“No fucking way.” I shake my head. “That was bullshit.”
“We did a good job.” He grins at me. “Let’s get you back to the shop—we can pick your car up tomorrow.”
“Nope, I’m all talked out. I need to do some night driving. Solo.”
“Amy, you got punched in the head and drank two beers… Three, actually,” he corrects.
“Night, Esteban.”
I cross the road, swaying on my feet, and as I fumble for the Pontiac’s door, he calls out to me.
“I’ll be right behind you. I’ve got your back, Amy.”
I settle into my seat and hold my middle finger out to him through the window. If that’s what he wants to do with his night, then who am I to stop him?
I pull out, turning the radio down low. My head is killing me, and the more I drive, the worse it gets. It takes me twice as long as it should to make it back to the shop, Esteban patiently trailing me the whole way there.
When I pull up outside my building, I check my reflection in therearview mirror and wince. My eye has taken one hell of a beating, the bruise already turning a nasty shade of blue, the skin over my brow bone split.Little bitch.He caught me off guard, and I hate that.
Esteban gives me a quick wave and speeds back off down the road, and though having him around was pissing me off, it was kind of comforting, too—which is bad news.
I stagger up the stairs to my room, my stomach lurching as I climb. Placing an ear to the door, I listen for sounds, and when I’m sure the coast is clear, I sneak into the hall. I urgently need to ice this thing.
Charlotte isn’t working today, and with a bit of luck, she’ll be tucked up in bed with Raven. I cross my fingers and pad down to the kitchen, rummaging in the freezer for ice, wrapping it in a dish towel before tiptoeing back to my room.
“Tatami?”
I freeze.
Joey is standing there in the hall, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and the pounding in my head just got worse. As I double over, the ice pack tumbles to the ground with a thud.
“What’re you doing?”
“Go back to bed,” I croak.
“Why’s your eye bleeding?”
“Just a bump—don’t sweat it, kid.”
I stroke his hair as I brush past him. I’m limping, I realize.
“What’re you guys doing up so late?”
Raven. Fuck!
“Tatami got a bump,” Joey offers.
I don’t turn back, but despite the belly, my sister is fast. Her fingers close around my wrist, and when she pulls me around to face her, she lets out a gasp. I collapse into her without thinking, my body aching for some kind of comfort.
“I knew it.” She shakes her head. “Iknewyou’d be up to your old tricks once that animal showed up.”
The blood is rushing in my head, and an icy chill washes over me, burrowing deep into my bones, sweeping through my body. She doesn’t even care what happened—her instinct is to just assume I got busy with my fists for no good reason. I make to reply, but there’s a part of me recoiling now.
“What did I tell you, Amy?” she snarls. “I sucked it up foryears, but not anymore. You want to screw your life up? You do you. But you’re not dragging us down with you. We can’t just move every time you fuck up.”
That’s the second time she’s said that. I know I put her through a lot over the past few years—IknowI did. But the way I’m feeling right now, it lands like betrayal. These are the facts—I was in a bar, a guy tried to pick me up, and then he assaulted me. How isanyof this my fault? All I did was stand up for myself, and I know I should just tell her that, but I’m sick and tired of having to explain myself like this.
Charlotte pokes her head around the door. “What’s going on?”
