Page 22 of Depraved Desires

He chuckled at my persistence and leaned forward, placing both hands on the table. His woodsy cologne strangled mysenses as I inhaled, and I didn’t hate it. Shit, if it wouldn’t make me look like a complete weirdo, I’d sniff the fuck out of him.

“We’re getting you some tattoos,” he answered casually. “I don’t like their names carved into that hot little body of yours.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Hunter

The alcohol warmed my body as it traveled through my veins—a nice reprieve from the internal anguish I’d been experiencing as of late. Tilting my head back, I stared at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes. I’ve always been a casual drinker, but lately, it’s been much worse.Everythinghas been much worse. Luckily, it was Friday night so that saved me from having to go to classes hungover.

Principal Hawthorn announced Raven and Aspen’s disappearances yesterday over the intercom and now, we were all on edge. So far, they were suspected to be runaways. For our case, I hoped it stayed that way.

Reaching for my bottle of unprescribed Adderall, I twisted off the cap and dumped a handful of pills into the palm of my hand. Knocking them back, I took a swig of my whiskey and swallowed. My drug-usage was also something that had increased over the last two weeks, but it was under control. My paranoia of getting caught by the police was eating away at me, but there’s no way I was going to tell the guys that. Myles and Foster probablywouldn’t understand. They were already chewing into Collin for it—they didn’t need to worry about me on top of it.

My phone started ringing, pulling me out of my drunken haze. Snatching it off the bed, I checked the caller ID and suddenly, all the alcohol I’d consumed threatened to spill out of me when my mom’s name flashed across the screen. Building up the courage I needed in order to have whatever conversation she wanted, I swiped right.

“What the fuck do you want now?” I snapped into the receiver.

The last time we’d spoken was probably close to a year ago and it was to beg me for money. I figured she stopped asking because she snagged a rich boyfriend or something who supplied her with all the alcohol and crank she desired.

She huffed on the other end of the line, clearly annoyed by my attitude. Frankly, I didn’t give a shit. All she cared about was partying, getting laid, and drugs. Looks like we were two peas in a pod. An internal scoff got lodged in my throat as I contemplated that. The difference between us was, I didn’t have kids, she did and that still wasn’t enough to change her.

“Now Hunter,” she admonished. “Is that any way to talk to your mother?”

Annoyance slithered through me. “What do you want?” I demanded, repeating my question. There was no reason for small talk; it wasn’t like we were close or anything. Never have been.

“I just wanted to reach out to you; we haven’t talked in a while, and I miss you.”Lies. They were all lies. If she missed me, she’d make an effort to reach out, aside from asking me for money that she never intended on paying back.

Reaching for my pre-rolled blunt and lighter, I rolled my thumb across the ball until a flame ignited. Then, I placed the blunt in my mouth and lit it, keeping my phone against my earand shoulder. I inhaled deeply, allowing the smoke to burn my throat before blowing it back out into the air. I was going to need to be as high as possible for this conversation.

“Whose fault is that?” I bit back, refusing to fall for her shit. Maybe when I was younger, I’d be more likely to believe her. Not now.

Ruffling sounded on the other end, indicating she was moving around. “I can’t call you just to talk?” she questioned, hurt lacing her tone. It was all bullshit, though. We’ve been playing these games for years and it always came down to one thing.

Taking another hit off my blunt, I blew it out before bothering to reply. “Since when do you ever call me just to talk?” I challenged.

“Hunter—”

“No,” I snapped, cutting her off. “I’m tired of these fucking games. Tell me what the hell it is youreallywant, or I’m hanging up.” I’ve been fine enough without her in my life and didn’t need her pretending she gave a shit. I knew the truth, and at this point, it was just an insult.

There was a long silence that seemed to stretch on for hours. She was probably trying to figure out how to word her monetary request in order to make it sound like she wasn’t the money-hungry bitch I’ve grown to know her as. By this point, the Adderall was beginning to do its job and my veins warmed even more than they had with just the alcohol.

“You remember, Ritchie, don’t you?” she began slowly, testing the waters.

Ritchie just so happened to be one of mymom’slatest boyfriends. I hadn’t heard his name in a while though, so I figured they broke up and figured that’s why she reached out to me for money all those months ago. He wasn’t her usual type. She usually went after guys that could supply her addictions andother things she wanted, and Ritchie…he was a bum. The dude couldn’t even afford toilet paper.

“What about him?” was my only reply. I wanted to get this conversation over with.

“Well, he’s in jail and I need to borrow some money to get him out. I promise I’ll pay you back. He got locked up over some bullshit warrant?—”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I growled into the device, my hands shaking. I didn’t know if that was a result of the drugs, anger, or both. “You want me to pay your boyfriend’s bond?” This was a new low for her. I mean, she was full of lows, but this might have been up there with ‘most fucked up shit’ she’s done to me over the years.

I couldn’t count how many times she’s cried to me over the abuse he was putting her through. I’d given her money when she called me up, stating that she needed to get away from him and that she’d be signing into a women’s shelter. A part of me knew it was a lie, but I still had hope that for once in her pathetic ass life, she’d do the right thing.

“You don’t understand, baby,” she continued in a small voice, the sentence breaking at the end as she tried to stifle her sob. “He means so much to me. I love him.”

Anger surged through me. What about the child she abandoned? Did she even love me? I scoffed at that, already knowing the answer. Blowing out a shaky breath, I said, “You need a heart in order to love, and last time I checked, you were a soulless bitch who only cared about herself.” I didn’t bother letting her reply. This conversation was over. Ending the call, I silenced my phone before tossing it on the bed and then, I reached for the bottle of bourbon.

The distant sound of voices woke me from my slumber. My entire body felt stiff as I worked on prying my eyes open. I wasn’t sure how much alcohol I’d consumed last night or when sleep overpowered my ability to stay awake, but I guess it didn’t matter.

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