Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
His hand came to my waist; his forehead pressed to mine. “Don’t judge me by this shit.”
Cartoons hummed in the background, and I was absolutely judging him by this shit. Because as much as it may embarrass him, how he dealt with it just showed how truly good he was.
“You’re so not a bad boy,” I breathed.
“Don’t tell me shit like that…”
“Why?” I put my lips to his ear. “Does it make you want to prove me wrong?”
His hands went to my ass. “Absolutely.”
“Ewww!” Arlo shouted before tossing a throw pillow at us. “I don’t like it when you do that!”
“Fine…” Bellamy huffed, threading his fingers through mine before he led me to his room.
He flipped the lock, then cocked a brow at me. “You’re gonna regret telling me I wasn’t bad…”
I really didn’t think I would...
* * *
Later that evening, after we’d helped Arlo with his homework, we left to grab groceries for dinner.
Bellamy zoomed past Wal-E-Mart, and I thumbed back at the brightly lit building.
“Uh, didn’t you want to go there?”
“Can’t go to that one. There’s another one at the other end of town.”
I waited for him to explain, but, of course, he didn’t. “Well, are you going to tell me why, or leave me in suspense?”
“Hendrix kept stealing random shit and now we’re banned. It wasn’t even good crap. It was plungers and porcelain Santa Claus decorations.”
“Is he a kleptomaniac or something?”
“No, his brother used to hit him in the head with a whiffle ball bat when we were kids.” He lowered my window, a light breeze rustling through the inside of the car. “He was also the glue eater in first grade.”
I snorted. “Explains a lot.” I imagined the three of them as kids, probably complete little assholes.
Bellamy parked at the back of the Wal-E-Mart lot, grabbing a random cart from an empty space before we headed toward the entrance. Something beeped behind me and I turned to see an old man in a mobility scooter, a camo baseball cap on his head, and denim overalls. No shirt beneath. And the best part of it was, he was wearing pink crocs.
I moved out of the way. He winked at me as he whizzed past.
Bellamy threw a loaf of bread in the cart, then a jar of peanut butter.
I followed him around the store, watching people trudge through the aisles, looking like life had completely drained them. Children screamed, sprinting around the massive store. It was just… like nothing I’d ever seen. Because I hadn’t. I hated to admit that I’d never even been in a supermarket. My mom and dad both had housekeepers who cleaned and did the food shopping. And I’d been boarding.
Bellamy chucked canned vegetables in. Vegetables in a can. I didn’t even know such a thing existed.
“Do me a favor,” Bellamy said, fishing a sack of coupons out of his pocket. “Tell me how much these are worth.”
I frowned at the coupons. The most they were worth was fifty cents off. These couldn’t amount to much more than ten bucks max. Instead of saying anything, I counted them. “Eight seventy-five.”
He entered the amount on his phone, then stared at the screen. I realized he was adding it up, working out exactly how much money he had, and with each passing moment an uncomfortable knot formed in my chest. He was dealing weed and stealing cars, risking jail, and he was still having to add up fifty-cent coupons to cover groceries.
We headed to the checkout and loaded the groceries onto the conveyor belt.
“Look, just let me buy it…” I said, hoping I didn’t offend him.
The last thing I wanted was for him to think I pitied him. Of course I did, but only because I cared about him. A lot.
“It’s fine.” He tossed a box of rainbow Push-Pops onto the checkout.
“It’s the least I could do. Just…” I waved him away, taking my Amex from my purse and handing it to the cashier. He glared when I passed the coupons to the lady.
I swiped my card and seconds later, she offered me a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry ma’am, your card has been declined.”
Declined. Declined!
With a smile, I dug in my purse and handed her cash, my heart rate rising in an angry rhythm. That wasn’t my dad’s card. It was my mom’s. That meant one thing...She was on his side.
The cashier passed my change across, then my receipt before wishing us a Blessed Day as we headed to the exit.
We silently loaded the groceries into the trunk. I couldn’t believe she sided with my Dad. She hated him. After the groceries were tucked away, we placed the shopping cart in the corral, then went to get in the car.
Bellamy crawling across the passenger seat to the driver’s side, usually made me laugh, but not today.