Until Lilly (Until, #3)(81)

“What?” I ask looking around again.

“Here’s your phone.” He hands me my phone and I’m still a little light headed. He starts to walk off again I watch in a daze then he turns around to face me from about twelve feet away.  “Sophie.”

“Yeah?”

“Change the picture on your phone.” He says before he turns and disappears into the crowd. I stand there for a few minutes wondering what just happened. Eventually I pull myself together enough to make it to my car. When I get there I realize that I hadn’t even put the top up. I turn quickly looking in my back seat. Thank god my bag is still there.

I start my car and head home. I live in a small two-bedroom house, I bought the place cash when I moved, it’s not much but its home. I pull into my garage and hop out. I drag my bag with me. I need a beer or a shot of something. I unlock my door and kick my shoes off; they fly down the hall towards my room. Dropping my bag by the door and the infamous phone on the table I head to my kitchen open my freezer, pull out the bottle of vodka I keep there in case of emergency. I pull a coffee cup down from the cupboard fill it half full and shoot it back. Coughing up a lung and trying to catch my breath, I fill the glass up again. I shakily take another shot holding my breath as the burn fills my chest but this time I’m prepared for it.  I put the stuff away feeling more relaxed already. I head to my room stripping off my clothes I put on a t-shirt. It’s early so I head to the living room grabbing my phone along the way. I plop down on my couch, put my feet up on the coffee table and turn the TV on and start up the DVR and press play on the big bang theory. I sit there for a few minutes in a daze. I look at my phone in my hand, clicking on the screen and look at the picture of Jamie. I don’t know why but I can’t help but to smile. Nico was hot slightly scary but defiantly interesting.



Nico





I was happy to be home. I had been gone four days chasing a Skip. I thought it would take me a little longer to catch up with the guy but lucky for me he was half moron. I pull up in front of my town house shutting off my car and my phone rings. I look at the caller id, I know its not going to be sweet Sophie but that doesn’t mean I don’t want it to be. Kenton’s number flashes on the screen, I’m sure he has another case for me but right now that’s not happening. I’m going to have a beer go to bed then tomorrow I’m going over to the local Middle school.

“Yeah.” I answer, I pull my bag out of the backseat.

“Didn’t take you long to catch Johnson.’

“That’s because he is a moron.” I tell him. “He hid out at his mom’s house. You would think that he would have learned his lesson the last two times I went after him. Most of the time I was gone was spent on the road getting there then getting home. When are you going to get a private jet so I don’t have to put miles on my car?”

“Stop bitching, you made fifteen hundred dollars in two days.” He wasn’t wrong. I had a nice little nest egg going between selling my part of the construction business back to my brothers and chasing after skips, I was sitting on a nice stack of cash.

“So why are you calling?”

“What! I can’t call and see how my cousin is doing?”

“Do I sound stupid to you?”

“Alright, alright. The thing is that I need you to help me out with something.

“What?”

“Look a friend of mine from Vegas called. He has a girl that needs a place to crash for a little while.”

“And what does that have to do with me?”

“Can she stay with you until Cassie gets the rest of her shit out of my house?”

“Hell no!” I say as I shove my keys into the door. The second the door is open daisy starts going wild. I scoop her up in one hand as she begins licking my chin or any piece of me she can get to. “You still have that dog?” He laughs.

“Yes.” I growl. All the f*ckers in my life think it’s funny that I own a little fur ball for a dog. I rescued daisy from a flophouse. She was so small at the time that she could fit in the palm of my hand. I was going to give her to one of my family members but I couldn’t do it. After a week of having her with me I grew attached to her.

“Look man I just need your help this one time.”

“No, you should have put that bitches shit out months ago.”

“Don’t make it seem like I haven’t wanted to. She swore that she was coming this weekend to get all of her stuff but until then I don’t have room for this chick that’s coming.”

“Who is it that’s coming?” I ask curiously.

“A friend of mine works in Vegas as a bouncer at a strip club. This girl saw some shit go down. He called and asked me to keep an eye out for her until the right people can be contacted.”

“Wow your own personal stripper living with you.”

“She could live with you first.” He says.

“I’m seeing someone. So your gonna have to find something else to do with the chick or toss your ex’s shit outside or burn it behind your house for all I care.”

“You’re seeing someone?” I can hear the disbelief in his voice. I’m not surprised, I don’t date, I hook up and go home.

“I just got home I don’t have time for this right now. Call your ex tell her that she needs to come get her stuff tomorrow or you’re burning it. And honestly if she doesn’t show up I say burn that shit.”