Page 139 of Wild Love
I flop back against the black leather. “For sending you out to do this shit.”
From my periphery, I see West nodding. It’s several seconds before he responds.
“I know you fancy yourself really smart—but, Ford, I don’t work for you, and you didn’tsendme to do shit.”
“I told you something I shouldn’t have and was well aware of how you’d react. I wanted a partner in crime, and I knew you wouldn’t turn me down. You never do.”
He laughs dryly, stubble rasping beneath his fingers. “That’s because we’re friends, not because I’m stupid. If you asked me to do something I wasn’t prepared to do, I wouldn’t have done it. And I think you might be underestimating how much I’ve grown since I was twenty. I didn’t attack that weasel-faced motherfucker.Heattackedme.”
I glance over at West. “What?”
He hands me his phone as a black-and-white security video fills the screen. “That’s what your fancy-ass lawyer found after talking to me. Turns out when you own the building, getting security footage is a breeze.”
I hit play and watch West stride into the building’s front lobby, wearing a plaid collared shirt, tattoos on display, hair slicked back. This is his version of dressed up. He’s speaking to the woman at the front desk when Stan appears at the corner of the screen.
Stan’s hands shoot up and flail frantically—he appears to be visibly agitated.
In response, West holds his own hands up, stepping away. Of course, I can see the shit-eating grin on his face, which didn’t help diffuse the situation. Within moments, Stan has leaped at West.
He tackles him to the ground only because he takes West by surprise. He can’t land a punch. West turns and shifts, and Stan punches the carpeted floor, looking like a petulant child throwing a tantrum.
Then he knees West between the legs, and I watch my friend double over on the screen.
“Oh fuck.” I reach down and protectively cup my dick.
“Yeah. It’s all right. I don’t need to get a vasectomy now.”
All I can do is shake my head as I watch West recover before hitting Stanonce.
He knocks him out with one hit and leaves him lying flat on the ground.
“See? I was a good boy.”
I chuckle. He’s right. That’s just self-defense. “Rosie would kill me for saying this, but… that was kind of awesome.”
My best friend beams back at me. “We still got it.”
“But you shouldn’t have been there in the first place.” I tip my head back against the rest. “We can’t pull this shit anymore, West. It was funny when we were kids. The two of us against the world. But we’re not kids anymore. The dynamic has changed. This…” My hand waves around the car. “There are too many real-life consequences. Bowling once a week needs to be the only dumb shit we do now.”
“Wow, that sounds an awful lot like something Rosie would say.”
I grunt and nod once.
“I know you think I’m dumb?—”
“I don’t think—” I try to cut in.
“I’m razzing you. Chill out. What I’m reading between the lines here is that it’s you and her against the world now.”
I roll my head along the headrest to look at my friend. “This is a weird conversation.”
He blinks twice. “Are you… are you breaking up with me?”
I bark out a laugh. “You’re an idiot.”
West punches my shoulder playfully and then hisses between his teeth. “No, you are. I was married once, remember? Ask me why it didn’t work.”
“Why didn’t it work?”
