Not Looking for Love: Episode 6 (A New Adult Contemporary Romance Novel) Read Online Free Page A
Author: Lena Bourne
all week, so when he finally does on Friday morning, the hope dying actually hurts like someone stabbed me. I can't believe I was beginning to think he wouldn't, that he'd just slip away and let me get on with my life. I can't believe I've been stupid enough to hope for that.
I almost called Gail last night. I've lost count of how many times I've opened the apartment door thinking some faint creak was her coming to me like she did so many times. But it was never her, and I felt even more of an idiot for hoping. Because, fuck, she thinks I cheated on her, and I left her without saying anything much. So why would she come here? She's not that needy anymore. And I shouldn't hope so hard for her to be. She deserves to feel better.
The phone's still ringing in my hand. I answer just as Mike hangs up. Maybe I should just let him call back. But it's a fleeting thought. I shouldn't antagonize him.
I call back and he answers immediately, an edge in his voice. "I'm picking you up in an hour. Meet me downstairs."
"Picking me up for what?" I ask. A part of my deranged mind hopes it’s for a nice lunch date where we will work everything out, and I could then go see Gail tonight.
"It's time you went back to work," he says and hangs up before I can ask anything more.
Back to work? I'd literally give both my legs if I never had to steal another car. Besides, I'm such a liability now, with my record, all the shit that happened with Gail, my DNA and fingerprints in the database. Who the fuck would even want me working for them? Unless this is all still Mike trying to get me sent back to prison.
I can't breathe in the apartment, so I go down to the street, pace up and down waiting for him. It's supposed to be spring, but it's colder than it was in January. After awhile I even stop fighting the daydream that I'm really waiting for Gail, that everything is as it was. That we'd worked everything out.
Mike pulls up right on time, his black car shining like he just drove it out of some showroom.
I slide in and his wide, pearly white smile almost makes me retch. What I really want to do is punch him. So I make long work of fastening the seatbelt, because I just might act on it this time.
"I don't want to go back to work, you realize that?" I ask, turning down the radio. The noise was like a thousand blades scraping the inside of my skull.
"Why not, Scott?" he says, speeding away. "You were so good at it."
It's true. I was very good at stealing cars. Even took pride in it for awhile. But…"I want to be good at something else now."
I want to be good at loving Gail and starting a normal life so we can be together. Even in my head, it's starting to sound like wishful thinking. But maybe I haven’t fucked it all up beyond repair yet.
Mike breaks hard, pulls into a bus stop so fast that one of the people waiting there leaps back.
"Right now, you're gonna do what I tell you to do," he hisses, no smile anywhere on his face now. "It was hard enough for me to convince them to take you back after that shit you pulled running away. You nearly cost me years of work with that one. Fucking years."
He's breathing heavily, and I have no idea what he's talking about. "What do they know about me leaving? Why should they care?"
"Who do you think you've been working for since you got out of prison? Me?" he asks, spittle hitting my face. I wipe it away, bile rising in my throat. His eyes are bulging, red veins standing out clear against the whites.
"Yeah, I thought I was working for you," I mutter. "Why didn't you tell me? Who do you work for anyway?"
"You'll find out soon enough," he says, and slips the car into gear, drives off. "And you should know you were never in any danger of going back to prison like you kept accusing me of trying to cause."
"Is that right? Could've fooled me," I say, staring straight ahead, because the urge to punch him is overwhelming again. Then maybe he'd lose control of the car and that huge rig he’s
I almost called Gail last night. I've lost count of how many times I've opened the apartment door thinking some faint creak was her coming to me like she did so many times. But it was never her, and I felt even more of an idiot for hoping. Because, fuck, she thinks I cheated on her, and I left her without saying anything much. So why would she come here? She's not that needy anymore. And I shouldn't hope so hard for her to be. She deserves to feel better.
The phone's still ringing in my hand. I answer just as Mike hangs up. Maybe I should just let him call back. But it's a fleeting thought. I shouldn't antagonize him.
I call back and he answers immediately, an edge in his voice. "I'm picking you up in an hour. Meet me downstairs."
"Picking me up for what?" I ask. A part of my deranged mind hopes it’s for a nice lunch date where we will work everything out, and I could then go see Gail tonight.
"It's time you went back to work," he says and hangs up before I can ask anything more.
Back to work? I'd literally give both my legs if I never had to steal another car. Besides, I'm such a liability now, with my record, all the shit that happened with Gail, my DNA and fingerprints in the database. Who the fuck would even want me working for them? Unless this is all still Mike trying to get me sent back to prison.
I can't breathe in the apartment, so I go down to the street, pace up and down waiting for him. It's supposed to be spring, but it's colder than it was in January. After awhile I even stop fighting the daydream that I'm really waiting for Gail, that everything is as it was. That we'd worked everything out.
Mike pulls up right on time, his black car shining like he just drove it out of some showroom.
I slide in and his wide, pearly white smile almost makes me retch. What I really want to do is punch him. So I make long work of fastening the seatbelt, because I just might act on it this time.
"I don't want to go back to work, you realize that?" I ask, turning down the radio. The noise was like a thousand blades scraping the inside of my skull.
"Why not, Scott?" he says, speeding away. "You were so good at it."
It's true. I was very good at stealing cars. Even took pride in it for awhile. But…"I want to be good at something else now."
I want to be good at loving Gail and starting a normal life so we can be together. Even in my head, it's starting to sound like wishful thinking. But maybe I haven’t fucked it all up beyond repair yet.
Mike breaks hard, pulls into a bus stop so fast that one of the people waiting there leaps back.
"Right now, you're gonna do what I tell you to do," he hisses, no smile anywhere on his face now. "It was hard enough for me to convince them to take you back after that shit you pulled running away. You nearly cost me years of work with that one. Fucking years."
He's breathing heavily, and I have no idea what he's talking about. "What do they know about me leaving? Why should they care?"
"Who do you think you've been working for since you got out of prison? Me?" he asks, spittle hitting my face. I wipe it away, bile rising in my throat. His eyes are bulging, red veins standing out clear against the whites.
"Yeah, I thought I was working for you," I mutter. "Why didn't you tell me? Who do you work for anyway?"
"You'll find out soon enough," he says, and slips the car into gear, drives off. "And you should know you were never in any danger of going back to prison like you kept accusing me of trying to cause."
"Is that right? Could've fooled me," I say, staring straight ahead, because the urge to punch him is overwhelming again. Then maybe he'd lose control of the car and that huge rig he’s
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