The problem, truthfully, was that Leo’s giant ass was squashing the leather.
That wasn’t my problem. That was the cheeseburgers he pounded for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“I can’t control physics,” I said, sort of tongue in cheek.
“What does that mean?” Leo asked.
“Let’s keep this simple,” Hunter said. “You paid for the work we did. You liked the work. Now you’re pissed about something else.”
Leo was a degenerate gambler too. He probably had a bad weekend at the tables and needed cash.
“What am I pissed about then?” Leo yelled at Hunter.
I saw someone getting out of the black SUV. It was another big dude, more fat than muscle, just like Leo.
“Who is this?” I asked.
“My cousin,” Leo said. “We aren’t leaving without a refund.”
“Is that a threat?” I asked.
“I’ll call the cops,” Dicky said. “Fuck this.”
“Pussy,” Leo said. “Can’t settle it like a man?”
“This isn’t a boxing match, asshole,” Dicky said.
“Hey,” Hunter yelled and grabbed for Dicky. He pushed him toward the garage. “Go get a coffee.”
“And put some of that pussy flavored creamer in it,” Leo called out.
“That’s enough,” I said. “This is done. Get out of here, Leo. You need some cash? I got a hundred bucks in my pocket. You can have it. You and I know the work we did was exactly what you wanted. You gave me a hard time about paying the balance owed. That’s why I held your ride. And while it was in my garage, it was covered and untouched. Whatever you’re going through, it’s not my fault. And it’s not my guys’ fault. Go.”
“Make me,” Leo said. He turned and faced me.
“Mason, let me call the cops,” Hunter said. “Don’t even bother anymore.”
“What the fuck are you going to do?” Leo asked. “Huh?”
I felt a fire flicker inside me. Goddammit, everything was suddenly rushing through my body. The phone call that fucked up my childhood. The one person who tried to save it… and me. The only person I ever loved. All that rage, sitting and building. Festering. Then fucking Violet. Crashing into my life. She was a storm and the damn thing kept coming back. It wouldn’t just pass.
“He’s just staring,” Leo said. “What are you doing, Mason? You going to man up and do the right thing here? Just issue a check. Give me the refund and I’m gone. You know I’m right. Just do it.”
“No,” I said. “I won’t do that.” I was fighting to stay calm. “You paid for work we did. You have a problem you can take it up somewhere else. You’re not going to push me around, Leo. And any other business you have, take it elsewhere. I promise you, you won’t find another place like this.”
“Bunch of cock licking pussies,” he said. “That’s what you are. Fucking guy can’t even draw a straight line. And this fucking pussy” - he pointed to Hunter - “chasing me around with paperwork. Fuck your paperwork. And you” - Leo pointed at me with a small, fat, crooked finger - “you fucking just take it up the ass, I bet. From all of them.”
That’s when I lost it.
A man has limits. I had been trying to control my limits because of Violet. That was a big mistake. I needed my releases in life.
My fist flew forward as Hunter screamed my name. Before he could finish, I connected to Leo’s pudgy jaw. His arms flew back and he stumbled back, right into the motorcycle. He knocked the damn thing over and toppled on top of it. He grabbed his face and rolled to his side, yelling in pain.
Everyone from the shop came out to see the finale of the commotion.
I pointed to Leo’s cousin. “Get him out of here. You too.”
“You scratched it!” Leo yelled. He wrestled to get to his feet. “You scratched my ride!”
“And we’ll gladly buff that out for you,” Hunter said. “We’ll even give you a returning customer discount.”
“You’re fucked,” Leo said. “I’ll bury you. Assholes.”
I made a fist and showed it to Leo. “The next time I hit you, Leo, you’ll wake up five years from now.”
I’d never seen a big man move so quick in my life. He and his cousin lifted the motorcycle off the ground and they took off, Leo leading, his cousin peeling out in the black SUV.
“That’s going to be a problem,” Hunter said.
“Fuck him,” I said. “Nobody gets to do that to anyone in my business.”
I walked away from Hunter and went to find Dicky. He was in the break room, staring at a picture of a woman holding wrenches at her tits. It was the only thing blocking her nipples from being seen.
“Dicky,” I said.
He turned. “Mason.”
“You’re good at what you do. Don’t let anyone deny it.”
“You hit him, didn’t you?”
“Just a warning tap.”
“Jesus, Mason. You can’t hit customers.”
“Too late now.”
I knocked on the door and went to my office.
All day long I took calls, talked to the guys, had two meetings with new clients, but my mind wasn’t there. All that mattered was that we were open, doing business, and life was moving forward.
Hunter opened my office door. “End of the day.”
“End of another week,” I said.
“Want the bad news now or Monday?”
“What bad news?”
“Our situation from before,” Hunter said.
“What about?”
“He’s pursuing us,” Hunter said. “Talking to people. Word is getting around.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“Mason…”
“Hunter…”
“You should get ahead of it. Post a video. Apologize.”
“That I won’t do,” I said. I stood up. “I’m going home.”
“Thought we were going out for a drink?”
“I’m going the fuck home,” I said.
Hunter showed me his hands. “Sorry.”
That was the end of my fucked day.
Or so I fucking thought.
Picture this.
After I walked up the steps and opened the door to the hallway, the last thing I thought I would see was a guy standing at Violet’s door.
Some skinny little dude holding a single red flower.
Not even a fucking rose.
I kept walking, and when I got close enough, he looked at me and nodded.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” I said.
I stopped at my door. I looked at the dude. “You, uh, got big plans?”
“Date,” he said. “Your neighbor.”
“Right,” I said.
A fucking date?
“Hey,” he said. “Got any tips for me?”
“No,” I said. “Good luck. Maybe next time bring a real flower. Not something that you swiped from the front landscaping.”
The door opened and Violet stepped out. “Hey. You must be Charlie.”
Charlie?
I did all I could not to laugh.
This guy looked like he’d break into a sweat lifting a pencil. He looked like he hadn’t…
I broke my thoughts.
Was I really judging this dude?
I didn’t need to ask why. I knew why.
Fuck me, I knew why.
“Ready to go?” Violet asked.
“Yeah,” Charlie said. “This is for you.”
She took the flower. “Aw, that’s so sweet.”
I felt my teeth grind.
Violet looked at me, but made no expression.
She hooked her hand through Charlie’s arm. They walked away.
They were the same height. This dude was short. He couldn’t protect her. He couldn’t defend her.
I stood there long after they were gone.
Violet had done it… she’d made me jealous.
“Well played,” I whispered.
But she wasn’t goin
g to win this. No fucking way.
I was going to be awake and waiting for her when she got back from her date.
18
Breaking In
(Violet)
OMG… save me…
I blinked and smiled at Charlie.
This was a huge mistake.
Victoria had come through in a pinch for me, though.
It wasn’t that Charlie wasn’t a nice guy or anything, he just wasn’t… Mason.
I wasn’t sure what to do with the red flower. So I had to carry it around. I had to take it to a bar. And people asked me about it. Including Victoria. She was half drunk and thought everything Charlie did was so sweet.
The entire night was getting annoying, and fast.
Victoria kept making out with some guy who kept buying her drinks. Charlie had a look in his eyes that said he was already planning how to sleep with me and what excuse to give to not spend the night.
Then he leaned in and stole a kiss. A quick peck, pushing the table into my stomach, almost making me cough.
I jumped back like someone had sneezed on me.
“What was that?” I yelled.
“I’ve wanted to do that since I saw you open your door, Violet.”
“Oh. Yeah.”
Charlie just stared at me.
Right. This was the part when I was supposed to flirt back with him.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I wasn’t going to force this. This was a joke.
“I’ll be right back,” I said.
I went to the bar and tracked down the bartender. I paid for my drinks on the tab. So there would be nothing lingering with me and Charlie.
I went back to the table and Charlie was still staring at me.
“I have to get going,” I said.
“What?” he asked. “I thought we…”
“Look. There’s a lot of excuses I could probably make right now. I’m just not there. I asked Victoria to set me up. It’s been a long time… not that it matters. I’m sorry if I’ve wasted your time.”
“Wow. At least you’re honest.”
“I covered my drinks, too,” I said. “There’s still plenty of night left to go enjoy yourself.”
“This is weird.”
“Yeah, it is.”
Leave it to me to make an awkward situation worse. It was why I was single. It was why I was still a damn virgin.
I left the flower on the table and left the bar.
I had to text for a ride and wait, which was like the longest wait of my life. I kept looking over my shoulder waiting for Victoria to come after me, demanding to know what I was doing.
I had no idea what I was doing.
That was the problem.
I looked up the pictures of that other apartment while I stood there waiting for my ride. I should have just jumped on it. There were hundreds of apartments I could look at. Or maybe just move back in with Victoria. I couldn’t be near Mason anymore though. Whatever was happening between us wasn’t good for me. Or him, apparently.
My ride finally showed up and I was gone.
It was going to be another amazing Friday night. Alone. In my apartment. Trying to kill time and memories.
Way to go, Violet.
I stuck my key into the lock and turned. I glanced at Mason’s apartment and knew he wasn’t home. He was out. He was doing his thing. With women who wanted nothing but his body. I guess I was a horrible person for suggesting to want more.
I opened the door and stepped inside.
I flicked on the lights to an empty apartment.
Except… it wasn’t empty.
Someone was sitting in a chair, staring at me.
I couldn’t even scream.
I froze and dropped my keys. I dropped my bag. My instinct was to run and call the police. But in real life, things didn’t happen that way. I was like a block of ice for what felt like ten minutes.
It was more like two seconds though.
There was a person sitting in a chair, wearing a black hoodie, head down.
The intruder slowly lifted his head and reached up to peel the hood off his head.
That’s when I saw it was Mason.
Fuck, he looked like a total bad ass in a black hoodie.
“How was your date?” he asked.
“Holy fuck,” I yelled. “Are you insane?”
“No. Just wanted to see how good he was.”
“What?”
“See if you were going to bring him home. And if you did, what would he do if he found someone in your apartment?”
“You are insane,” I said. “Fucking insane. He could have shot you.”
Mason curled his lip. “He brought you a cheap flower. No way that guy was carrying a gun.”
“The flower… what…”
I was flabbergasted.
Mason was worried about the flower Charlie gave me?
No. He’s jealous…
That’s what this was. If Mason was a kid he would have broken a toy to show he was jealous. But since he was a grown adult man, he broke into my apartment…
“You can’t do this,” I said.
“Where’s your date?”
“It didn’t work out. And neither is this.”
“Cops are coming,” Mason said. That’s when he started to stand. “So you better make a decision.”
“What?”
“When I heard you coming, I called the cops. I said someone was in your apartment. They’re going to be here any minute.”
“Then get out!” I yelled.
“You’ll get in trouble, Violet. False alarm…”
“I’ll tell them I didn’t call, which I didn’t. That there was a mistake.”
“I’m not leaving,” he said.
I felt like my head was going to burst. “Shit, Mason. What is wrong with you? If the cops show up, they’ll take you away.”
“Not unless you say I’m welcome here,” he said. “You make the call.”
“I have to lie to the police?”
Mason shrugged his shoulders. “You’re good at lying, babe.”
“How so?”
“You’ve been lying to yourself since you met me. I know that. I see it in your eyes.”
“You’re jealous,” I yelled. “Because I went out with someone. You were worried I’d let him fuck me. Let him spread my legs open and stuff his dick inside me. Right?”
I saw the anger on his face.
Oh, damn, I knew how to break him…
I never had a man look at me the way Mason did. Or do this crazy shit.
“How did your date go?” he asked.
“I already told you, it didn’t work out. Why? You want to go out on a date with me?”
“The only date we have is my dick with your cherry,” Mason said.
“How the fuck did you get in here?”
“Little Miss Flustered forgot to lock her door,” he said.
“Christ,” I whispered.
Fine. The second I opened the door and saw Charlie standing there I knew it was a mistake. And then Mason was in the hallway. So I had to play it off. Yeah, I wanted to make him jealous. I wanted to break him.
But he was crazy.
His eyes… they were crazy for me.
“Better really think this through,” Mason said. “How does this all play now?”
“I hate you, Mason,” I said. “You can’t do this stuff and then hold yourself back. It’s not fair.”
Before Mason could answer, two police officers came through the open door, one with his weapon drawn, the other yelling orders for Mason to put his hands up. The entire thing moved so fast that before I could breathe, he was in handcuffs.
That’s when I finally yelled, “Wait!”
“Ma’am,” one of the officers said.
“It’s a mistake,” I said. “He didn’t break in. That call shouldn’t have been made. I’m so sorry.”
“Excuse me?” the officer asked.
“If I can talk for a seco
nd,” Mason said. “I haven’t fought back at all here. This is all my fault, Officer. I came into her apartment without her knowing.”
“So the call…”
Mason threw his left shoulder. “Over there, Officer. On the counter.”
I looked as the officer did and saw a vase with a dozen red roses in it.
I let out a gasp.
“I knew Violet was having a rough week,” Mason said. “So I thought I would sneak some flowers into her apartment. I guess someone in the building must have seen me. I take full responsibility for this. I didn’t intend for any harm to be done. She came in while I was still setting them up and she let out a yell. We started to talk and then you showed up.”
The officers both looked at me. “Is this true?”
“Yes,” I said. “Uh… I… yes. I know him. I know Mason. He surprised me when I opened the door. I didn’t realize the cops had been called.”
My mind was spinning. My heart racing faster than I could ever remember.
The two officers looked at each other and then released Mason from the cuffs. We had a quick exchange, one including one of the officers taking me into the hall to make sure everything was okay. I explained that Mason was my neighbor and was being nice. They verified his ID and everything checked out.
The police left and I was then left alone with Mason.
In my apartment.
Standing there as he stood in front of the chair.
“You bought me roses?” I asked.
“Better than some cheap flower,” Mason said.
“I don’t get it. Any of it, Mason. Help me.”
“Get what?”
“Why I hate you so much. I mean, I get why I hate you. But then you do this. Roses? But call the police? That was embarrassing.”
“Nobody saw,” he said. “And I got to see your true colors. You care about me, Violet. You can’t deny that.”
I opened my mouth to deny it.
Mason wasn’t having it.
He put up a hand and slowly sat down. “Trust. It’s a tough thing. Earned, lost, regained. Whatever. You wanted to cut into me a little? Know some of my life? That’s a big mistake, babe.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m too far gone. And I’m warning you.”
“I’ll take the risk,” I said.
I slowly approached him. The room was filled with tension and lust. It was hard to breathe but I managed, just staring at him.
HATE ME: a bad boy romance novel Page 12