Page 50 of Tease Me

I groaned.

“Love you.”

After a pause, the phone went silent, and I flopped back onto the bed and rubbed my temples, trying to suppress the thump that hammered across my brain.

As the stupid conversation rolled around my head, Isent a text toLolly.

Hey, r u busy?

Nope.

Lolita responded immediately.

Good. I need some dojo time. Rukeen?

Hell yeah. U okay?

No. I just got off the phone with Mom.

Shit. Okay, I’ll pickuup in 20 mins.

She signed off with a smiley face that sported a huge cheesy grin.

I brushed my teeth, dressed in my gym gear, grabbed my Karate Gi andmy bag, and made my waydownstairs.Needledick waved at me as I crossed the lobby, and I reluctantly waved back.

His eyebrows drilled into a straight line. “Are you going for a run? It’s raining.”

“No, going to karate.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you did karate.”

My heart nearly stopped as I realized my mistake. My mind flashed to my karate chop that knocked Needledick to the floor in the elevator last week. Before I’d incapacitated him, I’d told him I was going to karate chop him in the throat.

Damn, why did I open my big mouth? “Oh, well, I’ve just started.”Lies upon lies upon lies.My once simple life had become very complicated.

When he squinted at me, I had a terrible feeling he’d seen right through my deception.

“Bye.” I picked up my pace, and as I raced across the lobby, my sneakers squeaked on the marble tiles.

I stepped through the sliding glass doors, and the tumbling rain perfectly matched my tumbling emotions. With a squeal of tires, Lolly skidded her Grand Cherokee to a stop. She was my knight in shining armor, and I had no idea what I’d do without her.

I climbed in, and she leaned over to hug me. “What did the bitch do this time?”

It was just like her to get right to the point.

Unclenching my jaw and forcing back the emotion that made it nearly impossible to speak, I told her everything.

“Jeez, what’s wrong with them?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea. They don’t seem to realize how much this hurts me.”

She squeezed my knee. “Well, I do. Let’sgokick and punch some of that anger out. Then we’ll make a plan.” We eased out of the drop-off zone, and the rain sounded much heavier as itpummeledthe roof of her car.

We arrived at Kamoto’s Karate dojo twenty minutes later and dashed through the rain to the front door. In the reception area, as I slipped into my Gi, Master Kamoto admonished us for not coming every week.

We waited out his speech in silence. It was a ritual we went through every once in a while, and after a brief discussion, he once again seemed to give up on converting us, turned his back, and walked away.

Lolly and I weren’t perturbed; we did karate purely for self-defense, not to win any competitions. I was happy with my green belt status, and I was sure Lolita washappywith her purple belt, two levels above me.

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