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“Dare I ask by who?”
“I would tell you, but I don’t want you to take it out on me.”
I nod, offering him a sympathetic smile. Maybe I did go a little crazy. “Fine.”
We walk up the stairs and stop at my front door. I reach in my purse for my keys when I realize I don’t have any. “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t have my keys. We left in such a hurry, and Tate grabbed… he has my keys.” My shoulders deflate. All I want to do is go inside and reunite with my couch. Make some coffee and drink it from my“Shuh duh fuh cup”mug, but no.
I inhale deeply, holding back my hysteria, and turn to Justin. “Okay. Plan B.”
He raises a brow. His only plan was to drop me off at my apartment. “You’re driving me to the liquor store.”
“For?”
“This day is going to take a lot of tequila. And the hardware store. I believe a hatchet will work. I’ll hack down my door and then take it to Tate’s genitals.”
“Mindy, I’m not supposed to take you anywhere but here. Can we call your landlord?”
“First off, if Tate was so worried about my well-being, he would have brought me home himself. But he’s a coward. Plus, the bad guy is in custody, which means no more danger. It’s fine.”
He doesn’t think it’s fine. “How about I just call—”
“You call him, and I will add you to the hatchet list. Now, just two little stops before we part ways. Cool?” Threatening to cut him up is low, but desperate times and all. He finally gives in, and I smile. “Great!” Unwillingly, he drives the few blocks to the liquor store. I tell him to wait in the car, doing the swinging ax signal when he suggests coming with me, and he obliges. I’m going to hell.
Running in, I make a beeline to my favorite aisle. Taking a left, my eyes scan the bottles, looking for the most expensive one. I definitely can’t afford it, but I’m going to buy it anyway since my life can’t get any worse.
“Hey.”
My head pops up, and I glance to my left. My eyes widen. “Hey, fancy meeting you here.” I focus on the pretty blonde. “Hey.” I smile at the woman standing next to Vince, taking in her perfect hair, glowing skin, and flawless body.
“How’ve you been? I tried texting after our date.”
Shit. I forgot about his text. I feel like a jerk. “Yeah, I’m sorry. Something came up.” I pause and open my mouth to tell him all the gory details but stop myself.
“It’s okay. I just thought we had a good time.” I gaze back at his lady friend. Obviously not a good enough time to hold out hope.
“I did. My life is just… messy right now. I really did have a nice time with you, and I would have texted back if I could have. But it looks like you got lucky.” I wave over to his friend. “You dodged a bullet with me. See ya around.” I offer him a kind smile and walk off when he calls my name.
“Mindy, wait.”
“Yeah?” I ask over my shoulder.
“I want you to meet Vanessa.” Oh, great. He’s so polite, he wants to introduce me to his new— “My sister.”
I blink, waiting for my brain to catch up. Then, I mentally smack myself for being an idiot. “Your sister, right! Figured. I totally see the resemblance.” Not at all.
Laughing softly, I can hear the smirk in his tone. “Well, we have different dads.”
Vanessa smacks him across the chest. “That doesn’t matter. We’re family no matter what.”
Vince offers her his dimpled smile before turning to me. “So, I know this is a strange way to ask, but since we’re here, if you’re not busy, wanna go grab a drink? Dinner? A taco from a food truck?”
I laugh. How was I so blind to him?Because your cooter cat was calling the shots with your watchdog.Ugh, facts. I stare back at him, basking in his sweet smile. Perfect teeth. Greatly styled hair. He’s attractive, nice, stable. I need stable. I should not fuck this up again.
“You know what? I’d love that.”
