Текст книги "The Ever After of Ella and Micha"
Автор книги: Jessica Sorensen
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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 14 страниц)
“No problem,” he replies. “I should have talked about her more, I guess.”
I don’t say anything. I agree with him, but I don’t want to say it because it’ll only hurt him, ruin this whole weird, good father/daughter vibe we have going. I open the back door and the wind blows inside, dusting snow across the floor.
“And, Ella,” he calls out as I’m about to step out into the snow and the glacier-cold breeze.
I pause and glance over my shoulder. “Yeah.”
“If you need any help… I mean, with the wedding and stuff if you decide to do it… I’m here if you need me,” he says, shifting his weight.
“Thanks,” I tell him, confused because he wants to help and it’s not something I’m used to. “I’ll let you know, but I think Micha’s mom’s on top of a lot of stuff. She’s super excited.”
He looks a little bit disappointed and I open my mouth to say more, but I can’t think of anything else to say so I wave, walk outside, and shut the door behind me. I feel somewhat bad because he seemed upset about my declining his help, but at the end of the day Micha’s mom was more of a parent to me than either of mine. Micha and she were my family since I was four, not my dad, my mom, or Dean. It was just his mom and Micha, but mainly Micha. He was my past and he is my future.
I pause as I’m about to hop over the fence, the snow knee deep and soaking through my jeans as I have a revelation that slams me square in the chest. From the day Micha begged me to climb over the fence for the very first time, we’ve been inseparable, except for the time I ran away to college. He took care of me. He loved me. He showed me what love was. And I think deep down, even though I couldn’t admit it a couple of years ago, I secretly hoped that he’d be in my life forever—that I’d end up with him. That I’d still be hopping over the fence to see him when I was twenty years old with his ring on my finger. That fifty years down the road I’d still be with him, sitting on a porch swing, drinking lemonade or whatever it is old couples do.
It makes my heart thump in excitement and terror because I think it’s time to let go of the dark things that haunt my past, let things go that I might not want to, so I can move forward into a future with a simple fence, juice box, and a toy car.
Chapter 14
Micha
“Are you sure you want me to do this?” I ask Ella, staring down at her mother’s journal on my lap.
She nods as she digs through her bag on the floor. “Yeah, I only want to know if you find anything happy.” She peers up at me, wearing only a red-and-black bra and matching panties. “If you don’t, then I don’t need to read it. But if you do, then I want to read it just so I can hear about the happy part of her I never got to see.”
I massage the back of my neck, nervous about reading something so private. “Okay, if that’s what you want.”
“It is.” She straightens her legs and stands up with a black dress in her hand. “But only if you feel comfortable doing it.”
I want to say that I’m not but there’s no way that I’m going to. Not after she came into the house yesterday after talking to her dad and announced that she was ready to move forward without finishing the journal because she wanted to let go of the past. I’m not even sure where the declaration came from, but there’s no way I’m going to do anything that will ruin it. “I’m down for a little reading, I guess.” I move the journal off my lap and onto the bed, then lean forward and grab the edge of the short, tight dress she’s about to put on. “Just as long as you tell me where the hell you’re going wearing this?”
“With Lila out to dinner,” she answers. “Why? What’s wrong with the dress?”
“Because it’s smaller than most of my shirts,” I tell her, jealousy ringing in my voice. “Your ass will be hanging out of it.”
She snatches the dress away from me. “It will not,” she insists, bending over and stepping into the dress. “Besides, Lila said specifically to wear this one.”
I rise to my feet as she shimmies the tight fabric over her body and slips her arms through the thin straps. It hugs her body perfectly but the bottom barely covers her thighs. “Why?” I question.
She tousles her fingers through her hair. “I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask her. All she’d tell me was that it was a surprise.”
“Oh, I’m going to,” I assure her and then leave the room to go find Lila.
She’s in the kitchen with Ethan, bags of red and black candles and matching flowers, ribbons, and other decorative shit scattered all over the countertops and table in front of them, along with wrapping paper and tape and a bag full of Christmas present bows. Lila, Ella, and my mom spent half the day shopping and Ella had come home looking worn out but with a bag full of wedding decorations and I guess a few presents for Christmas. She never was the shopping type and I’m guessing that Lila and my mom had more to do with the overabundance of wedding decorations and presents than Ella.
“I have a question for you,” I say to Lila as I scoot out a chair and join them at the table. She’s got Ethan tying ribbons, and even though he doesn’t look happy, he’s still doing it, which is kind of funny.
“Don’t say a word,” Ethan warns as he ties a piece of black ribbon into a bow. “Time and time again I’ve watched you do stupid shit for Ella and haven’t said a word.”
I rotate a candle in my hand. “No, you said a lot of words that annoyed the shit out of me.”
He shakes his head and then drops the bow, looking at Lila. “Can I be done with this?” He flexes his fingers like he has a cramp. “I can’t even feel the tips of my fingers anymore.”
Lila snips the end of a red piece of ribbon with a pair of scissors. “No way. We have about a hundred more to go.” She sets the ribbon and scissors down. She’s wearing this dark blue dress that has sparkly stuff all over it. It’s not as tight as Ella’s but it is equally as short, if not shorter. “So what’s your question, Micha? And if it’s about your Christmas present from Ella, I’m not going to tell you what it is.”
“It’s not that,” I say, shaking my head. “And what are you talking about? Ella and I don’t get each other presents.” Except for last year when I gave her the engagement ring, but that was different.
“Maybe not in the past,” she says with a smile. “But she did this year.”
Shit. Does that mean I have to get her something? And if so, then what? I shake my head. I’m getting sidetracked. I shove the candle aside and fold my arms on top of the table. “That’s not what I was going to ask you. I want to know where the hell are you taking Ella tonight.”
Lila shrugs as she reaches for another roll of ribbon. “Out to dinner.”
“Where?” I ask.
“Why does it matter?” she replies, unraveling a bit of ribbon around her hand.
“Because she’s dressed like a whore,” I say bluntly, attempting to throw her off.
But it doesn’t faze her. “She isn’t going to look like a whore. She’s just dressing up to go out.”
“Not to dinner, though. You don’t need to be dressed like that to go to dinner,” I say and point at her dress.
“What’s wrong with how I’m dressed?” She bats her eyelashes innocently. “I’m just wearing a dress.”
“I’m going to agree with Micha on this one,” Ethan chimes in, cracking his knuckles. “I don’t like the dress at all.”
Amusement dances in Lila’s eyes. “You liked it the other night.”
“Yeah, when I was the only one seeing you in it,” he says, extending his hand toward the heap of ribbon Lila unraveled.
Lila grins as she pushes her chair away from the table. “Oh, you two and your jealousy.” She pats Ethan on the top of the head. “It’s so adorable.” She strolls behind him and kisses the top of his head. “I’m going to go see if Ella’s ready,” she singsongs and Ethan checks her ass out as she walks away and leaves the room, calling over her shoulder, “And Micha, feel free to make yourself useful and start tying bows.”
I gape at Ethan. “Is she being serious?”
He cuts a piece of red ribbon. “Yeah.” He drops the scissors onto the table. “But it’s your fault.”
“Why the hell is it my fault?”
“Because you’re the one who wouldn’t just drive to Vegas and elope.”
I reach over the table and pick up a roll of ribbon. “That sounds more like your kind of marriage than mine.”
He nods in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right, still though. We wouldn’t have to be sitting here, tying ribbon like a couple of whipped pussies.”
I fiddle with the ribbon, stifling a laugh. “So what am I supposed to be doing?”
Sighing, he shows me how to tie the ribbon and then we sit at the table tying bows for the next twenty minutes until Ella and Lila walk into the kitchen. Ella stops just short of the table and crosses her arms. Her hair is loose at her shoulders in waves, her eyes are lined with black, and her lips have a tint of pink to them. She has heels on that have straps that wind up her ankles, and between the shoes and the short dress her legs look nearly endless.
“Well, look at you two,” she says with hilarity in her voice. “All crafty and tying bows.”
I rotate in the chair and scan her amazingly perfect body, picturing how later her long legs will be wrapped around me. “You better watch it, Ella May, or you won’t have any ribbons at your wedding.”
“Good,” she says, tugging the bottom of her dress down.
Lila pokes her in the back. “Hey, I thought you liked the ribbons.”
Ella pulls an apologetic face. “No, I said out of all the silly, frilly decoration stuff you guys were throwing at me, the red and black ribbons were the least annoying.”
Lila frowns disappointedly. “So you don’t like it?”
Ella sighs. “No, I do. Sorry, I’m not being very nice right now. You’re helping me and I should be more grateful.”
Now Lila sighs. “Don’t lie to me. If you don’t like the ribbons then you don’t. We can do something else.”
Ethan shoots me a funny look and then reclines back in the chair with his arm draped over the top of it. “You know, if I didn’t know any better I’d think it was you two who were getting married.”
Lila’s heels click against the floor as she walks over and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “All right, it’s time for you to get back to your bow tying,” she says as she walks toward the back door and Ella follows her.
As Ella’s passing by me, I snag her elbow and pull her back, drawing her down so her head lowers and then I put my lips beside her ear. “Don’t get into any trouble please.”
She tilts her head to look at me. “When have I ever gotten into any trouble?”
“If you want me to ramble off the list,” I reply, “then I will, but it’ll probably take the rest of the night.”
She attempts to restrain a smile as she scowls at me, but then it slips through and she kisses me deeply. “I’ll do my best not to get into any fights,” she says, backing away, a little breathless from the kiss. “Or any other trouble.”
“And try not to wreck my car,” I call out as Lila opens the door.
“You’re letting them take your car?” Ethan asks, looking at me like I’m insane.
I shrug. “What else are they going to drive?”
“They’d be better off walking,” he mutters, and then yells out to Lila and Ella, “Don’t drive drunk or shove any dollar bills down dudes’ pants.”
“We’re not going to a strip club,” Lila retorts, but then giggles as she retrieves her jacket from the coat rack.
Ella puts on her leather jacket, covering up a little bit and making me feel slightly better about the dress. She opens her mouth to say something but Lila snatches her arm and yanks her outside, slamming the door. Thomas and my mom went out for dinner and the house is really quiet as Ethan and I sit in silence, taking in what just happened.
“Do you kind of feel like their bitches?” he asks, turning around in the chair with ribbon in his hand.
I stare at the pile of ribbon and candles on the table. “Yeah, kind of.”
We exchange a look and then simultaneously push away from the table and get to our feet.
“So the question is,” Ethan says as he grabs his jacket off the back of the chair, “do we want to go to a bar or go somewhere noisy, like a party?”
“We could always follow them,” I joke as I walk over to the coat rack beside the back door. “Play creep stalkers for the night.” I grab my jacket and slip it on, pretending like I’m joking but deep down I’m serious. I don’t like the idea of Ella going out dressed like that, in this town. Not only is she too beautiful and sexy for her own good, but she’s also got history in this town, with people who either overly like her or with people who loathe her. And if the feisty Ella makes a grand appearance, especially the drunk one, a lot of shit could happen.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Ethan agrees, responding to my joke, looking serious. “But we don’t have a car.”
“Should we just start walking?” I ask as I open the door.
It’s late, the black sky is clear of clouds and the stars are shining. Lights twinkle from next door and reflect off the ice covering the yard.
Ethan zips up his jacket. “Sure.”
We step outside and hike down the driveway through the snow, then make a left toward town. The snow on the sidewalk crunches under our boots and our breath fogs out in front of us. It’s freezing, but it’s not the first time we’ve walked around late at night in below-zero temperatures.
“So I’m waiting for you to panic,” Ethan unexpectedly announces, kicking a chunk of ice out of the way.
I stuff my hands into my jacket pockets. “Panic over what?”
“Over getting married.”
“Why would I panic?”
He gapes at me. “Because you’re going to be with one person for the rest of your life, and that for the rest of your life decisions are going to be based on what’s best for not just you but for you and her. You can’t just do whatever you want anymore.”
“Have I ever really been with anyone else though?” I ask. “I mean relationship-wise.”
He shrugs. “No, I guess not, but still. It’s such a huge responsibility and there seems like there should be a little panic involved, even if it’s for a minute.”
“Not really,” I say. “At least if it’s the right person.”
He takes in my words with a perplexed look as he stares at the ground. Finally he shakes his head and then looks up. “And what happens if Ella tells you that she doesn’t want you going on that Slam Tour or whatever.”
“Then I won’t go,” I say. I told Ethan the other day, while we were cleaning up the house the morning after the party about my dilemma, because I needed to get it off my chest.
“You’d just give up your dream?” he asks.
I nod. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“And what happens, like, five years down the road when you look back and regret it?”
I kick the tip of my boot at the snow. “Why are you pushing this so hard? I mean, I know you’re not a fan of Ella, but it’s like you’re trying to talk me out of marrying her, which will never happen.”
He abruptly halts near the edge of the curb and I slip on the ice as I slam to a stop beside him. My hands go out to my sides and I quickly regain my balance.
“I’m not telling you not to marry her,” he says with a frown. “I’m just telling you that since you’re going to marry her, you need to talk to her about the tour and make the decision together whether or not you’re going to go. Otherwise you’re going to get married in a few days without talking about something major and that could lead to problems.”
“You’re so weird, sometimes,” I tell him, pulling my hood over my head. “You give relationship advice all the time, yet I’ve never seen you in a relationship except for with Lila, but somehow your advice makes sense.”
He shrugs, staring at the single-story brick home across the street that is covered in flashing red and green lights. “I watched my parents do the wrong things for years and years, so I know what doesn’t work,” he says as we cross the street. “Now, whether or not my advice is the right way to go, I really have no idea.”
I hop up onto the curb, stuffing my hands back into my jacket pockets. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell he’s glad I said I would, for whatever reason. “You know what?” he says, changing the subject. “I think we need to have a bachelor party tonight. It seems wrong that we’re not having a real one.”
“Yeah, I think you’re forgetting what the strip bars look like around here,” I say to him unenthusiastically. “Remember when we decided to go to one right after we graduated.” I shudder at the thought. “I think I’m still a little scarred over the things I saw.”
His face contorts in revulsion. “Yeah, how could I forget?” As we round the corner of the street, heading east, he adds, “But we could go get drunk, just for old times’ sake.” He sticks out his fist. “What do you say? You want to get trashed down at the pub one more time?”
I pound fists with him. We haven’t hung out in a while, ever since I moved, so I don’t get many chances to hang out with him. “Yeah, why the hell not. One last time, for old times’ sake.”
I can’t help but smile at the many times Ethan and I snuck into the pub with our fake IDs. We always had a lot of fun and it hits me that we’ve sort of moved on from that stuff. It’s kind of sad, but at the same time, I’m glad we’ve moved on from this town, moving forward in our lives, because not a lot of people around here do.
Chapter 15
Ella
“I can’t believe you brought me here,” I shout over the chest-bumping music, fanning my hand in front of my face because it’s hot and smells like sweat and old cheese mixed with beer. There are strings of Christmas lights coiling around the ceiling beams and they sparkle across our faces, giving our skin a pink glow.
Lila pivots in her stool, her eyes skimming the dance floor. “Well, I asked around and everyone said this was the place to go to have a little fun.”
I shake my head as I pick up my drink. “Oh, Lila Dila, fun in Star Grove is not the same as California fun or even Vegas fun.” I rotate in the stool, motioning my hand at the crowd of rough-looking people, most dressed in old jeans, plaid shirts, T-shirts, boots. We aren’t the only ones dressed up, but girls wearing fancy dresses are few and far between. And there’s no flashy lights or décor, just low lighting due to a few lightbulbs being out, round tables and mismatched chairs, and peanut shells and wrappers on the floor. The music is coming from a stereo, not a DJ, but the good thing is the drinks are cheap.
“Well, I wanted to give you one last hoorah before you tie the knot in a few days,” she says, sipping on the straw that’s in her margarita as the bartender, a middle-aged guy with thinning hair and a mustache, eyes us down. He’s been doing it since we walked in, checking us out, but so far it’s been easy to ignore him. “I was trying to be a good maid of honor.”
“Didn’t we all ready do that back in San Diego the night before the wedding?” I ask. “When you took me out for drinks at that club?”
She raises her eyebrows at me. “The wedding that never happened?”
“True,” I say. “But we still had our hoorah.”
She slurps the rest of her drink before reclining back in the stool and setting it on the counter. “You can never have too many last hoorahs.” She frowns as she sits up straight. “We’ve barely seen each other in the last six months and now we’re hardly going to see each other anymore after you get married.”
I’m not the heart-to-heart kind of girl but she’s making me feel bad. “Lila, we’ll still be friends no matter what. And you’re dating Micha’s best friend. We’ll see each other more than you think.”
She rearranges a few strands of her hair back into place. “No, we won’t. You’ll see. You’ll move on, probably have babies, and I’ll still be living in Vegas, trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.”
“That’s not what I hear,” I tell her. “I heard that you and Ethan have a big road trip planned.”
She seals her lips as she watches the dance floor. “Yeah, I guess that’s the plan.”
“Then why do you sound so unconvinced?”
“I don’t know. Shit happens, you know. Things sometimes change.”
I take another swallow of my drink. “Is there something going on between you and Ethan? Are you fighting or something?”
She shakes her head. “No, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t worry about all the things that can go wrong.”
“Like what?”
“Like life.” She turns toward me, crossing her legs. “Not all of us have the perfect relationship, although I can’t say that what Ethan and I have is bad. It’s great, but it’s not like I have a ring on my finger.”
“Yet,” I say, and she rolls her eyes at me. I throw my head back and guzzle the rest of my drink, feeling the burn of the vodka as it slides down my throat. “Besides, I don’t have the perfect relationship.” I put the glass on the bar. “Need I remind you I stood Micha up just a few days ago.”
“Yeah, but you had a reason, right? Because you were worried about your future.” The way she says it with suspicion makes me wonder if she doesn’t believe my reasoning.
“Yeah,” I say. “And because of other stuff… things I don’t like to talk about.”
“What kind of stuff? Is there something else you’re not telling me?”
I twirl a strand of my hair around my finger, feeling uncomfortable. I can tell Micha personal things about me but he’s my best friend, fiancé, my everything, which sounds so cheesy but it’s true. I wonder if I should put it in the vows.
The burn of the alcohol rushes through my veins and I begin to think maybe it’s time to talk to Lila about stuff. She’s usually good about giving advice and maybe she can direct me on what to do. But I don’t want to talk about my mom and the box—I talked enough about that with my dad. But there is something else.
“I’m having trouble writing my vows,” I admit.
She props her elbow on the countertop as her eyebrows knit. “You guys are writing vows?
I nod. “It was Micha’s idea.”
Lila drums her fingernails on her knee. “Yeah, I assumed as much.” She pauses. “Why do you think you’re having such a hard time?”
“Because I’m not a writer,” I say. “And because… well, because I hate expressing my emotions to an empty room let alone to people.”
“Yeah, but we already kind of know how you feel about Micha, since you can’t keep your hands off him.” She inspects her reflection in the mirror on the back wall of the bar. “But I get the emotion part and not wanting to say it to anyone. Sometimes I hide what I feel, too.”
“Really?” I ask, raising my voice as the music gets louder. “It never seems like you do.”
She glares at some creepy guy with a ponytail who keeps grinning at her from across the bar. “Maybe it’s not that I hide what I’m feeling so much as I pretend to feel something else, but I’ve been trying to stop because it’s unhealthy.”
I know from experience that she’s right. “So how do you suggest I get over the not being a writer part?”
“You just put the pen to the paper and write, I guess.” She shrugs. “I’m sure something good will come out.”
I continue to try and figure out a better solution until the song switches to an upbeat tempo and Lila claps her hands together, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “I love this song,” she says. “Let’s take another shot and dance.”
“I’m only taking a shot if it’s Jäger,” I tell her.
She makes a gagging face. “Ewe, you’re so gross. I’ll just stick with tequila.”
She orders our drinks, and then we slam them back and head for the dance floor. We dance in the low lighting, making the occasional trip back to the bar for more shots until we’re hot, sweaty, exhausted, and ready to go home. I feel good, not just because I’m buzzed, but because I had fun, even though I’m scared of getting married, worried about writing vows.
As we push through the crowd, heading for the exit, we collect our jackets from the chair. We slip them on as we push out the door and the ice-cold air stings at my bare legs.
“Let’s run,” I tell Lila and she laughs as we take off, staggering and slipping in the ice as we run toward the Chevelle parked beneath the lamppost.
“Wait.” Lila suddenly slams to a stop when we’re almost to the car. She looks back at the club with a torn expression on her face. “Maybe we should go back inside where it’s warm and call the guys to come get us. We said we wouldn’t drive drunk.”
Through the sea of alcohol sloshing around in my head, I realize that we indeed shouldn’t be driving since everything looks a little distorted and standing seems complex. “Yeah, good idea.” I start to turn around to head back when a blue Camaro drives into the parking lot and parks between us and the door to the club, blocking our path.
“You have got to be shitting me,” I mutter as the window rolls down.
Mikey sticks his head out as a cloud of smoke rushes from the open window. The last time I saw him I was throwing a milkshake into his window and then he tried to chase us down. Knowing Mikey, I’m guessing he’s probably still holding a grudge.
“Ella, what’s wrong?” Lila asks tracking my line of sight as a smile creeps up on Mikey’s face. “Who is that?”
“Well, well, if it isn’t the town rebel.” He continues smiling as he opens his door and hops out. He’s about average height for a guy, which makes me in heels as tall as him, but my weight is no match for his. His black hair blends with the night, his nose is crooked, probably because someone clocked him, and he has a barbed-wire tattoo curving around his neck.
His boots stomp against the icy parking lot as he strides over to us with a smirk on his face. “So is that Gregory idiot with you, because I’ve been dying to kick his ass too for that shake stunt you two pulled.”
“What?” Lila asks way too loud and I shoot her a look over my shoulder, warning her to keep her mouth shut. Then I glance over at Mikey’s car, noting that there’s someone else in the passenger seat, a guy I think.
As Mikey slows to a stop in front of us, he measures Lila up with a sly look on his face. “Are you his girl or something?”
“Whose girl?” Lila plays dumb, shielding herself by stepping behind me. She’s scared, her erratic breathing showing through the fog.
Mikey looks her over for a little bit longer and then focuses on me. I don’t like how he’s looking at me, not like I’m Ella the girl who could hang tight with the guys, even if he didn’t like me. He’s looking at me like I’m a girl, because I’m dressed like one and I suddenly regret wearing the damn dress and fucking heels. “Ella, I know you’re not stupid,” he says, inching closer. “I know you know that around here people just don’t get away with throwing shakes in cars. They have to pay—things have to be even.”
I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest. “Just like I know that no one around here respects you.”
The muscles in his neck tighten as he steps into the light from the lamppost. I’m growing a little nervous. Even though Mikey has always tried to seem tough, it was all an act and most of us knew that he was a lot of talk. But this Mikey looks different than the one I used to know. More ragged, rough, intense, and less cowardly. His eyes are sunken in and red and I wonder if he’s gotten into drugs, but it doesn’t really surprise me if he has. It happens sometimes in this town.
“Watch your fucking mouth,” Mikey cautions.
Lila captures my arm, her fingers trembling as she whispers, “Maybe I should call or text Micha and Ethan.”
I shake my head and hiss, “No way. Then they’ll just end up in a fight.”
Lila glances at Mikey. “I think we might end up in a fight if we don’t get them here,” she whispers nervously.
“No, we’re fine,” I reassure her, even though I’m not so sure myself. “Just go to the car and wait for me.” I turn around and target my eyes on Mikey, attempting to look tougher than I feel as Lila backs toward the Chevelle.
He cracks his knuckles and neck, like it proves he’s tough. “You think you can frighten me with a look?” He spans his arms out to the side at the empty parking lot. “You got no one around to protect your ass.”
That feisty, fighting girl that I keep shoved down inside pushes her way out and I step forward so we’re close. “And that’s okay.” I span my hands out to the side and glance around, mockingly imitating his move, ignoring the fact that I know things are going to get ugly. There’s nothing I can do about it. I could run, but then he’d just chase me. “Since I don’t see any threat around.”
A vein bulges in his neck and he starts to pace to the side while the other guy in the car climbs out. He’s tall and bulky with cropped hair and arms the size of my legs. I try to calculate how fast I can run to the car in heels, and if I make it to the car, can I drive fast enough to get away because I know he’s going to chase me down whether on foot or in a vehicle.
“Ah, now you’re not so cocky,” Mikey says with a smirk when I don’t respond. I hate to back down because it would mean living through hell for almost forever, since no one in Star Grove can seem to forget, but at the same time this isn’t my home. I might be here for holidays if that, so in the end, does it even matter?
Sucking in all of my stubbornness, I put my hands up and step back, putting distance between us. “Fine, you win,” I say through gritted teeth.
“No fucking way.” He counters my step back, narrowing the distances between us. “You insulted me and ruined the leather in my car. You don’t just walk away. The question is, how are you going to pay? I mean, I could just make you pay to get it reupholstered.” His eyes scroll up my body suggestively. “Although, there might be something else you can give me.”
I can’t help it. I burst out laughing, which probably isn’t the best thing to do but I’m drunk and not thinking rationally. Big guy starts rushing for me as I back away with my hand over my stomach, my laughter echoing around us. But he slips and eats it, falling flat on his back and I laugh harder and Mikey’s face heats with anger. He snatches my arm and jerks me forward, his fingers pressing against my skin and I wince as I stumble.
“Fuck off,” I say, yanking my arm back.
His fingers dig tighter as he wrenches me forward, opening his mouth to say something, but I bring my knee up and slam it in his manly parts. I’m not sure how much force is behind the blow since I’m intoxicated and having a hard time keeping my balance, but it seems to do the job and he frees me from his hold, clutching his junk as his face contorts in pain. I’m about to turn and run when he lifts his arm and strikes me across the cheek.
