Love and Sorrow (Small Town Secrets Book 5), стр. 42

“Then I’m glad I decided to do this, ‘cause we can talk for a few minutes.”

As he started to get in, he asked, “What’s this?”  Then he picked up the card on the seat and tilted it close to the window, trying to catch the light coming through from the street lamp.  “Kevin Campbell.  Roosevelt Middle School.”

“Yeah, he’s the counselor at Sarah’s school.”

“You gonna meet with him?”

After I lit my cigarette, I handed the pack over to Justin before turning the keys in the ignition long enough to lower the windows to let the smoke out.  It also allowed me the opportunity to not look him in the eyes while I answered his question—not that he could see me that well and not that it mattered.  “I already did.”

Justin lit a cigarette and took a drag.  “So how’d it go?”

“He told me all the things that could be wrong with her, so it didn’t do me a damn bit of good.  It just got me really upset.  But one good thing is it seems he’s genuinely interested in Sarah’s well being.”

“That’s good.”  Finally, he set the card on the dashboard.

“Okay, mister, if you plan on smoking with me twice a week, I don’t want to hear you complain about addiction later on.”

“Addiction?  You don’t need to worry about that.  It’s you that I gotta worry about.”

“Don’t.  It’s a bitch to quit, but I will someday.”

He didn’t speak until I looked him in the eyes.  “That’s not what I meant.  I think I’m addicted to you.”

I choked on the smoke and coughed a few times before speaking.  “So now I’m unhealthy?”

Laughing, he took another drag.  “Rascal, you’re too much.  That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“If you say so.”  I gripped the steering wheel with my left hand, trying to keep my voice steady.  “So is that what you tell your other girlfriends?”

“Hell, no.  Wouldn’t be true.”

“No, I mean, do you tell them you’re addicted to me?”

He laughed again.  “Maybe I should.  That’s a great idea.”

“You ass.”

“You know it, babe.”  After he tossed the cigarette butt out the window, he leaned over, resting his hand on my cheek.  “I better let you go.”

I nodded, more than ready for him to leave, because, like everything in my fucking life right now, all this visit had done was make me more upset.  “Yeah.  I gotta get the kids.”

“Next Tuesday, Rascal.”

“Sure.”  After he shut the door, I started the van and drove off quickly, wondering how my nonexistent love life had gotten so fucked up.  So fucked up, in fact, that Justin and I had just had a casual conversation about the other women he dated like it was nothing.  So incredibly fucked up that I couldn’t tell him how I felt about him.

That I wouldn’t even if I could.

I couldn’t bear the thought of rejection, so I had to do it myself.  This addictive friendship needed to end.  At least Justin had been right about the compulsive, habitual nature of our relationship.

But my clusterfuck of a week wasn’t over yet.  Not by a long shot.  At least I hadn’t gotten any calls from the school about Sarah.  That was a bright spot.

I had the closing shift at work on Friday, and, from ten till midnight when the store finally closed, I was on my own.  When it was almost eleven, I had an unexpected customer.  Had he been by himself, I would have welcomed him.

But he was not alone.

“Hey, Rascal.  Didn’t know you worked tonight.”

Try as I might, I couldn’t force myself to smile.  “Are you here to rent a movie or what?”  I missed my chance to ask if they wanted to get a porno.  Had I known then that this woman was a complete twat waffle, I would have gone overboard about it.

“Yep, I think so.”  As he and the pretty young woman approached the counter, he said, “Chelsea, this is my good friend Randi Miller.”

Justin couldn’t see the look on that little bitch’s perfectly shaped, though overly made up, face.  The young blonde appeared to be in her early twenties with a petite figure unmarred by childbirth.  Maybe she already sensed that Justin and I were the benefits-type of friends.  It would explain her hostility towards me that Justin was too oblivious to notice.

“Nice to meet you.”  Jesus Christ.  The anger and jealousy dripping off this woman was palpable, leaving me to wonder why Justin didn’t notice it.

Or maybe he did.  Maybe this particular woman was clingy, not willing to take his player ways, and he thought a “chance” meeting with me would send her running.  As the woman approached the counter, a sickeningly sweet smile spread over her face, but her eyes gave her away.  I tried not to focus on the slashes of blue eye shadow she’d painted on her lids, the thick pink lipstick smeared on her lips.  More than that, I avoided the tight tank top accentuating her cleavage, small though it might have been.

Goddamn.  I was pissed at Justin, probably more than this woman was pissed at me, and I really didn’t appreciate being put in this position—but I was on the clock and would make all my customers, even the assholes, happy.  After all, it wouldn’t be the first time in my life that a woman viewed me as some sort of competition.  When I smiled back, I could tell it was a little too wide, but it was the best I could do.  “Nice to meet you, too.  Justin, do you even have an account here?”

“Yeah, but I never rent movies.”

Chelsea tilted her head.  “Except for now.”

When I pulled up the account for one Anderson, Justin Lee, I said, “It looks like your address needs to be updated.  But go ahead and browse for now.”

“Thanks,” the girl said, as if Justin needed her to speak for him.  Then she eyed what she could see of my uniform as if sizing me up, making