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“Sure, son.” I still smile at that nickname. Doc lifts himself out of the seat and pats me on the arm as he passes me.
“Come on then, what have you done wrong?”
“Thanks so much for the faith.” I feel the scowl pull at my features.
“I’m just kidding,” he mocks. “Well, maybe a little…” his finger’s pinch, exaggerating his point, but I shake it off.
“I got something to ask you. It’s serious.” I say squeezing the bottle in my fingers.
His brow creases with his frown. “Well, go on then.”
“I wanna marry her,” he leans back and stares at me. And just because I’m his sergeant at arms, I don’t get any leniency. This is his daughter at the end of the day.
“Do you think you can make her happy?”
“Yes.”
His tongue rolls over his lips and he brings his fingers to his beard to rub his chin. “You sure you can be faithful?”
“Always.” I answer with no hesitation.
“I mean it, Levi. I don’t care what happens between the two of you, what arguments you have, I’ll stay right out of it, but I won’t sit by and let you cheat on her.” He stares a little harder. “She’s my baby. I love you; you know I do, but she is my princess.”
I nod. “I know, but I would never cheat on her. She’s everything to me. My past and my future, and after being apart from her I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that.”
He breathes long and hard as he gets up out of the chair, turns around and goes to his mini bar. I hear the clinking of glasses and as he turns around, he comes back with the two tumblers and the bottle of Jamesons. He takes his seat again and pours us both a fingers worth of whiskey and slides the glass toward me.
“Let’s drink on it,” he lifts his glass at the same time as me, “but I will let you into a secret, I’m glad it was you she picked, even if I did give you a hard time.”
My head shakes as I smirk back at him and tap his glass. “Fucker.”
As I lift the glass to my lips to knock back the shot, my cell rings from inside my pocket. I knock it back and let it ring. It’s probably Luna just giving me shit again, still pissed with me and wondering if I’m ready to say sorry. I take it out of my pocket but it rings off before I get the chance to answer. I hold that in one hand and my whiskey glass in the other just as it starts again. When I see the name lighting up my screen though, my eyebrows pull into a scowl as I answer the call. Fuck pleasantries, “What do you want?”
CHAPTER 32
LUNA
“Arghh, he makes me so fucking angry.” I growl out loud, but there’s no one around to hear my anger. So, instead, I stomp across the compound to my car, unlock it and yank open the door. As I jump in, I slump into my seat and close my eyes briefly, hoping to gain some composure and calm the fuck down before driving. With a deep inhale into my lungs, I slowly breathe in and out, briefly close my eyes, then start the engine. If I sit here for too long, he’ll come and find me then he’ll find a way of making me see that he was right. I’m not doing it. I’m a strong, independent woman. I don't need that asshole telling me what I can and can’t do. I pull my cell from my back pocket and power it off. I just need some quiet time.
With the engine rumbling away, I rest my foot on the gas, I glance behind me one last time and then I’m out of here. Once I’m out of view, I relax a little. If he wants me, he can come to me. I refuse to back down on this.
It’s not far to the bar from the compound, but I’ve made sure to come the long way around. I need to clear my head. I’m so sick of arguing, I know they say to pick your battles, but at this point I’m not even sure I know the difference between a battle and a war. If it’s not Dad, it’s Levi. Every heated conversation ends with us shouting. I just want a peaceful life, but I know I’m not going to get that with him. I’ve known that all along.
As I’m turning the corner at the junction, an old Chevy speeds across the road. I slam my foot on the brake and turn the wheel swiftly, swerving out of his path before he barrels into me. While I take a minute to catch my breath, I glance back in my rear view and I watch it take the next corner, his wheels screeching as he disappears as quickly as he appeared. “Moron!” I blow out a breath and rub my hands over my face. I’ve been so lost in my head since I got in the car. Was it my fault that I only missed him by a narrow margin? Maybe I wasn't concentrating enough. “Shit,” I catch of my own eyes in the mirror. “Idiot. Get a hold of yourself.” With my self-admonishment completed, I brush my eyes with my fingers, then carry on driving.
Maybe I need to push Levi out of my mind when I’m driving, he’s not good for my health. I mean, he means well; I know this, I know he’s only trying to protect me, I get it, I really do, but I refuse to be a prisoner.
Instead of thinking about Levi, I think about what I need to do when I get to the bar. The place hasn’t been open for around a week, so my first job will be to clean.
I take the next left and the red Chevy appears again. Great…I think to myself as I ease my foot off the gas pedal. Slowing down before I get myself into an accident with what seems like a drunk driver, and now I think about it, I should have realized that earlier – the idiot is all over the road. If I could change route now, I would. But the bar is only minutes away, it would be crazy to turn and go back now. I stay on my route and just hold back when the next turn approaches. As he turns right, I take the left. I feel the relief in my body and say a little prayer to myself that the dick is going the opposite way.
I force myself to calm down and focus on getting to the bar, and off the road, away from bloody maniacs. I turn the volume up on the radio to drown my own thoughts of nearly being in a motor accident and sing along to American Girl by Tom Petty.
Finally seeing the bar appear in my peripheral, I smile as the sign, with LUNA’S HANGOUT written in bold letters, hangs over at the side. I press the gas a little harder wanting to be in the safety of my bar, but as I slow down to turn onto the parking lot, I see him again. That same old, beaten-up Chevy just sat at the end of the road, like he’s waiting for someone. My hackles rise. I’ve seen the same car three times in as much as fifteen minutes…should I be concerned. The small hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and I shiver.
They say to trust your gut, my dad instilled that into me from a young age. Quickly twisting the wheel, I take a sharp turn onto the parking lot and stop right outside the door, shut off the engine and grab my purse. Nervousness settles into the pit of my stomach; I’m probably being stupid and overanxious. I’m surprised there was no one here to meet me, or following behind – that’s a point, why has no one followed me? I stop at the door, the question playing over in my head, eagerly looking around me before I unlock the padlock and then open the front door.
Once I’m inside, the smell of stale beer hits me instantly, along with the smoky entrails that give me the sense of comfort that I need right now. This is practically home to me now. With the door closed behind me, I slide the deadlock across, at least I feel a little safer being here alone. I turn on the pumps and set up for the day. Hopefully, the dickhead in the Chevy has gone by the time I leave here so I won’t see him again. At least that’s what I try to tell myself. I’m not completely comfortable, but I have to do this. I won’t let them prove me wrong. I quickly go round the room taking the chairs down from the tables and tuck them underneath, before wiping the dust away and freshening the place up.
