Page 51 of Renegade

I deserved so much better than the shitty hand I’d been dealt.

Chapter Nine

June 2014

“Like this?” Ginger looked up at me with hopeful eyes.

I shook my head and pushed her mouth down on me. “Like that. Use your hand and your mouth. See? Better already.”

It wasn’t better already.

I just wanted her to shut the fuck up.

Ginger wasn’t even her real name. I’d forgotten that within minutes of meeting her at the bar during happy hour. She had red hair and in my beer fog, she reminded me a little bit of Lauren.

Lauren.

She’d waltzed in the room in her green dress and promptly fucked up my world. That bitch.

Suffice it to say that my date with her hadn’t gone quite like I’d hoped. Since then, my entire sex life had gone to shit. It didn’t matter how many women I fucked—all I could think about was the one who’d shot me down.

I just wanted what I couldn’t have.

That was what it boiled down to. If I’d had my one night with her, she’d have been out of my system and I would have been ready for the next one to come along.

Instead, I’d faced rejection and ended up back where I’d been in Galveston—drunk and disorderly. I felt myself growing sloppy again and I knew that Grey was gonna nail my ass any minute over it. I had a plan though. I was gonna tell him to go after Lauren—the whole thing was her fault anyway.

It was also David’s fault because who in their right mind invites their buddy out for a platonic date?That asshole. Yeah, I was gonna have to add his name to my list too.

I’d confronted him the day after our failed date, certain that he’d pulled her aside sometime after our encounter with the drunk.

“I swear to you, man, I didn’t say a word. Maybe she just saw through your act. Someday, Mike, there’s going to be a woman who comes along and makes you crazy. It’s like I told you at my wedding. And, when you fall, you’re going to fall hard—but Lauren isn’t that woman.”

Motherfucker.

I might’ve started drinking early today.

I looked over at the out-of-focus nightstand and tried to find the bottle ofCuervo. I shook it and heard the tequila as it splashed up the sides of the bottle.

See, totally sober.

My phone began ringing.David. I’d dodged his calls long enough. Maybe he was calling to admit that he’d made a mistake with the whole Lauren thing.

Ginger bobbed off and stared at me. “Are you gonna turn your phone off?”

I pushed her mouth back down onto my dick. “Shhhh…” Then I answered. “David, you cocksucker. What the fuck do you want?”

The other end of the line was eerily silent and then I heard a choking sound. “Mike, there was a car accident. Beth won’t wake up—she won’t wake up!”

I sat up so quickly that Ginger lost her balance and toppled off the bed. “Go. Now,” I directed her.

“I’m on my way. Tell me which hospital they took her to.”

I didn’t remember getting into my truck or driving to the hospital. I came to somewhere outside of the automatic sliding doors of the emergency room.

I pushed my way past the early weekend crowd in search of David.

Instead, I found Lauren.

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