AllFreeNovel
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The last collection is from a man who owes the club around fifteen thousand dollars. He always pays on time, always a pleasant enough guy. He’s a gambler and can’t seem to stop, even if it means his family suffers.
He works at a factory in the same industrial district we’ll be picking up shipments from in a few months once the trucking company gets rolling. He’s working tonight. He always works nights. Pulling up to the back of the building, Clink parks the delivery van, and I lean my head back against the seat, closing my eyes for just a moment’s rest.
“For what it’s worth,” Clink mutters, “I love that bitch’s cupcakes. I also think you two complement one another well.”
“You just don’t think we should be together,” I say.
He chuckles. “I don’t give a fuck who you stick your dick into or declare your undying love for, but I think it’s going to get messy, that’s all I’m saying.”
“And Ryan’s not messy?” I ask.
Clink snorts. “That’s another one I’ve warned about. Holy fuck. You guys pick the most complicated fucking bitches to fall for. You won’t catch me doing that shit. I get a woman to call my old lady, it’s gonna be easy as fucking pie, mark my goddamn words.”
I want to laugh in his face because it’s clear that he has no idea how the heart works. Sure, he knows how his dick works, but past that, he has no clue. I was the same way before I walked into that cute-as-fuck bakery.
There is a knock at my window, and I lift my head, turning to find my client. He takes a step backward and shoves his hands into his pockets, which tells me that he doesn’t have the money. I almost laugh as I push the door open, but you can’t show emotion, and he needs to know that this is unacceptable.
I step down onto the blacktop and place my hands on my hips, tilting my head to the side as I watch him for a moment. He shifts from foot to foot, then lets out a long sigh. I wait for his words, and I know they are coming. His words of denial, of being denied payment.
“I don’t have it,” he murmurs.
“Figured that’s what you were going to say. Do you have a reason for me that is legit?” I ask.
He flicks his gaze down to his feet, then slowly lifts it back to meet mine. “No,” he confesses.
“I appreciate your honesty, but honesty doesn’t pay the bills.”
I watch as he gulps, watching me for a moment before he turns his back to me. I think about asking him what the fuck he’s doing when he spins back around. He’s got tears in his eyes, and I don’t understand what the fuck is going on, but then he lunges forward, and I feel it before I realize what’s happened.
Hot pain slices through me. He cries out, snot and tears flying from his mouth and eyes. It’s a fucking shit show, and all I can focus on is the fact that he’s crying, and it seems really funny to me. But then the pain takes over as he pulls away from me.
“I’m sorry, King,” he mutters. “I didn’t have a choice.”
I fall to my knees, then flat on my face. The world around me instantly turns blurry and then black. Darkness consumes me, and as much as I want to believe that I’m going to make it, I realize in this moment that I probably won’t. I can’t even scream. There’s nothing I can do to alert Clink that I need help.
My final thoughts are of Shawn.
I love her.
I don’t even know her, but I fucking love her.
SHAWN
As I close up the shop, I am filled with nothing but elated happiness. I can’t believe this is my life. I’m going to go home and wait for my man. My man. God, another thing that I didn’t think was even a possibility. I have a man. I just figured I would stay single forever so I wouldn’t repeat my mother’s mistakes with men.
Carrying the chocolate cake that I didn’t sell, the second chocolate cake I made today because, yes, the first one did sell. I can’t even believe that this is real life. I sold two dozen cupcakes, every cookie I baked, and a chocolate cake.
They were all people who either came to the farmers’ market or heard from a friend who was at the farmers’ market about my desserts. I even made an extra batch of red velvet cupcakes just so that I would have some in the case. I didn’t sell out of them, but I am going to package them up for the guys at the clubhouse tomorrow.
But tonight, I celebrate with cake.
No… we celebrate with cake.
Climbing the staircase of my apartment complex, I take my key out and open the door, closing and locking it behind me. I make my way toward the kitchen counter, set the box down, then head straight toward my bedroom to get ready and shower after a long day of selling and baking. Then baking and selling.
I’m exhausted, which is a feeling I am excited about. I can’t remember feeling exhausted about a hard day’s work. I’ve been emotionally exhausted, but not physically this way. I’m downright giddy.
That is, until a man’s throat clears. I freeze, then swing my head around to see who sitting in my living room. I expect to find my brother, but it’s not him. It’s a man I’ve never seen before.
