Page 27 of No Place Like Home

“Hey. There’s pizza. You want some?” Blake’s voice rang out from the kitchen.

I plopped on the couch, stretched out my hands, and wiggled my fingers.

“Tired?”

“No, just annoyed. I hate high schoolers.”

I took the slice of pizza while I told Blake about the kids who came and annoyed the shit out of me.

“Wait, they actually said that? They asked you to flash them to make sure you didn’t have Satanic tattoos?”

“Seriously, I think one of them was related to Lisa.”

Blake threw a hand over my shoulder. “You have me, babe. That’s all you need.”

I took his hand off and put it back to his side, then patted his bare chest. “I’m a woman, not a little girl. The only person I have to be good for is me.”

My phone started ringing when I took it out of my bag. I was shocked when I saw who was calling.

CHAPTEREIGHT

Today’s gamekicked my fucking ass. My body was sore, recovering from the hits I took.

Yeah, I should have never fucked Caleb’s girl.Was this what people called karma? I’d never thought thinking with my dick would get me in trouble, but my body said otherwise.

We might have won the game, but Caleb got his revenge. These hoes ain't loyal, so why waste energy on them? A good girl would never cheat. Caleb should have dumped her ass instead of trying to beatmyass.

I wasn’t the only one celebrating my win here. I knew back home in Sunny Pines, they celebrated my victory with me. The rest of Wisconsin, not so much. I was glad to be back in the hotel. I desperately needed some rest. I lay in my bed, and for the first time in a long time, I wasn’t interested in chasing tail. Not since Lauren came into my life. I didn’t know how it happened, but she was still a fixture in my life. Which reminded me she was probably blowing up my phone already.

I grabbed my bag and took my lucky charm out of it. If anyone got wind of my little talisman, it would be a liability. You did not mess with a man and his luck. It was rare when I took it out of state, but this was my home state, and I wanted it close to me. It was just a feeling I had the last few months, so I just went with my gut.

Scrolling through my texts and calls, I was surprised to see Jessa’s name in my inbox. I’d changed my phone a few times, and every time, I kept transferring her number over. I just never thought she would have had the same one since high school. Ignoring everything else I had to do, I lay back and pressed the call button. The phone rang four times; just before I was going to give up, she answered.

“Hello?” Her voice was breathy like she’d been running.

“Did I catch you at a bad time?” I asked, suddenly aware that it was late, and if she wasn’t running, her voice was like that for other reasons, and for some insane reason, I didn’t like that idea.

“No. Go away.”

“You didn’t have to answer,” I said, annoyed.

“Not you,” she snapped, then I heard a door slamming.

“Everything okay?” I sat up straighter.

It's wasn’t like I could do anything to help her. I might have been in the same state, but I was hours away from Sunny Pines.

“Yeah, of course. Just trying to get some privacy.”

I grinned. “You want me all to yourself, huh?”

“What?” she screeched loud enough that I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

“Jessa, I’m fucking with you.”

I heard some ruffling and what sounded like books hitting the floor. Now that I knew she wasn’t in danger, I lay back in bed.

“So….whazzup?” She gave a nervous chuckle.

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