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Harper sniffles again and wipes under her smeared off eyeliner. Her lips begin to quiver as if she’s going to break again, and I inwardly kick myself for opening back up the floodgates.
“I just don’t understand why guys aren’t into me. Like, what am I doing wrong?” she says through tears, putting her face in her hands.
We’ve heard these questions time and time again, and by now, all Juliette and I do isshhher and gently stroke Harp’s back. It’s not that we don’t care about her getting her heart broken; it’s that every guy she meets was going to bethe one.
“It’s going to be okay. You’ll find your Prince Charming,” I tell her, looking across the table to Juliette.
A waitress at the bar approaches our table and sets a new full cosmo in front of me. I look at it questioningly and then back to the waitress. “I didn’t order this,” I tell her.
She turns to look back at me. “The gentleman over there did. He said to tell you to watch your limit this time.” With that, she turns to walk away.
I look at the cosmo and then glance around the rest of the bar to figure out who sent over this drink. My eyes scan the stools at the bar until they stop at the very end. My stomach sinks. I feel my blood beginning to boil, and I narrow my eyes at the smirk belonging to Jimmy Maxwell.
Great. This is all just fucking great.
“Holy shit,” I hear Juliette say once her eyes find Jimmy.
Jimmy waves a hand at me with a boyish grin that tells me he’s doing this out of spite.
Keeping my eyes locked with his, I pick up the cosmo and chug the whole thing, setting it back down with more force than necessary. Thankfully, Harper is too busy consoling herself to notice.
“I guess it’s starting now,” Juliette whispers.
I ignore her as I keep my eyes on Jimmy. I guess now is when it really does start.
I feel the urge to get away from him. I turn back to my friends and tell them goodbye before grabbing my wallet and heading out of the bar. It’s now nighttime in New York City, and goosebumps form on my skin. I knew I should have brought a jacket. My teeth begin to chatter as I walk briskly through the wind to my apartment and away from Jimmy fucking Maxwell.
How did he know I was at Murphy’s?
It’s not a question I ponder over long as the thought to distance myself as far away from him as possible floods my mind. If Jimmy was going to be next to me twenty-four seven now, I was going to have to find a way to get in some alone time. It’s what I do best. I enjoy my personal space, and it’s what I love about living on my own. I’ve never been one to crave the company of a companion. I’m completely fine on my own. Icantake care of myself, which is something I really wish my father would have realized before hiring me some hitman or whatever it is Jimmy does.
I continue to speed walk down the streets of New York City toward my apartment before Jimmy can catch up to me.Ifhe followed me. My eyes want to look back to see if he’s right there, following me to my apartment, but my mind keeps telling me to not look. Just keep going.
So, it’s what I do.
I make the fifteen-minute walk in seven minutes, lightly jogging the last three to shorten the time and warm myself up. When I’m in my building and riding the elevator to my floor, I peek my head out of the elevator door to see if he’s in the hall waiting on me. Relief washes over me when my hall is empty.
I open my door and quickly step into my apartment, closing the door and locking it like Michael Myers is chasing me. I double-check the dead bolt and slide the lock in the hole for extra protection from Jimmy and whoever is out there trying to get me in my father’s mind. My apartment was dark from when I left earlier, so I turn on the lights and step into the kitchen. My stomach rumbles, and I’m instantly reminded just how hungry I am.
I could cook something, but I don’t feel like washing the dishes… I’ll just order takeout and make them deliver it.
I pull open the drawer that contains the take-out menu to the Chinese restaurant and scan the items. Once I've decided on the chicken lo mein and egg rolls, I start to dial their number when, out of nowhere, I hear a deep voice from across the room.
“I’ll take the beef and broccoli with a side of steamed carrots, please.”
I scream and jump in place at the suddenness of the voice. My heart begins to quicken and nearly beat out of my chest, and my knees buckle at the fear.Who the fuck is that?
As if he’s in a movie, Jimmy Maxwell steps out of the darkness of my living room and into the light of the kitchen.
“What the hell, Jimmy? You scared the living shit out of me!”
He chuckles and takes a seat at my counter.
“Sorry, love. It was either now or let you turn on the light to see me. Either way, you were going to be startled.”
“How the fuck did you get in here?” I yell, trying to calm down.
My knees feel like Jell-O, and my breathing is still ragged.
