Page 18 of Frenemies

Naomi would not be happy with my extracurricular activities. I’d get a harsh verbal lashing for sure, but was that really a bad thing? It was kind of hot watching her go off. Besides, it gave me an excuse to throat fuck her—I had to shut her up somehow.

Stop thinking about her, Dickhead!

I shook my head clear and focused on the needle. Naomi was Chase’s girl, and Chase was dead. I was just the husk. Nothing more than the shadow of a man left behind to clean up the mess. My eyes fell down to the heroin. Husks could still have fun.

Time to drift off to Neverland.

Jabbing the needle into my arm, I plunged the drugs into my vein and slid down the wall. The heroin smacked me like a freight train, and I happily sunk into it. A smile crept across my lips as the room came to life.

Jimi Hendrix’sPurple Hazerang through my ears as the colors in the carpet began swirling in the air like tiny little dancing streaks. I tipped my head and watched them sway back and forth, drawing patterns I wanted to reach out and touch.

Sitting here with a hot tingle pouring through my body was so much better than dwelling on the past. There was nothing here but the colors, the bitch in the bed, and me.

“Get up, Chase.”

And Jax?

My brows furrowed at the corner of the room. What the hell was my brother doing here, and why was he next to a swing set? I dropped my gaze to the little boy on the ground. The only clean spots on his dirt-coated face were from the tears running down his cheeks.

“Don’t let those jerks push you around.” Jax held out his hand. “Come on.”

The kid reached up and curled his small hand around my brother’s. Why did he seem familiar? Especially those brown eyes.

“Let’s go,” Jax helped him up and brushed the dirt off his shoulders. “And show those fuckers what the Mathers brothers are capable of.”

Oh shit, that kid was me.

Damn, this was some good heroin. I could even smell the grass stains on the kid’s knees.

They walked off into the fading swing set that rematerialized in the shape of a drug store I remembered well: Marv’s. That red-roofed building was where I did my first drop.

Jax didn’t think I was ready and argued with our old man for days. Looking back on it now, he was probably right. I was barely fourteen with a face full of acne, but I insisted that I could handle it—I got shot, of course. Jax lost his shit. I’d never seen him that mad. Kicked the crap out of the guy so fucking bad that I could still smell the blood.

“You motherfucker,” Jax yelled and swung his leg, knocking his steel toed boots off the Reaper’s jaw.

My gaze followed the spray of red that splattered on the wall. Apparently, I could still see the blood too.

The Reaper rolled over and coughed out, “Go fuck yourself, Jax.”

My brother’s dark eyes narrowed as his jaw ticked.

The only person that argued what happened next was the skinny little pipsqueak on the ground.

When my brother pulled out a gun, he yelled, “Jax, no.”

Unlike that naive teen, I knew what was coming.

A gunshot thundered through the air, shattering the scene into pieces. Then a new set of eyes appeared before me. A deep blue color that made my breath hitch.

“I, Samantha Leigh Adams, take you, Chase Maverick Mathers…”

A tear slid down my cheek as I took in the sight of Sam all dressed up in white. God, she looked beautiful that day. With her dark hair curled behind her veil and my mother’s locket around her neck. I’d never forgotten the way those lilies smelled in her hand, my perfect wife.

Beast cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders back. “Can we have the rings, please?”

I couldn’t help but snicker at his puffed-up chest. He was so fucking proud when he got his clergy’s license. Prick insisted on marrying us. A scrawny little shit skipped forward, almost tripping up the steps, just like Tanner insisted on being the ring bearer.

Jax shook his head and snatched the rings out of Tanner’s hand.

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