How the fuck did this happen so quickly?
Since she left in the morning to walk across the street, I haven’t been able to stop comparing how I feel with Misty compared to how I felt with Chanel. And the only thing Chanel wins out over is the fact we have over a decade of history together. That’s it.
And then it hit me. I’m notinlove with Chanel. I’m in love with what I thought we had. Of everything Dorian had that I couldn’t have. Of the life I imagined we’d have together, but after my week with Misty, I honestly don’t think Chanel has anythingto offer me. She can’t give me what I truly want, but more than that, she can’t give me what I need.
But Misty can.
“I hear you’re threatening to kill me.”
Turning around at the bar, I glare at the only man I’ve ever hated for simply breathing. Butch fucking Ballard.
“That surprises you?”
“Boys,” Nancy warns.
I hold my hands up and turn back to face her. “Trust me, I’m not willing to risk my standing with you just to get a few punches in. He’s not worth the gum on the bottom of my boot.”
“Big words for a man going around talking about how he’s going to murder me,” Butch says and takes the seat right beside me.
The urge to punch him in his fat fucking face is almost too strong, but I hold back. “When I get what I need, you’ll be in pieces and tossed in the middle of the desert for coyotes.”
“And what exactly is it that you need?”
“Proof?”
“Of?”
Turning my head, I glare. “I know you’re not bright, but this dumb act is even too much for you.”
“What do you think it is I did to you, son?”
This makes my eyebrows lift high enough I think they might actually reach my hairline. “What the fuck did you just call me?”
“I know. It’s fucking weird, isn’t it? But I got the reaction I wanted.”
I fucking hate this man with every fiber of my being.
“Like I’d actually claim you. There’s a reason you don’t have my last name, Zeppelin.”
“Because Mama sobered up and realized the lapse in judgment she made the night she fucked you? Yeah, I already know that.”
He just smirks at me, and I grip my beer tight enough that I worry the neck might break. Only Ballard men can do this to me.
“Sure, we’ll go with that. So, what is the big bad thing you think I’ve done?”
“Know.”
“What the fuck?”
Sniffling, I turn my entire body toward him. “It’s not what Ithinkyou did. It’s what Iknowyou did. You know it, too.”
“I do a lot of things, Zeppelin. And women. God, I do a lot of fucking women.”
The smile on his face as he looks up at the ceiling like he watches scenes of naked women he’s been with makes my stomach churn. I still can’t figure out how he’s married. How Wylie’s mom can put up with this shit.
Then again, she gave birth to Wylie and let Butch raise him. She’s not someone I’d consider to have a lot of common sense.
“You killed Johnny.”
