Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 90564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90564 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Everywhere in this damn town was tainted with him, attached to a memory I couldn’t escape. I couldn’t escape him, and the problem was I didn’t really want to. By choice, I never would have left his side.
I climbed the ladder, absorbing a moment of rare silence as I pulled myself into the wooden fort attached to the monkey bars and slide. No sirens. No distant gunfire. Just me and my thoughts—none of which were good.
Soon enough, the pad of footsteps broke the peaceful lull. A thud echoed up the slide when someone evidently took a seat at the bottom. Great. Just what I needed.
“Hey, man,” a deep voice came from the dark park. “Can I get a dime bag?”
Oh, now there were two of them, and they were making a drug deal. I sank a little deeper into the corner of the fort. The night just got better and better.
“You dragged me all the way out here for a dime bag? You said you wanted an ounce…”
I wanted to bash my head against the wooden wall when I heard Hendrix’s voice. Of all the damn people, of course, he would be in this exact park making a drug deal while I hid in a kid’s play fort. And so, the curse continued…
There was a brief exchange of “fuck you’s,” mostly from Hendrix, followed by footsteps trailing away. Then a metallic bang rang out, followed by, “Shit.” I knew Hendrix, and if I had to guess, he’d just punched the slide.
Silence descended, broken only by the chirp of crickets.
I was about to crawl across the wooden fort and check if he’d left when my stupid phone pinged from my backpack. Shit. Then it dinged again.
The scuff of a shoe over gravel sounded. “What in the…”
I tried to unzip the pocket and silence it, but it chimed again and again like an alarm ringing out. Might as well have started waving a flashing sign above my head...
By the time I pulled my device out of my bag, I was ready to launch it in a bush just to throw him off the trail.
* * *
SATAN: You know, you could at least have the decency to say no thanks.
* * *
SATAN: I offered you ten bucks off!!!
* * *
SATAN: That’s like ten grand in Dayton!!!
* * *
SATAN: Manners, you sack of shit.
* * *
Jesus Christ. I jabbed the screen, trying to mute the stupid thing as a string of random emojis came through, one after the other.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me?” Hendrix’s head popped over the edge of the wooden platform. He brandished his phone like a weapon, then jabbed the screen again.
Another ping, and I flinched.
“You’re looking for a room. In Dayton?”
“Obviously.” I grabbed my backpack and moved to the edge of the wooden fort.
That should be enough to appease him. After all, he knew what a piece of crap my mom was.
Heavy footfalls rounded the structure, and by the time I made it to the exit, he’d blocked the ladder. “What? Did me nutting on your shirt screw up your little sleepovers at Chewyfuckface’s?”
Did he know I was living with Kyle? Is that why he had this absurd idea that we were dating?
“No,” I said. “You messed up any sleepovers in the treehouse, though.”
The smug grin on his face fell. “You were sleeping there?”
I didn’t want him to know how bad things were now. “Sometimes.”
On a huff, I crossed the fort again and took a seat at the top of the slide. The friction burned the backs of my thighs as I went down.
My Converse hit the dirt, sending a cloud of dust into the moonlit air before I pushed to my feet. I made it two steps from that slide before Hendrix barreled around the fort.
“What do you mean, sometimes?”
Like he cared. I swallowed the jagged ball of emotions, trying to work up my throat. “How could you destroy the treehouse, Hendrix?” I hated the little hitch in my voice, hated that he’d gotten to me so much with that one act.
“Like you’re one to ask ‘how could I’ anything…”
He was right, but I was not in the mood for him and our hate games tonight, so I walked off. Heavy footfalls followed behind me as I crossed the park and stormed through the gate.
“Why are you following me, Hendrix?”
“I live in the same direction as you, genius.”
I chose to ignore him as I made my way through the dilapidated streets.
Right up until we passed his road, and his footsteps still remained right behind me.
I stopped beneath the amber glow of streetlight and whirled to face him. “Okay, now you’re following me.”
“I had a change of plans.” He held his phone up, the glow illuminating his tense face. “After all, a player’s work is never done.” Then he grinned like the arrogant asshole he was.