Page 92 of Guilty Minds
I face Marina with hands on my hips. “That sounds suspiciously like you’re approving of him.”
“Does it?” She blinks innocently and keeps churning butter in a huge mixing bowl. “And what are you even doing here? We hired a new waitress just so you can rest from time to time, you know.”
“Oh, I know. How about yourestingand finally hiring that other cook we’ve been talking about forever, huh?” I cross my arms over my chest, mimicking her tone.
“Busted.” She smiles. “Now go, claw her eyes out.” She points towards the entrance where Justin’s still leaning on his truck. Ashley is saying something to him, vigorously waving her arms.
Am I jealous? Yes, I am, but I’ve been in this constant state for so long that it doesn’t bother me all that much anymore.
I take a deep breath and go outside.
JUSTIN
I barely made it out of the diner without causing a scene. Barely. My heart is beating like I just ran here from Kayla's home, and I clench my fists to stop them from shaking.
Fuck, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I’m jealous, and the feeling fuckin’ sucks. The only time I’ve been jealous was when I was twelve and in middle school. I had a crush on our teacher, Ms. Reacher, and on St Valentine's Day, some dude brought her flowers during class, and that's when I learned what jealousy was. But never again. Never. Not even when I knew that half the city slept with Ashley. Fuck, I slept with the other half. But I haven't felt a tinge of jealousy.
But seeing Kayla sitting with this fuckface and clearly flirting, letting her touch him out in public like that… I was a goner. Marina is the only reason his head is still attached to his body. Somehow, she managed to calm me.
When I saw them laughing and sitting so close together, I had to get out of there. Now, I’m waiting for her outside and see the fast-approaching trouble. Ashley. Just fucking great. How do I manage not to strangle her right here now? How do I manage to not do that in the future? I can’t fucking stand her. I haven’t been able to for a long time now, and after finding out the truth, the only thing I want to do is destroy her. But not like Kayla, no. Even when I thought I hated her, I don’t think I ever really did. Or I did, but I also wanted her. Ashley is another story altogether. She’s evil, and now I know exactly how deep her evil lays.
If Ashley was a man, I’d put her in the ground, no questions asked. Not only for calling the cops on me, but for everything she’s done, and there’s been a lot. Fuck, when I was younger and an asshole, I was right there with her, laughing at somebody's misery. Looking back, I'm ashamed of myself. I can never imagine Kayla doing that; she'd be the one to push me off and take a bat to the bully's head. And I fucking love that. A Valkyrie fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves.
And now that guy… Mark… Fuck, where do I even start with him? I blamed the dude for raping a woman when he never did, and that’s a pretty fucked up thing to accuse anybody of. Our mutual hatred runs so deep that we'd never forgive each other. Though, at this point, I have to admit he has more forgiving to do.
I wipe my face with my hand. How did my life becomethis?
"So, are you done with your little tantrum?" Ashley asks once she stands in front of me.
"Get the fuck out of my face," I growl, not moving my eyes from Kayla. The fuckface gives her a kiss and leaves. Once outside, winks at me and walks away down the street.
"You should be done by now, Justin. Really. It's been going on for long enough." She has the audacity to put her hand on my forearm, and I explode. I grab her wrist and tug on it. I don’t know what I'm doing, and I know I’ll regret it later, but she destroyed lives, and I’m done being a gentleman.
“If you touch me, talk about meormy family, or even show up on the same street as me, I will fucking destroy your life. And you should know I can.” I lean closer and hiss into her face. “Come close to anyone in my family or Kayla, and you are done. Are we clear?”
“You don’t mean that.” She tries to pry my hand from hers, but I keep an iron grip.
My voice dips to a growl. “I mean every single word, Ashley. Never again.”
Her face pales, and she pulls her hand harder. This time I let her go.
“Your whole family are fucking psychos—you’re just too blind to admit it.”
My nostrils flare at her statement as I try to control my anger. I know she's talking about Alicia. She's been hinting here and there that something is wrong with her. She knows what happened, and yet, she still runs her mouth. I can’t believe I’ve wasted so many years on her. It’s not like I was planning to marry her, God no. I’m not planning on marrying anybody. I just wanted to keep her around for just long enough, even though I knew how vile she is.
I watch her leave, and my fists clench and unclench on their own accord. I feel that I need to fight. That’s how I control my anger. I fight or fuck. I used to race, too, but it got me in too much trouble when I was younger, so that option is out of the question. Fucking is not the best option either right now. I can only hope for a good brawl at the bar.
“Are you okay?” a small, concerned voice asks. Kayla stands beside me, carefully watching my face.
“I’m fine.” I bark. It’s not how I want to sound with her, but I do at the same time. What sort of ‘things’ did she need to discuss with that dude, and why did they look so cozy? I begin boiling over even more and know I need to get out of here before I say or do something I regret.
“Okay.” She says, deflating under my stare.
“Can you walk to the auto shop? Paul has the keys to your car.” I ask like I haven’t offered my help.
“Yeah. Thank you. I’ll pay you for whatever repairs you did.”
I shake my head silently, get inside my truck and drive off, leaving her on the sidewalk looking confused and hurt.
