everything away in the apartment dumpster if someone doesn’t come grab it today.”
“If she’s throwing all of your belongings away, I don’t think she’s your girlfriend anymore,” I respond.
“Semantics,” he chides. Then he continues, “I just need someone to do it for me. She won’t let me near the apartment, and I don’t want her throwing out my laptop or Nikes.”
“I think your priorities are off, man,” I tell him.
