Fireball (Cheap Thrills #1)(48)

“Again,” Hurst added.

Shit, they had a point. Groaning in frustration, I studied the floor in front of me and tried to figure a way out of it. I wish I could say that the plan I came up with was down to my own genius brain, but it was in fact down to the name staring up at me from the paper waiting to be filed on my desk.





Two hours later…

Walking down the hall, I smiled when I heard Jarrod singing in the cell beside Tabby’s. When I’d told him what I’d done, he’d given himself a stitch laughing – literally. After he’d walked it off, still laughing, he’d listened to my plan and had agreed to help. Apparently, regardless of what her choice was, he got a front-row seat to it all, so he was in.

What he was singing was purely down to him though. Making out the words and realizing what song he was singing as I got closer to his door, I almost tripped over my feet. Maybe I should have been specific on what kind of songs I needed him to sing, because how was Bitch by Meredith Brooks helpful to this shituation?

Stopping in front of his door, I opened the window in it and raised an eyebrow at him. The man was tall – as in his driver’s license probably had ‘gigantour’ on it – and he was lying out on the cot with his legs over the edge because it was too small. Grinning back unrepentantly at me he changed onto the next song on the list – You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ by the Righteous Brothers.

Mouthing asshole at him, I left the window open and moved down to Tabby’s door. Taking a deep breath, I opened it and peeked quickly inside, only just ducking in time when she threw a wad of wet toilet paper through it at me.

Well then.





Ten minutes later…

Nervous about opening the window again, I knocked on her door this time. “Tabby?”

Not hearing any movement inside, I looked over my shoulder at where Hurst and Dad were standing watching me.

“Go on,” Hurst whispered, nodding his head at the door and miming opening it.

Hell no. Then again, to fix shit between us, I needed to talk to her so I had to do this. Slowly sliding the door open, I peeked inside and breathed a sigh of relief when nothing hit me in the face. This time though, she’d come up with a whole new plan because I’d only just opened my mouth to say her name again, when I got a face full of water.

Closing the window again, I faced the two twats who were now laughing their asses off at me as Jarrod started singing Santana’s Smooth.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all?





Six hours and fifty-one minutes later…

A weaker man might have given up by now, but each time I’d gotten drenched it had only made me more determined to get her to listen to me. Hurst had gone home, somewhat twitchy after way too many cups of coffee, and Dad was having a nap in my office, leaving me without their running commentaries.

Jose had turned up an hour ago, demanding to see her sister. After passing Olivia to me and letting me catch up on some baby cuddles with her, she’d spoken to Dad who’d told her his story. Ellis had come in halfway through it and, after taking the baby from me because he was a baby stealer, he’d listened as Dad got to the end of it and waited for Jose to make a decision. Not wasting a second, she’d given me a hug and had then ordered me to fix shit and left again, but this time with Ellis.

The fact that I was trying to do just that and was getting soaked in return was frustrating as hell, which led me to now. I’d been sitting with my back against Tabby’s door for half an hour, trying to decide what words would get through to her.

Jarrod had stopped singing for a spell, too busy eating the burger and fries I’d just delivered to him, and thankfully all the other cells were empty. Apparently, people didn’t act like assholes and get arrested during the first week of August in Piersville, who knew?

Sighing in frustration, I dropped my head back, wincing when it thumped off the door. I’m not sure if it was this that made her do what she did next, or if it was guilt over the fact that while I’d been sitting here, she’d been pouring water through the gap under door so it soaked up into my pants (something that I found out about shortly). But just after it, Tabby shocked the shit out of me by talking.

“I’ve tried justifying my reaction to the news so many times over the last…” she paused like she was trying to remember how long it had been.

“Nine days,” I muttered, the weight of those days catching up with me all at once.

“Nine days,” she sighed. “But I can’t. I should have listened to you and heard your side of the story, and I should have seen that there was more to it than it seemed. I’m such a bitch.”

That was when I felt something wet under my ass. Lifting a cheek up off the floor, I felt around with my hand and groaned when I discovered the amount of water that my fireball had managed to get under me. It could only have come from her, because I’d checked the floor before I’d sat down in case there was water left over from all the cups she’d thrown in my face since she’d been here.

“Was that really necessary?” I didn’t need to say what she’d done, she knew full well what I was talking about.

“Well, yeah. You upset me!”

Only five minutes ago, I didn’t think I’d ever get to laugh with her again like I’d done a million times since I’d met her, so the burst that came out of me felt damn good.