Page 60 of Cherry Beats

“Does he have a secret fetish you fulfil for him?”

“Go to Hell.”

“Is he paying you to keep quiet about a secret you have over him?”

“... And once you’re in Hell, crawl into the fiery pits for me.”

“Do you bribe him with sex? Make him yours so you feel like you’ve made it and aren’t just a crummy little barmaid with a wet cloth constantly hanging over her shoulder?”

I glanced at my shoulder and frowned at the tatty bar towel hanging there.

“Are you his source for drugs? Is that how you’ve really been able to get your own place so young in life?”

“Wow, Janey. Really? You’re not even close to being hot.”

“Or,” she drew out, making her voice sound like a song. “Could it be that Presley West just likes his women a bit rough and ready? He likes to play it dirty. Keep his ego in check by slumming it with the average Tessa who can’t keep her legs closed whenever he so much as looks her way—”

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Go ahead,” she said smugly. “It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t tell me. Molly is already inebriated. Trey has his claws in her. Their next stop is going to be a quiet little spot on his sofa, where he’ll wine and dine her a little bit more before he talks about youjustas Youth Gone Wild’s latest song happens to play on the radio. Then Molly will gasp…” Janey faked an exaggerated gasp of surprise, “and, desperate to impress him, she’ll tell Trey how she knows Presley. How Presley is secretly in love with her best friend Tessa, and how she’s always been ever so slightly, oh so secretly jealous of the fact that she dresses like a whore but can’t get a look in, while you dress like a little boy and seem to get all the attention Molly has ever desired.”

I swallowed the gigantic lump in my throat, too shook up to think of anything funny or witty to say as I stared at an old bottle of Bourbon on the shelf. Bourbon. How I wished he was here right now. How I wished I hadn’t told him I could cope. How I wish I had a friend to tell me what the hell to do.

Then I thought of Presley. His warm smile. His charming smirk. That impressive body. Those hands. That mouth. His voice… How he always told me to drop the mask and get straight to the point.

“Janey?”

“Mmm?”

I pressed my mouth as close to the phone as I could get it. “Fuck. You.”

The second I ended the call, the phone fell from my shaking fingers, landing on a pile of bubble wrap that had been left lying around.

My hands flew to my mouth, and I stood there, rooted by fear for myself, and for my friend who’d just been used because of a situationI’dlanded her in, and for Presley, knowing he had those kinds of sharks after him every second of every day, trying to tear him down.

What the fuck was I going to do now?

Chapter Sixteen

“Tess, for the hundredth time, I’ll be fine.Go.”

“But, I’ve never let you lock up before,” I said with a shaky voice as I reached underneath the bar to scramble for the spare keys. Over an hour had passed with me trying to get in touch with Molly, but no matter how many times I tried, she was refusing to pick up her phone. I’d gone from mild panic to managing to catastrophise every scenario I came up with until I’d had a vision of my best friend lying in a ditch somewhere, her glassy eyes staring at the starry sky as she whispered my name through her last breath. I currently had my phone pressed to my ear with my other hand, as I listened to Molly’s phone ring and ring and ring and ring.

“I’m fine. I’ve got Milo and Lou on tonight, too. They’re good people, so will you just leave already?”

“Trying. I’m really… trying.” I ducked lower and squinted, trying to find what I was looking for. “Maybe this is a sign. A sign I shouldn’t leave you alone for the very first time.”

Elle nudged me out of the way, reaching under the bar and pulling the key I was searching for out in one swift movement. She stood back, swirled the key around her finger, and tilted her head to one side. Her short, bobbed brown hair swayed as she cocked her hip and raised a brow at me.

“Go,” she mouthed, looking at the door.

I rushed over to give her a one-armed hug. “Thank you. You’re a lifesaver. I’ll cover your shifts any time you need me to.”

After one last worried glance over my shoulder, Elle’s confident glare reassured me enough to leave. I was pushing through the glass doors, about to end another call to Molly when I came chest-to-chest with a wall of muscle.

“Shit, Tess, slow your fucking roll.”

I looked up and immediately saw my arsehole younger brother smirking smugly at me.

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