“I can’t respect your wishes if what you want hurts you.”
He rolls his eyes violently. “Congrats on knowing me better than I know myself after all of five minutes. Those tattoos, let’s get matching ones. Let’s make it each other’s names with sweet little hearts.”
“If that’s what you really want. You’d be great at standup comedy.”
“I’ll consider a change of profession in, oh right. Never.”
“Asshole.” I don’t mean to let that out, but Shadow’s lips twitch as soon as I’ve said it.
“That’s already been established.”
This isn’t going to get us anywhere. For every argument I have, Shadow will have a counter argument. We could stand here and argue all night, but he’s not going tohearme. There’s only one thing left to do.
I charge him and snatch his bag off his shoulder. I race back the way we came, eating up the sidewalk as fast as I can.
Chapter 5
Shadow
Damn it! Why was I dumb enough to put all my cash and ID into that stupid bag?
I wasn’t expecting to have to run tonight. I wasn’t expecting to be confronted by Preacher’s damn daughter who couldn’t stay the fuck away from me. I don’t need another do-gooder in my life who thinks I’m a hero. And I don’t need complications. Especially not beautiful ones who happen to be my friend’s daughter and who would be off limits even if I wasn’t a fucking mess.
She’s fast, I’ll give her that, but she only makes it half a block before I draw up level with her and snatch the bag out of her hand. It’s dark, but we’re still in a residential neighborhood. The last thing I need is someone to look outside and see a huge motherfucker dressed in black, chasing after a woman.
I don’t touch Fawnie at all. My hand doesn’t so much as graze hers.
When I have my bag back, I do an abrupt turn and head back the way I was going, doubling my steps. I don’t run. I easily could. I’m far from winded.
She follows behind me, panting loudly. “Hey! You didn’t even give me a chance!” She complains far louder than she pants. “Also? That was kind of hot. How are youthatfast?”
My body screams at me, wanting to know why the hell I couldn’t just chase her downslowly. I would have overtakenher in a block instead of half. Now is the worst time for an unnecessary flex.
“I wasn’t fast enough to escape that fire,” I retort, adjusting my hand on the bag since my knuckles feel as though they’re going to split open, I’m clutching it so tightly.
“Yes, you were!” She bounces along beside me, breathing hard.
I keep my gaze resolutely forward and try and avoid looking at her. Because when I look at her, I can feel parts of myself getting soft.
“Fine. Getting burned then.”
“You went through aglasswindow. I saw it.”
She’s not wrong. The cuts were minor compared to the burns, but I was a real mess and the arm and shoulder that took the brunt of it have some jagged scarring.
“I had no idea how I was going to get out, and you came crashing through. You were like an angel. I swear, I thought you weren’t even real. If my mom hadn’t seen you too, I would have thought that you really were a supernatural being who pulled me and Bubby out, then just blended back into the night.”
Ugh, haven’t we been over this already?
“That’s the crux of your problem right there. I’m no supernatural being, no angel, and no hero.”
You’re no hero. You’re just a waste of space. Come on. Tell me I’m wrong.
I don’t hear voices or anything. Just mean thoughts. All the time. Call it self-sabotage or call it my own personalcheer squad—well, the opposite of a cheer squad, my jeer quad. They’ve become so much a part of me that I’ve become comfortable with the intrusive shittyness in the same way that people are fine with the thoughts they have on waking, looking out the window, and telling themselves it’s going to be a nice day or it’s going to rain, or that the flowers are drooping and need watering.
Factual, boring shit.
“I’m me,” I grunt, resuming conversation so I can drown out the garbage in my head. I might be used to it, but it never gets any less annoying. “Grumpy. Broody. Some days a complete asshole. I’m not looking for redemption. The best I’m ever gonna get is that one day is less shitty than the next.”
