The hostility and tension slowly drained away, and my face relaxed.
“If it is so fucking easy then track her. Fuck. You can see I’m going crazy, right?”
He made a delighted, throaty sound that sent my jaw to the floor and my temper spiraling, even before I heard the bullshit that dribbled from his coked-out lips.
“Remember when we was little, and you used to–”
“Eric, I swear on all–”
“You used to say, ‘I ain’t never gonna ask you for shit…’” he gleefully carried on.
My jaw set so tight, I was surprised it didn’t bust. I had to force myself to exhale, before I managed to huff, “That was this morning, fuckface.”
He laughed and swatted the air between us with a snort.
“Jesus, Joseph, and Mary. Put that shit away would ya. Come back in the morning when you aren’t so high you don’t know what you’re babbling about. I’m not in the mood,” I warned him.
He pulled it together a little, but the grin remained, “Even when I’m like this, I’m brighter than you.”
“Fuck off, Eric,” I growled.
“Apologize to Oak, and I’ll help you.”
My whole face pinched up. “What?”
“Remember the day you lashed out at him about his dream girl?”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
“She was his dream girl and you’re a brother to him, Anthony. So, he’ll never look at her like that again. Not because you showed your ass, because he loves you and he’s loyal. Make it right with him, and I’ll get you in touch with her.”
His confidence was unnerving. Did he know how to reach her?
I kept my eye on him and pulled the phone from my cut.
Chapter Thirty
Middle Man
Oak
I wasn’t expecting to hear from the guys. I’d been laying low at my mom’s house for my short leave. Easy was making a mess of the cabin, and while he was my best friend, and I did have love for the fucker; I wasn’t about to go to jail for his ignorance of late.
And there was something about the reckless way he’d been carrying on that made me think he was destined for it. We had less than twenty-four hours until we were supposed to fly back, and I could tell from the way his eyes looked that he either didn’t plan on going back, or he’d lost track of the date.
“How the hell are you going to board at dawn?” I whispered, while Anthony stood on the edge of the lawn staring down Crystal Nance’s momma’s house like he might march in and demand her contact information at gun point. “He’s unhinged, Easy…”
“Dawn? Fuck, yeah, he is, look at him. Lovesick.”
I shook my head on both counts and huffed. It was eleven at night. We’d been listening to her momma and step daddy fuss for the better part of two hours. They didn’t sound like they were tiring out any, and I wasn’t sure how much more Anthony could take.
“Goddamn it,” I huffed, “Leave the shit alone. We board at dawn, Eric. Do you hear me? Fucking dawn.”
He weaved like the words had weight and smiled.
“Lord help you,” I mumbled to myself as I opened the door to my mother’s car and grabbed a pen. I marked Anthony’s number on a piece of paper and folded it up.
“Ya’ll stay here,” I told Anthony as I marched toward the trailer.
