Page 2 of Oliver

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever done something you should regret but you don’t?”

Her voice quavered and my stomach sank to my toes. Thiswasabout her asshole boyfriend or lover or whatever.

Biting my tongue against the bitter retort because I told her when she admitted weeks ago that she was dating a married man, it was a mistake, I said, “Yeah. I guess so. Why?”

“I don’t know. I guess I was curious. I know I should feel bad, but…”

I knew only too well how easy it was to lie to yourself when you knew what you did was wrong, and I wasn’t exactly the queen of good choices.

Case in point, I was homeschooling because I chose a bunch of fucking piranhas as friends and no surprise, they attacked, leaving me lifeless in the water.

However, I couldn’t say I didn’t now have regrets and I wanted so badly for Dixie to learn from my mistakes before they became the insurmountable mountain I couldn’t seem to climb.

Pointing that out would get me nowhere though beyond pissing her off even more. I was not proud of my decisions, and I’d spent the last two years trying to figure out where I went wrong.

Her relationship with a married man, if you could call it that, was a level of low that would only leave her hurt, if you didn’t count this creep’s family.

“Okay,” I said, exhaling on the lecture bubbling on my tongue. “If you want my opinion, you may not feel bad now, but you will.”

Her lip curled into a secret smile. “Whatever happens, I…”

“What do you mean? Are you in trouble?”

She opened her mouth, closed it and glanced at the buzzing phone clutched in her hand. “I gotta go.”

“Tomorrow,” I said, and she raised her pinky finger once more.

“Yep. Hey…”

“Yeah?”

“Love you, bitch.”

She closed the door before I could respond and with a chuckle, I re-read the sentence I was fixing before. I had to finish this damn paper. It was fifty percent of my grade but buckling down and doing this shit was ten times harder when there were so many distractions around me.

Still, I only had a few more units to go and I would be done with school altogether. Thank god.

Of course, the next step in my journey didn’t seem all that exciting but I hoped with my good grades, I could at least get a scholarship and blow this damn town.

That and every soulless fuck in it. Thoughts of which brought a pair of cool green eyes to mind, but I pushed that shit away. The dick didn’t deserve anything but to be forgotten. Easier said than done, I guess.

Later, when I think about that night, I don’t recall whether I finished that paper. All I know is that I wish I had insisted Dixie let me go with her. I wish I had blocked the door. I wish I had said, I love you back. I wish I hadn’t thought I knew better than her. I wish for a lot of things, but none more than that I didn’t dream about a soulless asshole the night my sister lost her life.

Chapter 1

They say it’s a sin to covet. If that’s the case, I’m going straight to hell.

Penny

Rolling to a seated position, I walk to the window and stare at the unmarked police car parked in the drive.

Dare, I hope? It’s been three months of nothing but more questions with no answers. It’s obvious they have no clue who killed her.

Don’t they know that every time they come here, they take a piece of Mom’s soul with them when they go? When is enough, enough?

I hear the deep rumble of a man’s voice interspersed with Mom’s shrill tone and sigh. Here we go again.

---