Page 87 of 2204 Hunter Lane
My first night of freedom, out at my favourite place and she showed up. Probably wanted to call the cops on my ass again, try and get me barred.Damn woman.
“She stormed outta here cryin’, that’s why I’m askin’.”
“Let them tears fall, Josh.” I grabbed his drink and drained it too. “Let ‘em fall.”
He scoffed, adjusting his position in the booth and pulled out his wallet, slapping two twenties on the table.
“Where the fuck are you goin’?” I ripped, strangling the glass in my hands.
He shook his head. “I get why she did what she did, and call me a piece of shit, call me nuts, call me whatever the fuck you want, Hunt. But that girl don’t deserve to be cryin’ over you.”
My chest heaved with frustration as I watched Josh, my best friend, leave me to drink by myself on my first night out in two months.
I’d never felt so much anger towards one person, one girl before. Rebecca manipulated me, played with me, screwed with my emotions but this girl…Marley, she was a whole different ballgame.
She’d managed to turn my best friend, my stepmom and my own flesh and blood against me. My dad wouldn’t even glance my way unless he was telling me what to do, where to put things, and how to fix shit up.
Somehow, I’d let her fall through my fingers and weed her way into my brain. She was lodged there, like a malignant tumor ready to kill me off. And she was winning. Winning by each second that I let out a breath.
No, she can’t take this night away from me.
I drained the last remaining shot on the table and launched out of my booth, stalking towards the dance floor with my mission on lock.
Two beautiful women stood by the speaker next to a Billy Talent poster, ogling me from head to toe. I approached them both, twirling my fingers into theirs and dragged them to the dance floor.
Beauty number one grinded against my dick, shoving her perfect little ass in just the right spot. Beauty number two was tangled in her friend, leaning over her to plant sticky lips against my neck.
The blazing sound of club music scarfed the air, wrapping me in the euphoric pleasure of drunk fucking freedom. Just for one second, I let go and shoved the weight off my shoulders. For one second, I embraced the pain and burned it to ash, gripping beauty number one to my chest and kissing her with longing.
Finally.
For one goddamn second…
I was alive.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Marley
Tears waterfalled down my cheeks as I hugged Payton tightly.
I hadn’t stopped crying for three days when I made the decision to move back home.
After sitting with myself, taking in all the events over the past few months, I realized that I needed to be with my brother.
Adam’s wife Michelle just gave birth to their daughter, myniece,and I wanted to be as involved as I could in her life.
The majority of the work I did for P&D’s was online, so after a heart wrenching conversation with Payton, we figured it would be absolutely possible to continue working in a different state.
Yes, I wouldn’t be able to do run-in meetings, but the company had grown immensely since October last year and there were several employees who could fill that position.
Payton begged me to stay, and the biggest part of me wanted to for her. But I’d fixed things with my brother, Winter and Cramer were determined to make regular visits to NYC, and Dex was never my number one fan. Though when I did tell him I was leaving, his usual stone face softened just a tad, and that alone made the upset worse.
“Does…” I swallowed, choking on a sob. “Does Hunter know?”
Payton wiped her crusted, red nose and blew into a tissue. “I don’t give a damn ‘bout Hunter right now, Marley. I told you once before, I don’t want no boy drivin’ you outta this town and he did.”
“Payton…”
