Bad Blood by Alisha Tanner

Author:Alisha Tanner [Tanner, Alisha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-08-20T00:00:00+00:00

28

Tail Between My Legs

Dax

Friday, June 2 nd

10:20 p.m.

“I have good news and bad. Good—the guys are downstairs at the bar. Bad,” Bree tilts her head toward the sky, “you have to move.”

“From here?” I point at the grass beneath my feet. Did I step in something, or am I about to?

“No, the city.”

I guffaw. “Whatever. You’re so dramatic.”

“I’m being serious. We can’t have you running into Dani anymore. And the solution—you move.”

“I’m not moving. I won’t rearrange my life because she’s a psycho.”

“Suit yourself. I can’t keep digging you out of these holes. There are only a couple more months until the restraining order is no longer in effect. Five years have flown by. Then what?”

I take this morsel of information—who cares if the restraining order is almost up—and decide I won’t be the one to budge. Despite the need to protect myself, I need to make a change and stop being self-centered. “Liam is getting ready to start treatment. I’m not leaving.”

“And you’re gonna keep Liam safe.” It’s a statement, not a question.

I answer anyway. “Yes.”

She pulls a pack of cigarettes from her bag, shakes one into her hand, and slides it between her lips. “Like I said, suit yourself. Next time, it’s probably gonna be worse. She could get you thrown in jail if she provokes you enough to touch her again or, god forbid, damage that money-making face.” She runs her pointer finger over my cheek before pinching it.

“In this profession, we keep our hands to ourselves,” Garrett scolds as he stops next to Bree, stuffing his hands in his jeans pockets. “We don’t want to spoil the merchandise, especially since he’s the Golden Boy.”

“Shut up,” I bite out.

“He has a point,” she says as Garrett pulls her in for a side hug, and she slips the cigarette between her lips before she lights it. She inhales.

Catches me staring.

Flips me off and smiles.

Her mouth quirks up.

“And what’s that?” I ask. I don’t really want to know, but something tells me she’s going to fill me in whether or not I want to hear it.

“If you would keep your hands to yourself, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” She bobs her head from side to side with too much attitude and pokes me in the chest for good measure. Her lips lift into a smile. “You need to learn to behave.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Garrett chuckles and nods for her to follow.

“We can discuss this later.” The two of them meander off and make their way inside the hotel. And I’m left alone with my thoughts and too much energy to call it a night.

I reconsider the idea of joining everyone at the bar but decide on the solitude of the hotel pool. I take a couple of minutes to make my way through the lobby and to the back of the hotel. I plop onto an empty lounge chair and bask in the quiet.

Avoiding Bree is a bad idea, but I don’t have it in me to listen to her explain how much I messed up for the hundredth time.

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