Page 64 of Side Hustle
I shot right out of my chair. “Fuck that.”
My hands went into my hair and I wondered if I could pull a Charlie and just walk home from here.
“Listen, Rip. Amelia says you haven’t even given Hazel back her things.” Titus wasn’t pulling any punches tonight.
“It’s just a couple of shirts!” I hollered.
“Yeah, and when we hauled you out of there, you had them all snuggled up to your cute little head.” Jayden used a baby voice I didn’t appreciate.
“I did not,” I said back like a petulant child.
Titus sighed like he was disappointed in me. Get in line, asshole.
Bain continued like we hadn’t even spoken. “So, your dare is to come up with your own dare.” He raised his finger in the air. “But. It has to be approved by us, so make it a good one. This will teach you how to have fun.”
My hands dropped from my hair and hit my hips. “What the hell? Why do I have to make my own dare? None of you assholes had to do that.”
“You know, you’re kind of whiny. And definitely no fun. Probably why Hazel broke up with you,” Titus said, folding his arms across his chest.
For being my best friend, I really freaking hated that guy.
“I broke up with Hazel,” I shot back.
His eyebrow rose. “Oh really. And why would you dump a fine piece of ass like that?”
I moved before my brain registered what I was doing. I shoved his chest so hard, Titus and his chair fell backward in the sand.
“Don’t ever fucking talk about her like that,” I spat at him, chest heaving.
Bain was on me in the next second, pulling me back in some sort of choke hold they teach prison wardens. Jayden helped Titus to his feet, and Charlie offered him more juice to cure any possible bruises or concussion, which was overkill. The guy was fine. And he’d deserved it.
The fire crackled and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. The guys were right. I’d been wallowing in my depression all week, but now all I felt was red-hot anger. It was directed at Titus at the moment, but even through the haze of fury I knew he wasn’t the true target. It was me. I was the asshole who broke up with Hazel when she was the best thing that had ever happened to me in my pathetic life.
Bain finally let me go and I crashed back into my chair. My hand rubbed over my chin, feeling the beard that had started there without me noticing.
“Here’s what I know,” Titus said quietly, sitting back down carefully. “You still love Hazel. You took her mom to the bus stop and then you got so drunk you didn’t make sense. Then you woke up and broke up with Hazel. Clearly, Kendra said something to you. So spill.”
I sat forward on a sigh and ran my hands over my face. I hadn’t been, but I felt like I’d been drinking all week and had the world’s gnarliest hangover.
“She told me I’d stifle Hazel if I married her and kept her in this town. And I got to thinking about my nature. I’m the polar opposite from Hazel. I’d drive her crazy after a while. It was better to end it now.”
“You took advice from a strung-out addict?” Jayden asked with an expression implying I was Auburn Hill’s latest idiot.
“SheisHazel’s mom,” I defended pathetically.
“Maybe biologically, but she doesn’t know Hazel any more than her biological father knows Hazel.”
I frowned. “She’s never met her dad.”
“Exactly.”
Bain sniffed and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, his longneck beer dangling from his fingers. “Some might say Lucy and I are opposites. I can tell you right now there’s nothing better than being married to a woman you can never pin down. That woman keeps me on my toes and delights me every single day. Might want to rethink your stance, bro.”
“That was like a Hallmark card, Bain.” Titus grinned at him, clearly asking for another fight.
Charlie jumped in, ever the peacemaker. “When are you gonna stop letting your dad’s perception of you run your life, Rip? You’re almost thirty and you’re still seeing yourself through your father’s lens. The guy’s a damn crook and a cheat! He has no business defining who you are. Say it with me: I am enough.”
I was with him until that last part. “No, I got your point.”
