Pieces of Summer (A stand-alone novel)(35)

“Please tell me I wasn’t f*cking someone.”

“Nah, man. Not that night. At least I don’t think so. Fuck, I don’t know. It’s been years ago. I just remember her eyes, because I’ve never seen someone that freaked out.”

“Fuck!” Jerking to my feet, I forgo finding the stupid belt and grab my keys.

“Where are you going?”

“To apologize. No wonder she f*cking hates me.” I run my hand through my hair, trying to get the thought of her seeing me with someone else out of my head.

That would have f*cking slayed me back then if it had been the other way around. I didn’t even have the balls to find out if she was with someone the one time I talked myself into driving out to her dad’s ranch.

“Pretty sure she would hate you even if she hadn’t seen it. You did end things without ending them,” he retorts.

Ignoring him, I sling my door open, rush to my truck, and drive like a maniac to the bowling alley. When I pull up, it’s packed, but I don’t see her car. I go in anyway.

Whit is standing behind the counter when I walk up, and she freezes when she sees me.

“Hey, where’s Mika?”

Her lips draw down in a frown. “And here I was thinking you came by to see me. How stupid I am.”

She does remember she f*cked Aidan, right?

“Is Mika here or not?”

She rolls her eyes. “She’s not here. She’s never here. I think Chuck said he saw her step in this morning and leave immediately after. Which is weird. Why are you looking for her?”

Instead of answering, I turn to head back toward the doors. Just as I reach them, Whit is wedging her small body between me and the exit.

“Aidan called me today.”

Is she really trying to make me jealous when she knows I don’t get jealous? At least not over her. Fucking eh.

“Good for you.”

She groans while staying in my way, and I consider picking her up and moving her.

“That wasn’t a barb. Anyway, he said to make sure you didn’t go near his sister while he was gone. He also asked me to make sure she got out of the house every three days. Not to let her go over that amount of time inside, as though it was a life or death sort of deal. He’s stuck in some city on a job and can’t get back any time soon. When I asked him why such a specific timeframe, he asked me not to ask questions. He said he’d owe me one. What’s the deal?”

That just confuses the hell out of me. Every three days?

“I don’t know, Whit,” I say with a shrug, sidestepping her, but she moves just in time to block me again.

“Look, I like her, but there’s something weird going on. And whatever it is, she doesn’t need you adding to it. You f*cked with my head, but I was tough enough to take it. Mika… Mika seems fragile. Maybe Aidan’s right about you staying away.”

“Or maybe you’re suddenly jealous, since you f*cked her brother and now you regret it,” I growl.

She shrinks back, dusting her hair away from her face. “Yeah, I do regret it. But not because I want you back. You didn’t want me like you want her. And I am jealous, because that’s the kind of passion I always wanted to feel from you but only got the watered down version instead. But I care about Mika. She’s been really good to me.”

My head tips back as guilt hits me from all angles. Everyone has always said I was worthless, that I’d end up just like my parents. That I’d be the town drunk or piece of shit whore. My momma was the slut everyone paid for a quick blowjob, and I got to see all those sick f*cks laughing at me after I’d caught them in the act more times than I could count.

My father was constantly in a cell where he’d been thrown to sober up after starting a drunken fight. He was also constantly f*cking anything with a pulse. Sometimes he was even f*cking someone in the next room while my mother sucked off some piece of shit for twenty bucks.

Here I am, slowly making a mess of my life with one shitty decision after another. I’ve proven the judgmental bastards of this town right more than I’ve proven them wrong. Dragging Mika down with me isn’t an option. But letting Mika think I didn’t give a damn… Or letting her think I moved on that quickly… That’s not an option either.

She wants closure. I’ll f*cking give it to her. She deserves that much.

Looking around, my eyes catch the lone bald eagle statue, and I just stare at it, feeling more guilt well up inside me. Whit is studying me when my gaze comes back to her, and she slowly moves out of my way.

“Be smart about this, Chase. Don’t break a girl who’s already broken.”





Chapter 21


MIKA



As she watched the bowling alley burn to the ground with all the things that tied her to this town, she wiped a tear away from her cheek. Detective Norris looked at her with pity weighing heavily in his eyes, while she watched the flames fight against the force of the firemen’s hoses, struggling to stay alive and take down every last memory before they could put it out.

In a way, she felt relieved, and a sense of satisfaction hit her. The man who had killed her husband couldn’t have survived that fire. He stole her bowling alley like he stole Thomas’s life. Without proof, no one could do anything about it, not even the cops. The forged will had held up in court. He’d taken everything from her.