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“How the hell did you find us?” Ginger rolls her eyes. “Those were dummy files we left in your shed.”
“Which is why I didn’t even bother looking at them. In case you’re forgetting, this isn’t my first year dealing with you two.” I don’t bother telling them I hid a tracking device in Penny’s purse this year. I’d much rather they still have a little bit of fear when it comes to me, never knowing where I’ll turn up. A very,verylittle bit, obviously. “I’m tired. It’s been a long day. Just get in the van and go home. You’ve done enough.”
I don’t know why I’m even wasting my breath. They are not going to just get in the van and go home, and I know it. This is why I always stock up my glove compartment with zip ties as soon as I get back to town.
“Ben Watson lives in this house. Want to know how great of a man Ben Watson is?” Penny asks, stepping up to me on the dark, quiet street and crossing her arms just like her sister does when she’s annoyed with me.
Fuck… how do I manage to keep screwing things up with her?
Once-a-year fling… that’s honestly what she thinks I want from her? It’s bad enough she only wanted once with me, period.
Stupid, no-strings-attached bullshit….
“He was married to his wife Julie for ten years,” Penny continues, pulling me out of my thoughts. “She worked full time to put him through med school. She worked full time while she also raised their three children that he begged her to have while he was busy with school. All the hard work and sacrifices were finally worth it when he was offered an internship here, all the way across the country from her friends and family. She moved in a heartbeat, because it’s what he wanted.”
Ginger steps forward then, mirroring Penny’s stance to continue. “A month after they got here and the kids were all settled in school, she found out he moved them here because the woman he’d been fucking for five years also moved here for work. He then decided he didn’t want to be a doctor anymore and claims he just can’t find a job right now. And since the court system is complete shit, he got to keep the house, and she’s stuck in a tiny apartment with three kids, because it’s all she can afford. Because she now has to pay him.”
“Isn’t Ben great?” Penny cheers sarcastically. “We should throw him a parade instead!”
“Is this how you get your sister to put up with this shit? You tell her a sob story and make her feel bad?”
The anger in Penny’s eyes grows, and I’m a smart-enough man to take a step back. She admitted to the taser. Who the hell knows what else she’s hiding on her that shehasn’tshown me.
“It’s not a fucking sob story; it’s real life. Some people’s dads take them to the zoo. Others take their whores on a ‘fishing trip’to Vegas.”
Jesus, Ford, what the hell is wrong with you?
I know the Tanner history. I know why Sidney is so skittish about having something more than a fling with someone. Why couldn’t I just be understanding tonight instead of a cocky asshole? Her trying to push that “I’m not a repeat customer” line on me made me forget everything and just want to piss her off. I wanted to get her worked up by leaning in close and reminding her what happened between us last night.
Too bad all that did was give me a hard-on in pants that could barely contain my dick when itwasn’terect. And probably did nothing but confirm this idea she has in her head that I just want a quick fuck before I go back to Oregon.
Shit.
“Even you, Mr. Buzzkill Extraordinaire, can agree a yard full of dicks really isn’t all that bad, comparatively speaking,” Ginger adds. “It’s not going to hurt him. It’s not going to break his heart. It’s not going to make him feel like he can’t get out of bed in the morning, even though he knows he has to, because he has three kids to take care of. It’s not going to make him wonder what’s wrong withhimand why he’s unlovable. It’s not going to break him. But maybe it will make him think twice about doing it to someone else. And maybe it will give Julie something to laugh about, since all she can seem to do these days is cry.”
Dammit… I of all people should understand where they’re coming from.
They really are doing a kind of service here, in a completely fucked-up way. I can understand now why Sidney is always helping them or covering for them if these are the kinds of people the October Bonus Package helps.
I don’t know why they’re explaining this to me in such a clear, concise manner all of a sudden though. In the past, whenever I’d ask them what the fuck they were doing, I’d usually just get told to go to hell. Sometimes, I’d have to dodge a punch or two. They’re being… relatively normal, talking to me like actual adults. And I don’t trust them. They’re definitely up to something. Since I am in no mood to dispose of two hundred and fifty balloons filled with dog shit like I had to do last year or wrestle a switchblade out of someone’s hand like I’ve had to doeveryyear, I let out a sigh.
“Fine. The hotdogs can stay. But whatever else is in this van, it’s remaining in this van. Andyou twoare getting rid of it.”
Ginger shoves me out of the way of the backdoors of the van, but only because I let her.
I’m not even embarrassed to admit I curl my body inward and wince a little when she flings the doors open. I still have a scar on my hand from the year a wild turkey jumped out of Penny’s closet at me.
“Careful, that top one definitely bites.”
Penny lets out a snort when I stand back up to my full height, surprised to see the back of the van only filled with about twenty-five hand-painted signs attached to wooden stakes. Stepping forward, I take the top one off the pile and aim it toward the streetlamp so I can read it, not even masking my chuckle when I see it saysLife is short, and so is Ben’s dick.
“So this is why you had a trunk of spray paint the other night.”
“Fucking Sidney totally messed with our plans by stealing that stuff. It delayed us by two days,” Ginger complains, leaning inside the back of the van to start piling signs in her arms.
“Fucking Sidneyhas been saving your asses,” I growl at them, tossing the sign back on the pile. “Do you even give a shit about how much trouble she’s constantly putting herself in for the two of you?”
“Oh, please.” Penny snorts, grabbing a hammer from next to the signs. “Like we aren’t savingherass as well.”
