AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Whatever,” he mutters, taking another drink of his coffee.
“You going to try it now?” I ask, mildly interested in his laidback reaction.
“Nah. Junie could use some good in her life, and you may piss me off and ugly up my day, but you’re a decent asshole.”
“Gee, thanks,” I mutter.
“If you hurt her though, I’ll kill you. She’s had enough pain, and I didn’t help her, because she didn’t let me know about it in time. Now, I see her every day, so I will know if you fuck with her. You do and there won’t be any saving you—friendship or not.”
I ignore his threats, but my mind zeros in on Lodge talking about her past.
“You going to tell me what happened?” I ask.
“Fuck, no. That’s not my story to tell. If Junie wants you to know, she’ll tell you.”
“At least tell me, did it involve her hole-in-the-brain giant rat of an ex-boyfriend?”
Lodge throws his head back and laughs. “Is that how Junie described him?”
“Fuck no. That’s me. What kind of shit for brains changes his name to the same as that giant rat on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?”
Lodge—the asshole—keeps laughing. “Apparently he’s a big time guitar player and thought the name was catchy.”
“Big time?”
“He played for some big names. His last gig was with Ryker Lane.”
“Fuck, what kind of people did Junie hang with?” I ask, starting to wonder if she could be happy with a small-town sheriff.
“Again, not my secret. I guess I better get up and go on patrol, since you’re sitting on your ass all morning.”
“If you want, you could put a good word in with your sister for me,” I suggest, already knowing the dick won’t.
“She making you work for it, is she?” Lodge laughs, getting up and thus robbing me of the chance to kick his chair out from under him…Damn it.
“You could say that,” I grumble.
“That’s my girl,” Lodge praises and then walks out of the room without a backward glance.
I’m left alone suddenly worrying if Junie could ever be happy here, after hanging around with country music superstars before. It seems I do have a type.
Women who have a past I can’t overcome…
Junie
“Luna—”
“Don’t you Luna me! You and Ben totally are doing the mattress mambo.”
“We aren’t. I can promise you, whatever else you think, we are definitelynotdoing the mattress mambo.”
“Well, hell. That’s disappointing.”
“You get why this is weird talking to you about, right?” I remind her, because itisweird. It’s even worse because when it mattered way back when, Ben saidLuna’sname. I’ve mostly let that go, and what Ben said makes sense. I can almost understand him saying Luna’s name in his sleep, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less though, and that’s just the damn truth. And, late at night, I lay in bed and wonder if he wasn’t thinking of her while touching me. If he didn’t say her name because he wanted me to be her….
“Please, that was a lifetime ago,” Luna says sipping her drink and waving her hand at me like I’m insane. Maybe I am, but what if I’m not? And that’s the real reason I ignored Ben’s texts for two days. Because after dreaming about him and reliving everything the evening after the barbecue, I just don’t think I should be opening myself up to hurt again. I’ve had a hard time learning from my mistakes—and I’ve made huge ones. I don’t need to be making more. It’s time I pull up my big girl panties and be logical and smart in my decisions. Ben isnotsmart.
“It may seem a lifetime to you. You have Gavin, and you two are deliriously happy.”
