AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I gritted my teeth, making my jaw lock. Five, four, three, two, one, I counted down to get myself under control. There was no reason what he’d just said should upset me so much, but it did. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was trusting anyone. “I don’t care about anyone other than my grandma, and no one other than her cares about me. That’s all I need.”
“You can’t survive like that forever.”
“Watch me.”
He shrugged, his eyes telling me we would have to agree to disagree.
We finished our check-in, and then I was on my way. The drive was about forty minutes, and I tried not to think about Parrish coming to my place the night before. We’d completely ignored it at work, neither of us saying a word to each other the whole day.
I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, a nervous habit I didn’t think I’d had before being locked up. While there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic around here, there was more than before, and I hadn’t driven in over six years. I hadn’t done a whole lot of shit in over six years, and sometimes that felt like too much.
Why had Parrish brought me the paper? In some ways it felt like he was playing games with me. His dad and his brother had both been good at that. They could manipulate people to do anything they wanted, were good at either pretending to be your friend or intimidating you to get their way. Maybe Parrish was the same, trying to come off like he gave a shit about me being level with my PO, so he could try to control me the same way his family did.
Why was I still thinking about him?
I turned into my driveway and made it halfway down before my heart stopped. On the side of the gravel, a truck was partly blocking the way, and beside it stood Rex and Frank Hunt. My heart nearly beat its way out of my chest, and I skidded to a stop and jumped out. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
My hands fisted, nails digging into my palms. Blood rushed through my ears, making it hard to breathe, my head spinning.
“Christ, Riv. What’s with the anger, man? I missed you. It’s good to see you again.” Rex stepped closer, arms out like he was going to hug me.
“Don’t touch me,” I growled.
“Now, is that any way to talk to your best friend?” Frank had his arms crossed, a smarmy smile on his face. He’d lost some of his hair since I’d last seen him.
Rex looked older than he should, but he kept in better shape. Not as good as me, considering it was one of the only things I’d had to do when I was locked up, but he looked bigger than he had before.
“Get the hell off my property.” My eyes darted toward the house, and like he did with everything, Frank noticed.
“You don’t think we would hurt Ms. Betsy, do you? That’s not very nice.”
“Fuck off, Frank. I’m not a kid anymore.” While I hadn’t been a kid when they’d gotten me to admit to something I hadn’t done, in a lot of ways I’d felt like it. The last six years had made me grow up quickly. “I don’t have time to play your games. Leave us alone.” My heart felt like it had climbed up into my throat. I wasn’t scared of them. I wasn’t scared of dying, not really, but I did give a shit about my grandma.
“Is this about Bec? I’m sorry I took your girl. I tried to keep her off my cock, but she got addicted to the good dick.”
Jesus. I couldn’t believe he had ever been my friend, that I likely would have laughed if he’d said that to someone else when I’d been by his side, or hell, might have said shit like that myself. “I don’t care about Becca.”
“Clearly, you don’t give a fuck about your friends either,” Frank said pointedly.
My friend who had let his dad threaten me into taking the fall for a crime I didn’t commit? A friend who hadn’t come to see me or didn’t care that I’d been locked up for something he did? But I knew I couldn’t say that. They were here to make sure I was going to keep quiet, though what would be the point of unearthing it all anyway? I’d already done the time. I just wanted to forget it all and move on.
“What do you want?” I asked them.
“We wanted to make sure we’re still friends—the three of us. That you’re not back to cause any trouble for us. You were a real good boy while you were inside.”
My chest tightened, anger blurring my vision. “Fuck you, Frank.”
He pretended I hadn’t spoken and continued, “I’d hate to see you ruin it all now. Ms. Betsy just got you back. It’d be a real shame if something happened to you…don’t know how she would make it through that.”
