Page 16 of Savage Hate
I nod and chew on my scone. “I guess. I think I’m still in shock.”
“Well, do you need a job? I can probably ask Gabriel if he knows of any admin openings—”
“No, it’s fine,” I interrupt, my stomach doing nervous flip-flops. “I work at Savage Ink part-time.”
Mindy’s jaw quite literally drops. “Really?” Her eyes scan mine in surprise. “That’s…” She clutches her chest and chuckles. “I am shook.”
I smirk. “Me too.”
“Did they—do they rememberwhoyou are?!”
Laughing, I shrug. “I mean, Silas told me to go fuck myself when he saw me, so yeah. But I think they were in a pickle and had no other option. Plus, they’re totally using the job as a way to get back at me for graduation night.”
“Oh my God, I wasn’t even referring to graduation night. I forgot about that.”
“Youwerequite drunk,” I muse, remembering Mindy drooling all over my shoulder on the ride home.
Her smile softens, and she looks down at her baby. “God, how times have changed.”
I reach out for her hand. “Thank God they have. I was a bitch in high school.”
“I liked you,” she whines. “Maybe that makes me a bitch, too.”
We both laugh for what feels like an hour, and by the time Lawrence—Mindy’s son—wakes up, I’m paying for the check. I say goodbye to them, and we decide to make this a weekly thing. Her two other kids are in school during the day, and damn, it felt really good to see her. I’m still smiling by the time I walk back to my apartment, and even though the death metal begins to play from downstairs half a second after I shut my door, I can’t find it in myself to care.
Maybe Mindy was right. Maybe this is going to be my fresh start, and that I need to start thinking about this change as my life beginning—not ending.
ten
Silas
“Fifty bucks says she won’t even show up tonight,” Damon muses as he plays with his switchblade. “She’ll go crying to daddy, he’ll pay for a nicer place, andvoila. We never have to see Lennon Rose again.”
“Didn’t her dad die recently?” Jude asks, sipping his beer.
I shrug. “Who gives a fuck? The point is, if she comes back tonight, maybe we should—”
“Maybe we should what?” We all twist around at the light, tinkling voice coming from the doorway. “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t show up after a few gross chores?” Lennon snorts, setting her purse down behind the desk as she rolls her eyes.
Adrenaline begins to course through me as I stand. It’s always fight or flight with her. I’m on the defensive, even though she’s now half my size.
“You’re early,” I chastise, crossing my arms.
She plops down in the desk chair and leans back. She’s chewing on something—candy, from the smell of it—and she just smiles up at me.
I ignore the way that smile sends a jolt to my traitorous dick.
“Yes, well, I wanted to be sure I got the housekeeping done before the customers start to walk in. I was a bit distracted last night between scrubbing shit off the toilet and cleaning scummy trash cans between clients. I know they probably don’t appreciate it, either. You know, since Savage Ink prides itself on its customer service, after all.”
Speechless.
She’s rendered me speechless.
This time, it’s Jude who saunters up to her. She stiffens as he walks closer, and I watch the two of them as he stops right in front of her, his hands in his pockets.
“Does it make you sad that your fiancé cheated on you, Lennon?”
Even I flinch at that.
