Page 179 of Mountain Daddy
The jealous rage vanishes as quickly as it appeared.
Joe.
Fuck.
Kendra isn’t here looking for me. She’s here because Joe wants to be here, for whatever reason, and she couldn’t tell him she didn’t want to come.
Because I’m certain she didn’t want to come.
Jessie drops her hands as she feels the fight leave me. “Go lie down. I’ll tell you when they’re gone.”
I pull the keycards out of my pocket, double-checking the numbers before I hand one to Jessie. “I owe you.”
She takes the key for a room on the second floor. “I take payment in the form of airline vouchers.”
I huff. But as I stumble back to room number two, I figure I owe my sister a whole vacation.
Because I can’t have Kendra see me like this. As a drunk, un-showered mess.
I need Kendra to be okay. I need her to find someone better than me.
And if she sees me looking like hell…
Her heart is too big. She’ll know I’m struggling, and she’ll know I…
She’ll know I love her too.
And I can’t let her know that.
I need her to believe me.
I need her to believe she’s better off without me.
Chapter 108
Kendra
“Whiskey and ginger ale, please,”I tell the tall bartender.
He smiles and turns to my dad.
Jessie ran out of here pretty much the second we sat down, and I have to wonder what she’s doing.
Maybe warning Luther that we’re here?
His truck is in the lot, so I know he’s here. I panicked about it the whole walk in.
But I don’t see him.
Dad orders the burger of the week, and I ask for the same.
I didn’t hear the description, but if Luther is nearby, it doesn’t matter. I won’t taste it anyway.
The bartender steps back and calls into the kitchen for two burgers, then he starts on our drinks.
Dad got a root beer since he’s driving. But since I’m not driving, I suck down half of my cocktail the moment the bartender slides it in front of me.
Thankfully, Dad is talking to Smalls about some baseball game, so he doesn’t notice my sudden thirst.
