Page 10 of Fletcher: Sagittarius King

“That’s too damn bad then,” I respond a little too harshly. “He needs me.”

I shove a few more curly fries into my mouth. Fletcher keeps looking at me and I don’t want to make eye contact with him, because I don’t want to talk about my sick father, even if it’s the only thing on my mind these days and the most important thing in the world to me. Fletcher doesn’t understand. If I lose my dad… I lose everything.

“I know he needs you,” Fletcher says. “But you need someone to look after you too. You need to be okay, no matter what happens.”

“You mean if he dies?” I snap at Fletcher. His cheeks redden instantly and there’s a flash of anger, and maybe a bit of sadness that he quickly quells. Fletcher can be brash, but he’s never, ever cruel.

“You need someone to look after you, because you are the best daughter Harry could ask for and you deserve someone who cares about you.”

Fletcher. What the hell does he expect me to say when he says these sweet things? How the hell does he expect me to handle his small-town boy charm and his perfectly straight white smile when he says impossibly romantic things like that and makes me forget, just for a moment, that he’s completely out of reach.

“I’m never gonna have that.”

“Rob’s never gonna give it to you,” Fletcher says. “You are too fucking good for him and you know it.”

“He’s not a bad guy and we’re just friends or whatever,” I grumble. Here he goes again butting his nose into shit that’s none of his business. What right does he have to drag me away from other guys when he doesn’t even want me?

Fletcher runs his tongue along the inside of his lower lip and then quickly buries his frustration. He thinks I don’t notice. I notice him, but I don’t understand. Fletcher calls me “kid”. He’s my dad’s way younger and incredibly attractive best friend, which means we probably have the strangest connection ever. He has no right to be jealous.

“He’s not a bad guy,” I say confidently. “I know he’s not.”

“Right,” Fletcher grumbles. “You know what you’re doing.”

The next bite he takes out of his cheeseburger is downright ferocious. Men. If Fletcher notices me watching him, he doesn’t show it. He keeps chowing down on his dumb burger like a coyote and I try my best to focus on my fries and not how Fletcher eats like a beast. I don’t have a lot of time here. I’ll have to make a quick excuse to go help Rob out and then sneak back to my food.

“I need to pee,” I announce. “And I have my period.”

Fletcher narrows his eyes. Grossing him out is my greatest chance at escaping.

“Uh… okay.”

“See ya.”

I slip away from my fries and slip out of my bowling shoes around the corner so Fletcher can’t see me. I put my Uggs on and exit out the back of the bowling alley where Rob told me to meet him. Fantasies of Rob asking me out play out in front of me. I imagine him pushing hair out of my face and kissing me on the tip of my nose after he asks. My heart is in my throat.

“Psst,” he hisses. “Britt, over here.”

Rob emerges from the darkness,and my heart skips an uncomfortable beat. He left Roxy behind to see me but what the hell does he want back here? I hope I’m not making a stupid mistake…

* * *

Chapter5

Under Arrest

Fletcher

Brittany is the most frustrating fucking woman on the planet. Does she seriously think she can fool me? I joined the force when I was nineteen-years-old, a skinny fucking kid trying to stand out in a family of brawny blond brothers who each made a name for themselves in our small town. I wanted to stand out, and I stood out.

Her dad took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. He made me into the man I am and now…

I have more arrests under my belt than any guy on the force and it’s because I spent the past fourteen years honing my cop instincts. Brittany can’t sneak shit around me and she should know that by now.

I don’t follow Brittany immediately, but I suspect where she’s going and who she’s meeting with, so I abandon my post once she’s out of sight and take the long way around the bowling alley to the back near the train tracks where the teenagers sneak off to make out and junkies sneak off to take hits of whatever they’re shooting up that night.

Whatever this fucker has planned for Harry’s daughter can’t be good and she’s lying to me. I hate that she’s lying to me. That pisses me off more than her sneaking off during our night out to meet up with another guy. I hear whispering and walk more quietly.

“Seriously, Rob?” Brittany hisses. She sounds frustrated and disappointed.

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