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“You talk as if you hate him.”
“Maybe I do.”
“I don’t believe that.”
I shut my eyes briefly, shaking my head. She just didn’t understand. She didn’t get it. Our lives were so different in so many ways.
Her parents were there, my father wasn’t, and with my Mom gone it didn’t make matters better. If anything, life after her death only seemed to get worse.
“My father was abusive physically and mentally up until the day I stood up to him,” I inform her. “That was the same day I decided to move in with my grandmother without his permission. I was fifteen and it was the best thing I ever could have done. I never wanted to talk to him or see him again, but when I turned seventeen and my grandma told me she was sick, and I found her crying in her bedroom over the stack of bills, I knew I had to do something.
“I couldn’t just sit around and watch her stress the rest of her life away. The jobs helped back then, but not much. So the twins told me to talk to Flex—said he’d been running late night underground fights. They told me they made almost $600 a night, win or lose. That’s $1200 a week. I needed that money, so I sought Flex out and told him I wanted to fight for some cash. I didn’t tell him why, but he found out when my grandma called and asked for some of my records. He rubbed it in my face, I told him to fuck off, and made it my mission to find another job to provide for her. I didn’t need him, ya know?” I shrug.
“Anyway, he showed up the next day at my job after he heard what was going on. He told me straight to my face that the money I made still wouldn’t be enough to take care of her, and then he said we could make an agreement.
“He knew what I was capable of—that I never lost a fight. So he said, ‘You fight for me, and I’ll handle the bills you can’t. Don’t, and she’ll die.’ I knew as soon as those words came out of his mouth that I had no choice. I didn’t want her to suffer. I needed to do whatever it took, even if that meant I had to be around him again.”
“Oh.” She lowered her gaze. “Wow—I’m sorry, Drake. I didn’t know.”
“It’s not your problem. Everything is fine now. Don’t be sorry.”
She looked up at me. I avoided her eyes.
“It sucks to think about—to admit that my own father wouldn’t care for his only son unless he got something in return. Flex only wants one thing out of me. In his eyes, I am just his big bag of money. I’m the reason he received any recognition at all. If I had never started fighting, he would still be broke and still living in a damn trailer.”
“He sounds like a huge dick,” she said, angrily.
I shrugged one shoulder. “I guess. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” I looked out of the windshield, brows stitched now.
“Okay,” she replied. “We don’t have to anymore. I won’t push it. You’ve already told me more than enough.” She slid in close again. “We had a great day. I’d hate to ruin that.”
We did have fun. Maybe too much fun, but I can’t admit that.
Turning to look at her, I grabbed her free hand and entwined our fingers. She tipped her chin, her brown locking with my green.
“I want it off my mind,” I murmured.
“What do you want to do?”
“You owe me,” I rumbled in her ear.
She smelled good. Sweet. My lips touched the shell of her ear, her breath hitching as they trailed down to the bend of her neck.
“I do?” she breathed.
“Don’t act like you don’t remember.” I groaned, kissing her there.
A mix of a whimper and a moan filled her throat, but she didn’t resist. “Fine,” she said. “Deal’s a deal. Have your way.”
My tongue ran over my lips as I watched her mouth—how her pouty, full lips moved when she spoke. With her hand still clasped in mine, I guided her body down, her back resting on the leather bench.
I was careful, slow and residual, nestling between her legs. It was so quiet now, all thoughts of my personal life somewhat forgotten.
I needed them gone for good. I needed a distraction.
I focused on listening to her breathing. Her breaths were shallow, almost like she didn’t want to breathe at all, out of fear of missing something.
With my arms outside her head, I leaned forward, placing my mouth on the crook of her neck again, kissing softly, sweetly. She stirred beneath me, forcing her body closer.
A soft moan filled the car as I trailed my lips down the hollow of her neck and then to her collarbone, slowly drifting down her chest.
