Page 3 of Bully's Second Chance
“It was still nice seeing you, though.”
“Yeah,” she said as the door started to close on her, “and I hope it never happens again, you pompous asshat.”
2
Lily
Jackson freakin’ Levy.
Of course, I’d run into that jerk-off on the one day I decided to treat myself to a nice massage. It was my graduation gift to myself, and out of all the people I could have run into on my special day, it had to be him.
The boy who made my life a hellish nightmare while we were living in our old neighborhood.
Never mind the bullshit I dealt with when it came to my own family. Never mind the memories of that boy that haunted me whenever I closed my eyes. Never mind the fact that I begged my parents—either of them—to drive me to school so I didn’t have to deal with sitting anywhere near him on a bus.
I had to see my childhood bully on the one day that was supposed to be about me.
“Great,” I said with a sigh.
I had the unfortunate pleasure of living right down the road from that jerk-off. I had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing him day in and day out wreaking havoc in the neighborhood, cleaning toilet paper out of our bushes, and generally watching my back. He used to terrorized all of us, not just me. He and his little pack of miniature wolves were ready to sink their stinky, unbrushed, wild, spoiled teeth into.
And while I always thought that giving second chances was important, Jax had just squandered his.
So, screw him.
People got one more chance with me. One. And if they wanted to shit on it, that was their choice. We were adults, and if Jax hadn’t grown out of that teenage rebellion stage where everyone was a piece of shit and he didn’t care about anything—supposedly—then that was on him. We were grown adults with jobs and lives and debt, and if he didn’t want to take my olive branch, then he could forever go down as the neighborhood psychopath I had always known him to be.
No sweat off my back.
Except, I had no idea he was still living in the area. I had no idea he had planted roots here. And the idea of living in relatively the same space as that dick when we were practically neighbors growing up showed me just how badly I needed out of this city for good.
“I can’t believe my luck,” I whispered to myself.
“Lily DeMarcus?” a woman called out.
I held up my hand. “Sorry, I still haven’t checked in yet.”
Margo giggled behind the counter. “Already got you in, girlfriend. Head on back.”
I smiled. “I appreciate that. Thank you.”
She shrugged. “Anytime, especially after dealing with Mr. Levy. He’s one of our best customers, but he’s a royal pain in the butt.”
Wow, some things really don’t ever change.
I walked back into my massage room and quickly stripped out of my clothes, and the second my body pressed against the heated massage bed, all of my worries faded away. Nothing crossed my mind except the luscious dinner I would have after leaving here and the movie I’d go see before ultimately heading home.
I loved treating myself once in a while when I could afford it.
“Oh, yeah,” I grumbled.
My masseuse chuckled. “Let me know if I’m pressing too hard.”
I felt my back pop, and I sighed with relief. “This is perfect, thank you.”
The room quickly gave way to the scent of rose and mint, and I ended up falling asleep during my massage. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world, so I got up, clothed myself, and went to pay.
Only when I got to the front desk, Margo waved me off. “It’s already been paid for.”
