Page 21 of Let Me
But tonight…
Tonight, I think I might want to be overwhelmed.
THIRTEEN
Present
I DON’T WANT to stalk her. She’s into a lot of weird shit, but I’m not sure she’d be into that. I’m not sureI’minto that…until I see her.
Benji and I are across the street from the condo my dad keeps her at, and she comes down the steps in another black dress, her tan legs literally glistening in the street lamps and what remains of the sun overhead. Her hair ruffles in the wind, light brown and so damn long, nearly grazing her waist. She has on red heels, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her wear those before. She usually wears dirty sneakers, and she almost never wears dresses either so this…it’s a novelty.
“Damnnn,” Benji says, dragging out the word.
I want to punch him, but I can’t because I know what he sees. I’m not blind. She’s stunning. But I’m not here to be stunned.
“What do we do now?” Benji asks when I don’t respond to his comment. We watch her indecision, hovering between waving down a cab, and walking down the street. She’s on the curb, glancing at the yellow taxis, but then she makes up her mind.
She decides to walk, weaving in and out of the crowd, and I see more than a few male—and female—eyes on her, and it makes my blood boil. Even though I shouldn’t give a fuck who wants to fuck her, it pisses me off enough that I start walking after her. Benji falls into step beside me.
We’re on the opposite side of the street, which isn’t a good place to be for stalking, so we cross over at the light, and keep a good distance behind her.
Her ass is little, it’s always been little, and yet in this black dress, it’s fucking beautiful.
I need to adjust myself, but I don’t dare in this crowd. Instead, I smooth down my white shirt, run a hand through my hair.
“You okay, man?” Benji asks, dark humor in his words.
No.
“Yes.”
I feel him looking at me as we make our way through the crowded streets, the sun nearly gone now. Streetlights illuminate our path, and our height and long legs makes it relatively easy to keep up with her.
“What if you happen to see something you don’t like?” Benji goads me. “What if you don’t get to make a move because some dude already is?”
I glance at him, see a smile on his face. Dickhead. He knows I’vealreadyseen that. More than once.
“Fuck off,” I mutter.
He just laughs again. Sometimes I wonder about him. He had a hot temper before he went to prison. He still does; I’ve seen it, just not directed at me. But now…it’s scarier somehow. Like he’s just let the darkness consume him. He’s been through some shit, before prison. He’s adopted, and he doesn’t have the best relationship with his parents. But after prison…well, it’s like he’s come out an indestructible monster.
I have to grudgingly admit that it suits him.
“Is Tyler in town?” he asks me quietly.
Fucking Tyler.
Tyler is her best friend, and he used to wrestle in high school and college, too, until he dropped out to pursue art full-time. I used to wrestle as well. Up until the day I graduated undergrad. I’ve still got the stamina to prove it. But Tyler is a beast. And a loud mouth. I saw him around Riley enough at our house to know. I’m not sure how Jack tolerated him, but it was for her. Everything had been for her. His toxic, manipulative, controlling ways…that was all for her too.
She got him back, in the end.
“No.” I must answer too quickly, because I feel Benji’s eyes on me again. But I would know if Tyler was in the city. She would have seen him already. She was as attached to him as she was to Jack. I knew he wasn’t into women and I still got jealous when I saw them at my parents’ house together.
“I’m supposed to be the one with the information,” Benji drawls. “Bro, you’re in deep.”
I shake my head, scowling. I can’t be in too deep. I can’t beinat all. This is to fuck her over. To get some sort of vengeance for my brother. When someone murders someone else, they, hopefully, get caught. They go to prison. They serve their life to atone for someone else’s. But Jack pulled his own trigger, and yet it was Riley’s fucked-up decision that made him do it. I had thought about it myself, in the aftermath. Knowing it would never work with us. Knowing I would never betray my brother like that, even in death.
I knew how he felt.
