Page 17 of His Valentine

“The fuck is he doing here?” Tysen is pissed; I can feel his presence as well as hear the anger in his voice.

“I think it’s best if you leave now. Call me tomorrow, give me a chance to talk to Briar, and then you can see her.”

“Should have taken his ass to the cleaners,” Matthew, always the lawyer, pipes in.

“Yeah, I’ll do that. I didn’t mean any harm. Was in the area and figured it’d be cool. I’ll call tomorrow.” He puts up his hand in a no-offense gesture. I roll my eyes. He won’t call tomorrow. He’ll forget, and it’ll start this vicious cycle all over again.

“Okay.” I’ve had a lot of time to contemplate life in the past forty-eight hours. Depending on the cost of Trent’s grandma’s car and what I’ll have left over, I’m going to make an appointment with Matthew. He might not practice family law onthe regular, and he’s told me so many times he’d be willing to look at my case, so I’m going to take him up on it.

“I’m going back in the house. Thanks, Ash.” I pat his chest then move toward Trent. “Thanks, big guy.” I lift up on my toes, he meets me halfway, and our lips graze one another’s.

“Anytime, babe, see you inside.” He squeezes my hip, his eyes bouncing around and being watchful. Yep, it’s time to head inside. I’ve got a girl to check on and parents to text. Mom and Mike are always kept aware when Chris makes an appearance, and since Briar talks to her Gee-paw, he more than needs to know.

“Damn, I missed all the fun.” Asher snorts at Jude’s assessment. Truth be told, he’s usually in his hidey hole working on a new app he’s developing.

Asher and Trent don’t turn their backs on Chris as he walks away. I do, though. He’s done it so many times to Briar that it’s the least of what he deserves.

“You alright?” Johnny asks, walking toward me.

“Yep, never better. I’m going to go check on my girl. Will you make sure they don’t decide to bust the headlights out of Chris’ car. There’s a good probability it isn’t even his.” He laughs at my statement, knowing it’s more than likely the truth.

“Yeah, girl. I’ll watch out for them,” he replies.

“Thanks, I think I’ve had enough excitement to last me at least a month, if not a year,” I say with a laugh.

“You got that right. Go on.” I nod, take a deep breath, and continue on my path. A few seconds later, I hear a motor start, then the noise of tires on pavement give me a piece of mind now that Chris is gone. There’s no looking back. I’m only looking ahead. My head is down, watching where I walk, when I reach the porch steps. The whole way up, I keep looking downward. One would think being a dancer and a stripper, I’d keep my eyes upward, except I’ve been known to trip going up the stairs.

“Hey, everything alright?” Lennie is standing in the doorway, holding the screen door open for me to enter.

“It is, thankfully. He’s gone,” I reply.

“She’s asleep, if you need to talk, and if you don’t, I’m okay with that, too,” Lennon says. Part of the reason I love her so much is she doesn’t push. The other is she’s just her, genuine to a fault, and she’s amazing for my brother, his perfect match.

“I’m going to take you up on that tomorrow. I’m too tired to do much more than head home and curl up on the couch with Trent and Briar.” I no sooner get the words out of my mouth than I hear another car pull up to our otherwise quiet neighborhood. Usually, it’s just the guys who take up all the spare space with their vehicles. In my driveway, Asher’s, and then parking on the street. Today, we’re down Jagger, so there seems to be way more room in front of our houses.

“Who is that?” I see Lennon peek around where I’m standing.

“Oh shit. I haven’t seen her in years. Her name is never spoken, and if you so much as breathe a word about her or her name, everyone gives you a death glare.”

“Well, Asher hasn’t said a single thing. He’s locked whatever her name is up in a vault, which is saying something.” Lennie steps away from the door, pulling it shut behind her, and we both move to the top of the steps, settling in for the drama to unfold.

“What the hell,” I hear Tysen say, realization hitting him first. Johnny had his back to the street, talking with the guys. Them and their little gathering of the minds. I’ve seen glimpses of the group chat; they’re worse than a bunch of girly teenagers.

“I wish I knew more of their background,” I tell Lennie, waiting for Johnny to notice, and when he does, it’s one for the books.

“I’ve got a feeling we’ll know more after this little tidbit of drama.” We probably should not be watching this unfold, not any of us. This is between Johnny and Winifred.

“Woman, you left me for your sister.” My nose wrinkles at his statement. Maybe her sister needed her, and Johnny couldn’t handle it.

“You know why I left. My reason is more than enough,” she replies.

“Leaving your man for a woman addicted to killing herself in the form of dope is not a good enough reason.” The plot is unfolding. This is more than the scene Chris created. The neighbors didn’t come outside for my drama, or maybe they did, and they’re staying for the second act.

“Johnny.” I watch as emotion takes hold of her. She’s trying to hold it together, but it’s written all over her face that she’s about to crumble.

“I think we might need to intervene,” Lennie says.

“Yep.” I’m already standing up, ready to intervene, when I hear the next part of the conversation.

---