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“Uh, say no when she told you she’d given her ticket to Dicky?”
Holly sighed. They’d had this exact same conversation six times in the ten hours since her mom called hysterical and heartbroken.
“Look, my dad—”
“Almost jizzed himself over the idea of you going on another date with that fuckwad?”
Holly wrinkled her nose as she made a left. “Um, could you maybe not use the word jizz in a sentence with my dad?” she said into the car’s Bluetooth.
The line grew silent.
“Anyway, my dad actually got on the phone because she was crying so hard. It was the first time he’s spoken more than two words to me in weeks. He told me himself how crushed my mom was she couldn’t go with me. How she was supposed to have two daughters to spend time with, but one was stolen from her. How she wants us to be close and she’s so devastated that she hurt herself. I just…”
I can’t say no to them.
“I’m trying to build a new kind of relationship with them. Maybe this is the first step toward a more normal parent-child bond.”
“I’m gonna say something you don’t want to hear.”
“Yikes, that doesn’t sound good.” Holly scanned the house numbers for seven-six-two-nine… There it was. After parking along the curb, she killed the engine but remained seated. “What is it?”
“Has it crossed your mind they might have planned this all along?”
“Ha! You mean she pretended to sprain her ankle, and getting me to go out with Rick is all part of some master matchmaking scheme?”
LJ didn’t say anything.
“LJ, come on,” she said, but the words tasted bitter. She opened her mouth again to tell him there was no way, but the argument died on her tongue. “Shit.” Her shoulders sagged. Had she been hoodwinked so easily? Would her parents have played her that way? Or was LJ turning into a conspiracy theorist?
“I’ll come back. I’ll make an excuse and go join the ladies for girls’ night.” She grabbed the key which was still in the ignition. Just as she went to turn the car on again, LJ’s heavy exhale came through the line.
“Stay,” he grumbled. “You’re there. You’ve been so excited about that goddammed concert.”
She really had been. And she was there… Maybe Rick would even spill some beans about the department’s plan for the MC.
“He won’t touch me, LJ. I have less interest in him than Jazz has about being one of Screw’s conquests.”
Finally, LJ laughed. Over the past month, Screw had dialed up the attempts to nail Jazz, and she’d pushed back just as hard.
“I know, sugar, and I trust you. But if that fucker so much as breathes too close to you—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, the ripping of nuts and the biker cock thing. I got it.” She paused for a second. “I really am sorry, LJ. Please try to have fun tonight. It’s killing me that you’re so upset over this. Would it help if I told you I want him to be my date about as much as you want him to be my date?”
He grunted. “It would help if you told me you’d drop to your knees and suck my dick the moment you walk through the door.”
“Done,” Holly said with a grin, though LJ couldn’t see it through the car’s Bluetooth. Men were easy. Promises of sexual favors forgave a world of sin.
“Babe,” he said, tone full of a warning that had her shivering in response. Yeah, he wasn’t the only one that’d be getting off once she got home. For the life of her, she’d never imagined a scenario where she had no desire to go to a Carrie Underwood concert. The country star had been Holly’s favorite singer for years. But that bitch better sing fast because this obligation could not be over fast enough.
“I have to go. I’m here,” she said then winced at the silence from his end.
“All right,” he finally said. “Sugar?” This time she heard the sincerity in his voice.
“Yeah?”
“I really don’t want him to touch you.”
“Neither do I, LJ. Promise it won’t happen, okay? I already have a man. And he’s more than enough man for me. In fact, there’s probably enough of him for two women.”
“No shit?” All of a sudden, he sounded like a kid on Christmas. “You looking to invite a friend to bed with us?”
“Goodbye, LJ,” she said with an exaggerated sigh and a roll of her eyes.
His laugh was the only response she heard before disconnecting the call.
Holly stared at Schwartz’s house. This thing with LJ had progressed to a place she absolutely loved, except for one giant elephant that walked into the room every damn night. The fact that LJ still hadn’t spent an entire night with her. She hadn’t pushed it, slightly nervous about bringing it up because she sensed his reasoning was more than the typical commitment-phobic guy nonsense. What frustrated her more than the lack of sleeping next to him was the fact he didn’t seem comfortable even talking about it with her. That was a hard pill to swallow.
