AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You know, Mandy, just because neither of you realize it, doesn’t mean he isn’t yours.” Jana gave words of wisdom around a bite of chili cheeseburger.
Her words nearly ruined my three bites of blue cheese and bacon slider. Nearly. “Or maybe it was just a few hot romps? That’s okay with me. I don’t do connections.”
Teddy snorted. “We’ve noticed.”
I rolled my eyes and Jana jumped in. “It’s not a criticism, we were the same way. Are the same way. We met at a support group for survivors, not college like most people. We were both too fucked up for that. Well, I was anyway.”
Teddy wiped the corners of her mouth with her napkin and then gave a piece of her story. “I wasn’t, but being a model meant I could fake it with the best of them,” she said with a teasing wink. “But we learned to do it because handling shit on your own is the worst.”
I shrugged, as if they were speaking a foreign language. “It’s what I know.”
Jana smiled. “Then we’ll teach you,” she said gently. “And don’t think you can get out of it,” she added with an
attempt at a mean scowl.
“You don’t scare me, little girl.” I pointed at her face, shocking her.
“Little? You have what, half an inch on me?”
Teddy snorted. “Ask a man, they’ll tell you half an inch can make a big difference.” And just like that, the tension at the table burst as we all laughed. And ate. And laughed some more.
It was a good day.
A damn good day.
***
“Mandy, wait up!”
I recognized Krissy’s voice instantly and I didn’t wait. I sped up. Fuck her. I didn’t have time for her bullshit. Not today. Not when I hadn’t decided what I would do about my Krissy problem.
“Mandy!”
Her heeled boots sounded on the concrete, her heavy breaths coming closer.
“What the fuck?” she demanded.
“Take a hint,” I tossed back at her as I kept walking.
She grabbed my shoulder and I jerked away, pulling my arm back.
“Jeez, someone’s jumpy.”
“Don’t you fucking touch me girl,” I warned, facing her now so she could see the fire in my eyes.
“Fine, just slow down or stop for fuck’s sake!”
I stopped and glared at her while she explained.
“Look, I borrowed some money from Roadkill MC a while back and then shit went bad and I couldn’t pay.”
She dragged a shaky hand through her hair, proof it wasn’t just gambling getting her into trouble these days.
“You made counting look easy, but it’s not. The more decks they added, the worse I did.”
She pulled out a cigarette and lit it to stop her shaky hands. The hole she’d dug was impossible to pay back without a little luck. A hell of a lot of luck.
“I’m sure you could work it off somehow.”
