Page 33 of Side Hustle
Rip pulled the sash off his head and widened his eyes at me as if to say that had been painful for him too. Which had to be a lie. What guy doesn’t enjoy kissing all the cute girls?
“Well, that was awkward,” he grumbled, rubbing the back of his hand across his lips.
“Huh,” I huffed, fumbling with the clipboard to give me something to do with this simmering something that burned in my gut. “Sure didn’t look awkward.”
“Hey.” Rip’s hands landed on my shoulders again, this time from behind. My short shoulders must have been perfect height for him to use me as an armrest. Story of my life. “I was just doing—”
“There he is!” My mother’s annoying voice cut in.
The grimace was immediate. I looked up to see her just outside the booth, grinning manically at Rip and ignoring me completely. Also, the story of my life.
I could feel Rip stiffen behind me, his hands gripping my shoulders harder and pulling me into him, my back pressed to his very impressive front. I appreciated the support, but I wasn’t going to faint. If anything, the sight of her heavily made-up face made that simmering anger in my gut turn to a boil. I lunged forward and Rip let go of my shoulders only long enough to wrap his arm around my waist and hold me back.
Mom lurched back, but when she saw that Rip held me, she turned on the oily smile again. “What great timing that I’ve moved back to Auburn Hill. What with you sharing your gold with the residents and all.”
My jaw swung open as the implications of our little plan hit me.Oh shit.
“Oh, shit,” Rip grumbled under his breath.
So that was her angle now, huh? She had come back to beg for drug money from Yedda, maybe even me if I’d given her half a chance to speak, but now she was staying for the gold. Helping Rip with his plan to strike it rich and take down his father just ensured my own little problem never left town. Just fucking great.
She quit her smiling long enough to give me a wink and then she spun and left, leaving me a bubbling cauldron of pissed off. I spun around in Rip’s arms with a heat that could only come from the pits of hell in my gut egging me on.
“That little contract you just signed means my mother is here to stay. Thanks a lot.” I shoved his chest as hard as I could, not making much headway against the brick wall of his body.
Rip let go of my waist and stepped back, his face going slack. “Hold up. I didn’t intend for that to happen.”
I grabbed the clipboard and clutched it to my chest like some kind of armor. I was gearing up for a fight. “Yeah, well, looks like you sealed my fate anyway with your damn gold. She’ll never leave now. Not with a guaranteed paycheck for as long as that cave spits out gold nuggets.”
“Hazel.” Rip put his hand out and I ignored the peace offering. He let it fall back to his side as he realized how pissed off I was. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea she’d latch on to the promise of gold. But I’ll make it right. I’ll still figure out a way to get her to leave town. I promised you, remember?”
I bit my lip and welcomed the pain that bloomed. Anything was better than thinking about my mother staying in Auburn Hill long-term. The thing was, I knew my anger was directed at the wrong person. Knowing it and doing something about it were two different things, though. My brain kept chirping that Rip had let me down before, only fueling the anger I was directing at him. Maybe this time wasn’t his fault, but it felt a lot like what went down in high school when I’d handed him my heart the first time.
“Auntie Hazel! Mommy said you can’t ride with me, but I said you can.” Roxy’s little voice pulled me from the tug-of-war inside my head.
She stood outside the booth with Bain’s hand on her shoulder. Her pigtails flew in the breeze, getting stuck in the remains of the cotton candy on her cheeks. The pleading look, mixed with a heavy dose of defiance, spoke right to my soft heart. Lucy stood next to Bain with Heston in a front carrier, rocking from side to side in that natural way mothers do, shrugging her shoulders at her daughter’s demands.
“Actually, honey, I was just about to take a break. How about we go ride your favorite ride and then I’ll get back to work?”
Roxy squealed and started jumping up and down. See? How could I say no to that level of enthusiasm? I snuck a glance at Rip, who still stared at me with an intensity I couldn’t deal with right then.
“Thanks for helping out,” I mumbled to him and left the booth, Roxy falling into step with me and taking my hand.
It was a cop-out to just walk away, and not something I was proud of, but I was still mad at Rip and knew I needed the time to cool off before settling things between us. A girl had a right to be mad for a bit when the guy she’d been kissing made things worse for her.
Didn’t I?
13
Hazel
“See you tomorrow. We have group B coming back to test the peppermint mocha deodorant.”
My boss gave me a thin smile, both of us feeling sorry for me and my nose. There went another drink I’d never be able to order again. Nothing like BO mixed with deliciousness to ruin all the holiday fun. I grabbed a sweater out of my locker and threw it on over my tank top. There was a chill to the air these days that said fall was here to stay. Usually, I loved the season and pulled out pumpkins and scarves and Halloween decor the second summer signaled her leave. In my estimation, there was nothing better than to celebrate the new season by snuggling up at night with a huge blanket and watching old black-and-white Christmas movies. But this year I had bigger things on the brain. Things that kept me from feeling festive.
I had the rest of the day off and I planned to use every second of it to brainstorm a way to get my mother to leave town. I was also hoping to have a word with Poppy tomorrow night when she came over for the Hellish Haven’s regular Tuesday poker night, which consisted of three senior citizens and questionable booze. If there was one person who could dig up dirt on another, it was Poppy Strauss, mail deliverer extraordinaire. If I couldn’t reason with my mother, maybe I could blackmail her into leaving.
The door to the FART building slammed behind me as I dug through my huge bag for my keys. The faux leather satchel really needed to be cleaned out. There was no reason to be carting around a dust-covered lollipop, a half-eaten granola bar, one of those pocket vibrators, and thirty condoms from the piñata the other night. If I got in a car accident, I’d have clean underwear on like Granny always harped about, but the emergency response crew would certainly question why I needed thirty rubbers ready to go at a moment’s notice. A grin hit my face as I found my keys among the rubble. Maybe they’d think I was the star in a real-life reverse-harem situation! I could handle that kind of reputation.
