Page 6 of The Tomorrows After You
“Well?” she snapped. “Can I help you?”
Okay,she wasn’t a drug dealer. A bit of an asshole, maybe.
With narrowed eyes, I tilted my head to a sign on the front of the building indicating the hours.
“Library’s closed,” I muttered.
A pit in my stomach formed, waiting for her to recognize me. For the inevitable wide-eyed, fear-stricken silence. But I only received an impatient, irritated huff.
“Okay. Then, what areyoudoing here?”She smirked like she’d caught me. She had stones. Spoiled littleprincessstones, but stones, nonetheless.
I waited for a beat. Then blinked and held up the edger in my hands.
“Work.”
A faint rouge colored her high cheekbones before the indignation returned to her expression.
“Oh,”she said, pushing her chin into the air.“Well, me too.”She gestured toward a laptop that sat askew on her lap. It left red indentations on her toned thighs, and I couldn’t help but notice she waswearing pajamas.Tiny pajamas. Something stirred in my gut but I shoved it down.“Turns out, no one’s heard of wireless internet here except for the library. I was working and must have fallen asleep.”
I raised my eyebrows and blinked once. Twice.
“Okay, I’m leaving. Jeez, you’d think the library would bethankfulthat someoneactuallyfinds their resourcesuseful,” she said.
Without another word, she gassed up the engine. It turned over hard. She cast one glance behind her and sped in reverse. I took a step back to avoid getting my toes run over. Her long blonde hair caught the wind as she took off.
Brat.
3
Nicolette
What a dick that John Lennon-wannabe was with his scraggly facial hair and dirty grass clippings stuck in his beard.
I was tired. And dirty. And did I mention tired?
I slid, unceremoniously, into the bathroom of the Piggly Wiggly. The minty toothpaste refreshed my attitude, albeit slightly. I applied a little makeup to cover the dark circles under my eyes, still reeling and bitter from the night before.
I was about to storm down the stairs and mother-fuck my pervert uncle up and down the Big Coal River, but I stopped myself. I was pissed, sure. But what was I supposed to do? Watching an adult video on the internet wasn’t illegal. We weren’t related, not really, and I was twenty-five in the recording. Confronting him would only bring morenoiseI couldn’t afford to make.
Watching his quasi-niece’s sex tape didn’t make him a predator. Just a real fucking creep and I wasn’t going to let him occupy any more of my time than he already had. So instead of facing my slimy demons, I twisted my ankle in the jump from the upstairs window before driving away from them.
A disgusted shiver went down my back. I growled to myself in the mirror before brushing my teeth again.
I emerged into the store, tossing some items into a basket before heading to the checkout. The cashier’s eyes followed me, doing that obnoxious thing where she tried to figure out who I was by staringharder.I pulled my sunglasses down and smiled at her.
“Find everything okay, dear?”Her chubby cheeks were red, her eyes bloodshot. Her hair was thinning and teased in an attempt to appear thicker.
I felt as haggard as she looked.
“A phone charger?”I held my phone up, showing her the port. I left mine plugged in atUncleJacob’s house, and I was certainly not going back for it.
The cashier turned around and spent an inordinate amount of time rifling through the little hanging boxes.
“I think it’s that one,”I piped in, pointing to the one she’d touched three times already.
“Oh, yes. Thank you, dear. My eyes aren’t what they used to be.”She gave me a sheepish grin, ringing me up before I threw my credit card on the counter.
“Nicolette Parker… is that you?”a voice shrieked behind me. I cringed and turned, but blew out a relieved breath.
