Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
"Holy shit." I grip the front of his shirt, staring up into his face. I am sure I was about to fall down half a flight of concrete stairs.
"I got you," he repeats again. I nod, my heart still racing. He's got me. I'm not used to anyone having me. Usually I only have myself.
My mom might try to act like a caring mother at times, but her efforts never last long. Even tonight, when she texted to check up on me, her message felt strange. I didn't think for a second that's what she was really doing. I'm just not sure what her angle was.
I thought she would have been avoiding me. I texted her this morning when I realized she wasn't home about rent and other money owed. She knew what I was talking about, and I haven't told her that it's been covered. I'm not sure I will.
"Thank you," I tell him. "For having me." He gives me a nod, and his fingers on my side flex against me.
“They’re gone.” He leans down to grab his phone, and then he puts his arm back around me as we head up the stairs to my floor. I find myself leaning into him, enjoying the sense of comfort and safety he brings me. I don’t want tonight to end. In fact, I want to push more into his warm body; he even smells good too, and boys never smell good. I turn my face to brush it against his side.
"That's your apartment." I pull my attention away from him to see my door is partly open, the wood frame split.
"Mom!" I shout, rushing toward the door, but Niki pulls me back.
"Don't."
"Please—"
"Stay behind me," he whispers. "Not leaving you out here." I nod my head quickly, wanting him to go.
My mom drives me insane, but I don't want to think about anything happening to her. Hell, that's why I'd gone and gotten her drugs. I couldn't watch her lie there and suffer.
Niki slowly pushes the door open, stepping inside, right into my small living room. He glances around, each step he takes calculated as he moves through my home, opening all the doors and checking anywhere a person could be.
"Is your mom's room always this messy?" he asks quietly. I know what he's getting at; it appears ransacked. I nod. The last door is to my room; he pushes it open. My stomach sinks; my room is destroyed.
I step back, not wanting to see it. It's too much. I pull my phone out of my back pocket, calling my mom. She doesn't answer. I try again and again. Niki disappears through my bedroom door.
Finally my mom texts me back saying she's busy and the bar is packed. That she'll see me later. I'm relieved that she's fine. It could have been a junkie searching for money.
"You're not staying here," Niki says, his hands fisted at his sides. His reaction is making me think my room is a whole lot worse than I realized.
Chapter Nine
NIKI
“You can’t bring a girl here.” Bam sounds scandalized, as if a female has never stepped over the threshold before. My sister has been here a few times.
I frown at his outfit of gym shorts and sports tank that is open on the sides. I had to stick Andy in my bedroom because Bam is walking around half nude.
I turn away from him and stare into the empty fridge. “We don’t have any food in here.”
“No, because we don’t know how to cook.”
Bam’s always delivering the truth bombs.
“I can cook,” a soft voice interrupts.
We both turn toward the bedroom door where Andy’s small face appears. The yellow light from the nightstand next to my bed casts a golden outline, making her appear almost angelic. My chest tightens. I thump on it to release the tension, but nothing happens.
I turn to Bam. “Hit me.”
“Huh?” His jaw flaps open.
“Hit me.” I tap my left pec. “Hard. Right here.”
“Fuck you, man.” He snorts and jerks his head toward the door. “It’s because of her. That’s why you don’t bring girls home.” He shuffles off to his bedroom, muttering something under his breath about pussy ruining a good soldier. Thankfully, his room is on the opposite side of the apartment from mine, so I don’t think Andy heard him. I gesture for her to come join me in the kitchen.
“We’ve got beer, energy drinks, and some cheese slices.”
“There’s ramen in the cupboard,” Bam yells from his room.
“And ramen. Bam likes to put cheese on the ramen.”
“It’s superior, that’s why,” Bam shouts.
“Not my thing,” I say, shoving the cheese aside to see if something else will miraculously appear on the shelves, but they stay empty. I let the fridge door slide shut. “I could run to the store.”
“I’m not hungry. I ate at the restaurant during my break. Bobby made me some fried mozzarella sticks. You should try them the next time you come in. I mean, if you’re in the area. I’m not assuming anything.” Her words trip out as if she’s trying to cover something up.