Page 159 of The Tempted

The cold breeze smacked me in the face and I could feel Mike staring at me nervously. I turned around and pierced him with a cold stare.

“What is it Mike?”

“If now isn’t a good time…” he started.

It’s never a good time. Time is my biggest demon, always fucking with me.

“Just say what you want to say,” I demanded. For his sake, I hope it wasn’t some stupid shit he wanted to discuss, like what fucking color suit he should wear opening night.

“All right, fine,” he crossed his arms.

“What do you know about Rico?”

I rolled my eyes. It was worse than ‘what color suit’. Instead, jealous Mike emerged, eager to get into Nikki’s panties. If this little shit broke her heart, I’d break his legs. Plain and simple. Mike was my friend but Nikki was right up there with my sister.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I told you to leave it alone Mike. No good can come from you getting involved with Nikki.”

I entertained his questions for about five minutes. I explained how Nikki had met the D.J. and how I had checked him out when she first started seeing him and that he was clean. I informed him how long she had been dating him and that he seemed to make her happy. I left it at that and hoped that he did the right thing when it came to Nikki.

Adrianna’s car pulled up right in front of Temptations, distracting both of us and ending the conversation at the same time.

“Fucking great,” I mumbled. I hadn’t seen her since I left with Jack. I promised her I’d fix this shit between us I was working on it and promised I’d give her a call. I never fucking called. She was pissed off that morning when I had to leave, lord knows how fucking mad she was now that I hadn’t followed through with my promise. I was notorious for breaking promises when it came to her, made me wonder why she even gave two fucks about me.

I clenched my fists and walked around her car as Nikki climbed out of the passenger seat, ready to face the music, or otherwise known as the wrath of Adrianna. Her window was rolled up, and she stared out the passenger window ignoring me. I tapped my hand against the roof of her car to get her attention even though I knew she sensed I was right next to her.

“Roll down your window,” I shouted calmly. She was going to test me, she always did, but this time I knew I deserved it, which made me even angrier. I blew out a breath and bent my knees making myself eye-level with her tinted windows. She probably flipped me the finger behind the blackened glass.

“Open the damn window, Adrianna!” I shouted.So much for trying to stay calm.

She lowered the window about an inch and I saw her eyes. “Fuck you,” she said, before rolling the window back up.

“Would you stop acting like a fucking child and hear me out,” I roared through clenched teeth.

The window lowered again. “There’s nothing you could say that I want to hear anymore.” She closed the window again.

“Not now, Reese’s. I’m not in the mood to play games,” I said to the dark glass.

“Come on, baby, open the window.” I struggled to remain calm, not open the fucking door, and push her over the console and carjack her, taking her far the fuck away from here. The idea of running away, starting a new life, set me off and broke any restraint I had left. I tried the door but the slick little thing she was hit the lock button just as my hand reached for the handle.

“Open the fucking door, A!”

That didn’t work because she revved her engine and peeled out of the spot nearly running me over as her tires screeched against the pavement. And so here, we were…again.

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