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“So, how’ve you been, lad?” he asked, taking another hit. “Haven’t seen you around in a while.”
“Keeping busy,” I replied, disappointed with how his appearance had killed the mellow buzz I had been enjoying.
Now, I was on edge again.
On edge and overthinking.
The old saying “out of sight, out of mind” clearly held some level of merit because over time, the more space I had managed to put between myself and my old life, the easier it had become to stay away. But now that old life was sitting beside me, and I realized just how quickly old longings could resurface.
“You still knocking around with that barmaid?”
“She’s a waitress.”
“Waitress,” he corrected, exhaling another cloud of smoke. “I saw your old man in town the other day.”
“Like I give a fuck.”
“Fucking some barmaid at the side of the Dinniman.”
I stiffened.
“Looked an awful lot like that waitress of yours.”
I turned to glare at him. “What’s your angle here, Shane?”
“No angle,” he replied, holding his hands up. “Just doing a good deed for a friend.”
“It wasn’t her.”
He shrugged. “I could be wrong.”
“You are.”
“Still, though,” he mused. “You know what those barmaids are like—”
“Waitress. She’s a waitress, and I’m not listening to this.” Rising to my feet, I turned to look at him. “I told you before that she’s a hard limit for me.”
He shrugged. “I’m only looking out for a friend.”
“Except that I’m not your friend, Shane,” I told him. “I’m just the fool that halved his wages with you since he was old enough to earn it.”
“Sit down, Lynchy.”
“No, I’m not interested.”
“Sit the fuck down,” he warned, tone low and menacing. “Now, kid. I’m not finished with you.”
Wishing more than anything that I was still blissfully ignorant of what he was capable of, I reluctantly sat back down, knowing there was no level he wouldn’t stoop to in order to prove a point.
My baby brothers were a stone throw away from where he was sitting. I couldn’t afford to be reckless. Because as dangerous of a friend as he was for me, making an enemy of him would be infinitely worse.
“Your doll is a hard limit for you,” he said calmly, nudging my shoulder with his. “I didn’t hear you before, but I hear you now.”
Body rigid with unease, I nodded stiffly.
“She’s off the table,” he offered. “How’s that?”
“What do you mean?”
