“Come on, Mazzie. You and I were good together.”
“No, we weren’t. You’re jealous.”
He grabbed my arm as his anger came out. “He’s no good for you.”
“You were no good for me.”
Josh and I had argued like we had when we were together. He thought he could show up and drop an excuse like I should tutor him then suddenly became the jealous ex when he saw Lucas. That was so typical of Josh. He had mood swings that would give anyone whiplash.
Nevertheless, he’d gotten so deep under my skin that before I could think, my knee was in his groin. After all this time, the jerk thought he could still control me. Above that, I was blown away that of all people who could have come to my rescue, it had been Lucas’s dad. It seemed the gentleman quality ran in the family. But what had me stunned was the fact that he’d served time in prison.
Here, I thought Lucas and I came from opposite sides of the track. But his father had been incarcerated, and now, my mom had too.
I continued to pace in the claustrophobic space, beginning to feel like I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs. I’d seen Greta irate once since I’d been working at the Silver Spur Casino, and that was the day she’d fired two servers in a matter of an hour. She didn’t need permission to fire anyone. So why did she have to check with Mr. Blackwood?
My stomach churned with nausea, my mind on a collision course with a brick wall. If she fired me, I still had the tutoring job, but the pay wasn’t all that great.
The fluorescent lights overhead hummed, competing with my pulse banging in my ears along with footsteps out in the hall.
I stopped wearing a hole in the floor and blew out a nervous breath as Greta came in, her expression clouded by what looked like sadness and pity, emotions she’d never shown me.
“What’s the number rule I told you on the first day?” She stomped around her desk, glaring my way.
Whoa! She banked her emotions faster than the speed of light.
“Well, I asked you a question.” She drummed her fingers impatiently on the metal desk.
I snapped out of my haze and stood behind the chair as though the piece of furniture could protect me. “Customers are always right.” The words tasted like acid on my tongue because Josh was not a paying customer.
A cold chill gripped me as memories of one of my mother’s boyfriends came to mind. I’d smarted off to him one night when he was trying to seduce my mother. As a result, he grabbed me by the hair, shoved me to the ground, and beat my head against the tile floor. My mother tried to stop him, but he threw her across the room. The only saving grace was Kaylee. She called the cops. From that incident, I suffered a concussion and a bruised face. I’d also promised myself if a man ever touched me inappropriately, I wouldn’t hesitate to protect myself.
She slapped her hands down on the desk. “Damn it, Mazzie, you can’t assault customers.”
I jumped as fury ran through my veins. “I told you in the bathroom. Josh grabbed me, and job or no job, I will not be treated like I’m a man’s property.” My voice broke as I rubbed the redness on my arm that would turn into a bruise by tomorrow.
Sighing, she sat down in her rickety chair. “You’re one of my best servers, Mazzie. I don’t want to fire you, which is why I had to talk to Mr. Blackwood. But policies are in place for a reason. His words, not mine.”
“I appreciate that. I suspect Mr. Blackwood denied your request because Josh is friends with Shane. I’ll be okay. It’s probably for the best.”
It really wasn’t okay. I’d lost the best paying job I had. But I was tired of dealing with drunks, and the long commute was wearing on me.
“I’ll collect my things,” I said in a low voice.
“Mazzie,” Greta lifted her gaze from her desk. “You’re better than this place, and you have a good friend in that boy, Lucas.”
I had no doubt she was right about him. I just wasn’t ready to go down that road. With nothing left to say to Greta, I made my way to the employee lounge, numb and spent. It had been a long night and an even longer week. I was behind on my studies, my Toyota wasn’t in any shape to use—so not having transportation of my own was adding to my grouchy mood—and I was about to start my tutoring job.
The lounge was empty, giving me the freedom to release a loud, frustrated groan as I opened my locker. It seemed the world was crashing down on me.
I grabbed my purse, fished my cell out of it, and found a text from Bailey.
Bails: My dad swept my mom off her feet for a date night at the last minute. You know he hardly has a free night as chief of surgery. Anyway, I’d planned on bringing Kaylee with me to pick you up, but she’s not feeling well. She ate too much candy. So I called Lucas. Please don’t be mad at me.
Footsteps sounded before Justine was pulling me into her arms. “Are you okay? I stopped Lucas on his way out to see if he knew the 411, and he filled me in.”
“Mr. Blackwood fired me. Not Greta. Believe it or not, she didn’t want to let me go.” I sat on the bench to give my shaky legs a rest. “What I can’t figure out is Josh. He freaked out because he thinks I’m with Lucas. Josh and I aren’t even an item. Granted, our breakup was epic. He went off the rails. After about a month of groveling, he gave up. Now, he wants me back.”
“Some people want what they can’t have,” Justine said, sitting beside me.
