Page 60 of Unhinged

Amos gawks at me and then stutters, “Yes. You are trespassed. Leave.”

Several other customers rally around us to see what’s going on, some yelling for Roy to get out, which is surprising since he’s an ex-firefighter.

“Fuck all of you,” he mutters before shoving open the doors.

As people return to their seats, Amos asks, “You defended Simone?”

“Don’t even, Vaughn. I’m only protecting my aunt’s business since you made it clear if I can’t get along with Garrison, then you’ll leave and sell your share. No one will buy into this place, except for maybe my dad, but he’d sell it again. So you have to resort to extortion?”

“It’s not a threat. Greg, I’m not staying involved in your life or hometown if you don’t want Simone or me here. It’s just a fact.”

“I played nice with her. Do I get a gold star?” If he only knew how nice.

He nods, but I know he’s trying not to smile. Good, because I’d knock it off his face.

Walking into my bedroom at two-thirty in the morning, I’m still on edge from the Roy incident. Hearing what he wanted to do to Garrison still boils my blood. I should’ve kicked his ass on the way out.

I don’t know why I acted the way I did. Simone should mean shit to me, but now, I don’t know what the hell she is, besides a major complication. That’s why I want her to go.

But I need her to stay.

She’s the one person to know how fucked-up I am, and she feels guilty for some of it. That combo is my ticket to getting laid and working out the kinks of my inexperience. Though I’m a novice, she’s getting fucked too, even if she gets the raw end of the deal. That probably still makes me an asshole, but maybe it’s my turn to be one.

Hearing my mother walking around in her bedroom, usually waiting for me to get home, I make a quick escape to the bathroom. In the shower, my thoughts are all Garrison still. I can’t stop thinking of what she said, her moaning, or the moment I pulled her shirt and came over her tits. The look on her face was shock and…desire. Hot fuck. I need more.

As I harden, I soap up my hand and grab my dick, imagining her doing everything she claimed she would have in my room. God. I want to erase the night they drugged me. I don’t want to see his face anymore. I’m so ready to watch a woman suck me off and not because I can’t move. And I only imagine one woman doing it to me.

My moans echo in the shower, thinking about her mouth on my dick. I had wanted to fuck Hadley, but the sudden need for Simone is urgent, unsettling, and consuming. The water beats against my back as I tip my head, breathless and almost there. Not just her body comes to mind, but her face. She’s so pretty, funny, and sexy. It’s no wonder twenty-three guys have fucked her. Holy shit.

I hate that, but why should that bother me? She knows what the hell she’s doing, then.

I pant until I spray the shower wall. Catching my breath, I whisper, “Simone.”

There’s no help for me.

The next night in the bar’s kitchen, Monty accosts me regarding Roy, barraging me with stupid questions like it’s his call if I banned Roy.

“So, you just kicked him out?”

“He made offensive statements about a coworker.”

“To her face?”

“No, but he didn’t have to. He said them to me.”

“Hmm,” he says, stroking his non-beard.

“And if I ever see him here again, I’ll break his jaw.” Right. Like I can throw a punch.

“There will be no violence, Greg.”

“He threatened to…assault her.”

Monty frowns. “Well, you didn’t say that.”

“Did I really have to? I think the comments should’ve been enough.”

Nodding like a high school principal during a speech about drugs, he says, “You’re right. He’s banned.”

---