Page 63 of F*ck You

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Lee

Alump formed in my throat when I saw the flashing red and blue lights reflecting off of Larsen’s widening eyes. Unraveling his arms from around me, he took a step toward them and I rested my head against the steering wheel with a groan.

Could this day possibly get any fucking worse? Yes, of course it could.

“Ma’am? Are you alright?”

I lifted my head at the unfamiliar deep voice and saw an officer watching me with a peculiar look. His eyes narrowed when they found the bottle of rum in my hand, and I knew any attempt to argue my way out of this would be pointless. Why didn’t I throw the bottle out the moment Chase left? I hadn’t even realized I was still holding it until right this moment.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Bad day.”

“How much have you had to drink?” He nodded toward the nearly empty bottle. His movements seemed sluggish, but that was probably because my mind was fogging over as the rum kicked in. So, yeah, of course this could get worse.

“Not as much as I meant to actually, a good bit of it spilled out on the beach. I haven’t driven at all. I’m just resting in here after a fight with my boyfriend. As you can see, the truck isn’t even on. It’s not in the best shape to go anywhere, even if I wanted to.” Okay so that was partially a stretch. This truck could probably still get me from one place to another with minimal issues, but still.

“Resting behind the driver’s seat of a vehicle?”

I nodded. “Pretty much.”

“Can I see your license and registration?”

“Yeah, yeah.” After rummaging through my purse and the center console, I handed him what he needed. “Just arrest me already, I really don’t feel like drawing this out. I’m well aware of what this looks like, and I have nothing else to add to what I’ve already told you.”

“Lee—”

I cut Larsen off. “It’ll be fine.” Honestly, though, I really didn’t care what happened to me. I just wanted to run away, and I really didn’t feel like going back home right now, where every inch of the condo would remind me of what I lost tonight and how much I screwed up. Maybe a night in jail would help clear my thoughts. It would be like a vacation for the drunkenly fucked up.

Larsen didn’t make this easy, as he kept trying to argue with the cop. My knight in swimsuit armor. It seemed as though he knew him personally, but that shouldn’t have been a surprise. Everyone seemed to know everyone around here. I was the only one who never belonged.

Damn, I really needed to work on my pity party.

It wasn’t long before I was leaving the area in the back of a cop car, and I watched Larsen in the rearview mirror, standing in the middle of the parking lot. He had both hands tangled in his hair as he was undoubtedly trying to figure out how to fix this situation, and I knew he wouldn’t give up if there was anything at all he could possibly do about it.

He would soon realize the only one who could fix my fuck up was me.

The drive passed by without a hitch, and we soon reached the small station. I saw the precinct come into view as we neared, surprised by how tiny it was. There were only a handful of cells inside, and only one of them was occupied. I supposed this area probably didn’t see much crime very often.

I went to the cell I was directed to and sat on the metal bench as the lock for the wrought iron door clicked into place.

“Lucky for you, here in North Isle, we’re not necessarily as strict.”

I found myself mesmerized by the officer’s mustache that bounced as he spoke. It was thick and covered his entire upper lip. I was sure I even spotted some drying whipped cream trapped between the hairs as he drank his coffee.

“So what does that mean? Are you going to let me go then?” It took all the strength I had to tamp down my anger. I wasn’t the one who should have been arrested. It should have been Giana. Even though I knew I deserved it, it was simply easier to place the blame on someone else before I finally had to face the music with Chase.

“Oh, we are, but not right now. You need to spend the night in here at the very least, and then we’ll go from there. Sorry.” He shrugged on the last word, but the emotionless expression on his face told me he really didn’t give a shit about how it would inconvenience me.

My temple met with the cool concrete wall my cell was made of, and the last little bit of my fight left me in a sigh. I didn’t mind as much as I normally would have. I was aware I deserved this. At least I wouldn’t need to spend the night in my empty condo. Instead, I’d spend the night in an empty jail cell next to another one that had someone sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, watching as I was brought in.

“What did they get you for?” Her voice was raspy as she spoke.

“Sitting behind the wheel of a truck with the engine shut off while downing a bottle of rum. You?”

“Murder.”

I whipped my head around to get a better look at her. Her hair was gray and frizzy, and her eyes were sunken in and practically devoid of life.

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