I lift a brow and glance down at myself. “I wouldn’t sayat all.” Of course, she means matured, but I like how the color rises in her cheeks. “How long you staying this time? You know, so I can schedule my blowjobs.”
Fuck me if her eyes don’t narrow and her mouth doesn’t twist in a smile as devious as one of my own. “Hate to break it to you, bro, but you’re stuck with me.”
Fist, meet heart.
This can’t happen. Mayhem is too small for adult Faith and adult me. We’re too combustible. We’ll burn this town to ash.
“Hate to break it toyou, bro, but I own Mayhem. If you’re staying, we’re bound to bump asses.”
Faith always had a set of brass balls. Never a dull moment with her, and although I appreciated it when we were teenagers, I prefer her to remain on her side of the alley because if she takes even one step toward me…
Fuuuck.
She walks over to me with the majesty of a queen.
“Don’t fuck with me, and you won’t even know I’m back. Deal?”
I stare down at her extended hand and fight the urge to laugh in her face. Is she for real? A look at her serious expression confirms she’s deadass.
I slide my palm against hers, noting the tiniest flare of her nostrils. “Deal.” When she tries to pull away, I haul her in close. God, she feels too good pressed against me. “One problem, though.”
Her brows slam together as she tries to pull away. I hold her right where I want her. “What problem?”
“You can’t ignore me, Faith. I’m in your DNA.”
I’m sure her sneer would wither most men. Unfortunately for her, I’m not most men. “You’re wrong, Luke. I left every bit of you in Mrs. Rosario’s classroom, and I never looked back.”
She tugs her hand free, and I watch her march inside Talon, looking fine as hell in a little black skirt and white crop top. I should let it go. Lethergo. I shouldn’t care if she’s come home. Faith isn’t my business.
Oh yeah? Then why am I taking her rejection as a challenge?
Oh, right, because I’m an asshole.
Game on.
2
Faith
“You can’t hate him forever.”
“Seriously?” I slide Kerri Ward an astonished glance since she’s the one person who knows I can hold a grudge like it’s my job. “No, wait. You’re right. There might be a nanosecond when I’m on my deathbed, and I’ll have a reflective moment back to before Megan Thomson swallowed his genitals. But that memory will come crashing down on me, andblam.” I smack myself on the forehead. “I’ll die a happy woman, content in my hatred of Luke Hayden.”
Twice I’ve witnessed Luke getting a blowjob.
It gutted me once.
Last night reinforced the fact that I’ll go to my grave despising him.
Not even Kerri, who has been my voice of reason since she stopped me from beating the hell out of two Saunders Hall University sorority sisters who openly called me Mayhem trash, can talk me out of my disgust. Because…that…wasn’t the welcome I expected after not seeing Luke for seven years.
If coming home means suffering the sight of his penis in one more woman’s mouth, I swear to God…
“Are you sure it’s hate?”
I arch a brow at my best friend as we pass Morning Glory, a boutique that caters to a younger clientele, given the trendy apparel showcased in the window. Mayhem never had a vast selection of shops, so I make a mental note of this one. “Don’t get philosophical on me, Kerri. I’m not hurt or nursing unresolved feelings. Luke did me dirty. I promise you, what I feel toward him is nothing but contempt.”
She eyeballs the raunchy lingerie on display in the store next to Morning Glory. “So you say.”
