Page 51 of Make You Love Me

She scoffs, “Can you believe they’re complaining about their staffing needs and checks. Ungrateful, the whole lot of them.”

“I told them they need to fix the scheduling and figure it out on their own. How dare they have the audacity to interrupt my meal for such nonsense,” she says matter-of-factly, pulling out her makeup compact to powder her nose.

James’ eyes meet mine in the mirror. I notice the way his eyes shift to her then back to me. Something weird is going on, but I’m not quite sure what.

Ethel mutters something under her breath but remains silent for the rest of the ride home. Once inside, she retreats to her corner of the house, and I retreat to mine. Brunch with her should fill my quota of Ethel interactions for a while.

I don’t do much for the remainder of the day. I watch the new Spiderman movie and take a nap, ignoring my phone for most of the afternoon and night. There are several texts from Ashley, asking me if I'm alive and if she needs to call in people to hide any bodies. I laugh at her crazy ass and assure her I’m fine and no bodies need burying as of yet. There's also one from Corbin, telling me he’ll pick me up for school tomorrow morning. Responding with a thumbs up, I pull up my last text from Grey and sigh.

Greyson:Let me know when you’re ready to talk.

My fingers hover over the message, willing them to give me courage. This needs to happen, if not for explanations, then at least for closure. My heart constricts at that thought.Stupid foolish heart.

I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly.You can do this.

Chapter Sixteen

I’mlettingallmyfrustration out on the punching bag right now.

Right punch… Left Jab… Jacob… Snow.

Right… Left… Right… Jacob… Snow… Jacob

Snow—that motherfucker.I don’t care if he is a trained fighter. I’ll still whoop his ass.

What if he’s hanging with Lottie right now? Maybe that’s why she hasn’t responded to me. Or maybe she’s with Jacob, visitinghis perfect little family.

I have never been so damn insecure and fucked in the head.Well, maybe after I found my mom and learned the truth about her new life.

But picturing either one of them with their grimy hands on Lottie has me going fucking crazy. Even more than that, I’m worried she won’t ever be mine again. When I saw Lottie come out of Frankie’s house yesterday and get in the car with Snow, I felt like someone was stabbing me with an ice pick in the chest. The night before had left me with so much hope for how Lottie felt about me, but then seeing that just shit all over my good mood. Then I realized she was still wearing my shirt… leaving me confused as fuck, which was turning into a normal state of being for me. Now I'm just down right raging. She still hadn’t responded to my text about us talking and I'm fucking pissed thinking of all the things she could be doing with Snow.

I have never needed to let out so much pent-up anger as I have recently. On Sundays, Ford meets me and Lennox here after his shift at the country club. We’ve always gone to Lights Out weekly because it's owned by one of the Rebel Knights and it's where Nox trains, but lately it has been my refuge.

Friday was the best night I’ve had since the end of the summer. Every second with Lottie had me craving more. Once the alcohol took over her brain, I saw a glimpse of the girl who used to be in love with me. I just keep reminding myself of the phrase “drunken words are sober thoughts” and hoping like hell she’ll come around. If she won’t willingly talk to me, I’ll have to corner her ass at school again and demand an explanation about what the fuck happened. We both deserve that.

Ford comes around the other side of my bag to hold it steady. He lets me get in a few more solid punches before he speaks up. “I saw her today.” That has me stopping cold as he continues, "At the country club. Still can’t believe she’s Ethelrichie-bitch’sgranddaughter. She looked pretty miserable, if you ask me. Sitting there in her perfect attire, acting all proper."

Knowing Ford would tell me if she was with anyone else, my anger is slightly eased, only to ramp back up when I think of her being paraded around by Ethel. Even with that shiny new confidence, she’s still letting that woman get the best of her, and I hate that.

When I don’t respond he says, “And I’m just going to go ahead and confess right now. I couldn’t help but stare at her ass... damnnn that girl’s got an ass. But I promise I’m working on it. I know she’s off limits, brother.”

With a slight jab to his gut, I say, “Today is not a good day to piss me off, Pretty Boy, keep your eyes and hands to yourself.” He fakes a wince and holds his stomach. I swear he should star in those romantic comedies he loves so much.

Ford may be a ladies’ man but he’s as loyal as they come. I trust him and Nox with my life. I know he is trying to get a brotherly rise out of me but I’m just not in the mood. Ford must be able to sense it. “I vote you spar with Nox today. You look like you need the pain to take your mind off shit.” Knowing he’s right, I head towards Lennox.

We all love to get in the ring and fight, but Nox is on another level. He trains daily to some degree. Either with us or a guy who comes in from Charlotte twice a week to coach him and Snow. Nox may be smaller than me at first glance, but his leanness makes him more agile. Plus he has a couple inches on me, giving his arm span even more of a reach when he throws a punch. And he throws a helluva punch.

Entering the ring, I tap gloves with Nox. “Let’s do this. Don’t take it easy on me either. Give me all you’ve got.”

Bring on the pain, brother.

***

After thirty minutes of one of the most intense sparring sessions we’ve ever had, I’m spent. I don’t feel like a chump either because even Nox seems exhausted after that one.

“Don’t let my coach see that side of you, he’ll be recruiting you too.” That has me smiling for the first time today. “Nah, I’ll leave that to the professionals. Plus, you know I’m shit on the ground, that’s why Ford is the one you wrestle with.”

Nox has his first official fight coming up on New Year’s Eve. He decided not to play football or wrestle for our school this year so he can focus on his fighting career.

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