Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 114647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
I contemplated the horridness of that sneaky little bitch as I walked down the driveway, and down the road. When I got to the cutoff through the woods, I decided it was best to go ahead and take the shortcut seeing as James was right, and the dark clouds of black were currently straight above me.
Then I cursed myself for getting jealous and leaving when I should have just stayed and waited. But when I saw James’ arms wrap around that woman, something in my chest caught, and I felt the need to run.
I’d experienced enough of that feeling for a lifetime, and I was definitely not standing around watching a man I had a crush on macking on some woman. No sir-ree-bob.
Chapter 6
Roses are red, Foxes are clever. I like your butt, let me touch it forever.
-Redneck Love Poem
James
“Jolie, how are you?” I asked her, quite frankly surprised that she even showed up.
The last time we’d seen each other, a couple months ago, was when I was on a date. She’d acted like I was the devil incarnate. Then her friend had died in his motorcycle wreck, and she’d called to see if I could fix it.
Now that I’d seen it, I was pretty sure nothing short of scrapping it would work with it. There was just nothing salvageable to be had; it just looked like one large pile of metal that was welded together.
The wreck had to have been horrific.
“I’m doing okay, Jamie.” She smiled sadly, and then the tears started falling.
I pulled her into my arms again, and she went willingly. I was a sucker for tears. Didn’t matter who cried, man, woman, or child. They killed me, and I’d do just about anything to make them stop short of walking away.
I’d held her the night that her father had killed my best friend, too. I wanted her to know that no one blamed her, even though she blamed herself. She’d come to the hospital to offer her condolences. At first, I’d thought it was only to make sure her father was all right, but she never even went to the nurse’s station to check on her dad. Instead, she went straight to Briggs’ parents and dropped down to her knees apologizing profusely.
Jolie was a nobody. She had nobody. She needed nobody.
She’d slipped into my heart that day, and stayed there. Even now, twelve years later, I still cared for her. Although once I’d thought it was romantically, I now feel different about her, in a way that a good friend cares about another good friend.
“Daddy?” Janie asked from beside me.
I let Jolie go, and stepped away from her to crouch down so I was eyelevel with Janie. “Yeah, baby?”
“Where did your friend go? I wanted to show her the Dyna, but I can’t find her anywhere.” Janie asked.
I stood quickly, scanning the parking lot and surrounding area for Shiloh.
Shit!
How long had she been gone? I hadn’t even noticed that she’d left!
“Max!” I yelled and turned to him.
“What?” He grunted, eyes moving from the tire he was trying to get off a Mustang to me.
He wasn’t Jolie’s biggest fan. He’d always felt that she was manipulative. I’d always thought that she was just a sweet girl needing attention. We agreed to disagree.
“Did you see where Shiloh went?” I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.
“Yeah,” He grunted again, one of the lug nuts finally giving way. “Walked down the driveway and North on Second. Why?”
“Fuck,” I growled. “She can’t get in. I have her new key since I had better locks installed.”
I didn’t want to leave Jolie in her upset state, but there was no way I was just leaving Shiloh out in the rain.
“Hey, man. Can you hang out with Jolie here for a few while I run these over?”
I knew his answer would be no. The man really didn’t like being left with Jolie. Never had. Said she changed when I wasn’t around. I’d never witnessed it, even when I’d tried to be sneaky.
“She’s got a perfectly capable brother over there. Not to mention, she looked pretty pissed when she left. I’d be willing to bet she didn’t even go home.” He said as he worked the final lug nut free, making the tire lean to the side awkwardly.
Then the first sound of thunder boomed in the distance, making my decision for me. “Okay, Jolie. I gotta go. I’m sorry.” I said as I grabbed her into another tight hug before releasing her.
“It’s o-okay. I’ll be f-fine.” She said as she turned on her heel and practically ran to the car.
As if I didn’t already feel bad enough, the girl always had a way to make me feel worse than I already did. Especially that night I’d caught her trying to fuck the worst bully in the school.
“Why do you let her do that to you? She treats you like her little lap dog.” Max huffed.
Ignoring him, I grabbed Janie by the hand and walked her to the back of the garage.
“Come on, Janie. Let’s go get the truck and find Shiloh.”
“She can stay with me. As long as the harpy isn’t here, I’m good.” He said as he stood and gestured to Janie. “Come here, kemosabe. Let’s see if we can get this POS working.”
“I don’t like that Harpy either.” Janie whispered.
Although, like all kids, it was louder than her normal voice, so everyone that was eavesdropping in the garage heard what she’d said and chuckled.
Bastards.
***
Shiloh
My door had two shiny new locks on it, as well as a shiny new brass door handle. What the fuck? Did Marjorie change the locks while I was gone?
Sure, I was getting this place for a song, but that didn’t mean she could just go and change the locks without telling me. Or letting me get my things out first. She never struck me as the type to be vindictive, so what reason did she have to change them while I was gone?
I planted my foot, spun on my heels, and just made it the first step down when the skies opened up. A-fucking-gain.