“Now, admit to your girlfriend that you’ve been calling Angie a cow and fat and other nauseating shit because you are a vile person.”
He lets up once more, but Leroy doesn’t look at London. “It’s true. I have.”
London covers her mouth, and Owen loosens his grip, allowing Leroy to fall to the floor. Owen towers over him. “Stay the fuck away from Angie. And if I see you near her, I will kill you.”
Leroy only nods as he clutches his neck.
“And if you think you want to turn me in for assault, she will turn you in for attempted rape, and I’ll testify to seeing the whole thing.” London gasps, and Owen sets her with a look. “Your boyfriend is trash. Get a new one, and maybe apologize to Angie for being a bitch to her when all she wanted was your support.”
He then looks at me before he reaches out and wipes the tear from my cheek. “Let’s get your stuff and get the hell out of here.”
I only nod and follow him to my old room, knowing that could have been a lot worse and surprised it wasn’t. I don’t know what he’s thinking or what he intends to do, but one thing is for sure, I’m terrified.
It’s not even going to be my disgusting stomach that scares him away; it’s going to be my insecurities.
And I truly don’t know which one is worse.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Owen
* * *
I’m hopping mad, as my mom would say.
I call Dart to come help, and we load up the trucks in a matter of minutes. The whole time, London is screaming at Leroy and throwing his things out on the lawn. I don’t tell Dart about Leroy because, unlike the summer programs I want to participate in to bring awareness to mental health, Dart has nothing holding him in line. He’ll beat the shit out of Leroy for Angie, and I won’t stop him.
Hell, I’ll buy him a beer.
And a stripper.
London doesn’t say anything to Angie, and Leroy hightails it pretty quickly. I don’t say anything either. I can’t even look at Angie, I’m so pissed at her. I thought she had overcome her body image issues. She was scared about her parents, and they loved her right through that. Our sex is unbelievable, but I’ve been so blinded by her, I didn’t even notice that I never fully got her naked. Like, how pathetic is that? She mesmerized me and hid herself from me, the one person who loves even a pimple on her ass. I’ve made that known, yet she still hid. Angie knew how much I wanted her to feel comfortable and love herself, but I’m left feeling played.
It’s a really crappy feeling.
Angie sits in the cab, quiet and looking small as we drive back to my house.
“I’m sorry about Leroy.”
I make a face. “It’s not your place to apologize, Angie.”
“I know, but thank you for not killing him. I really didn’t want you not to be able to do those programs this summer.”
“I know,” I answer. “That’s why I didn’t kill him.”
She grimaces. “I can stay at a hotel if you’d like.”
I don’t even look at her. “I wouldn’t like that at all.”
“I know you’re mad.”
“Hopping mad.”
She frowns. I’m pretty sure the last time she heard that phrase was when Evan and I put a hole in Benji’s trampoline because we wanted to see who could stay out of the hole. My buddy Asher Brooks fell through and broke his arm. Mom was hopping mad then. “I understand if you—”
“Angie.”
“Yeah?”
“Stop. Give me a few.”
She snaps her mouth shut, and we drive back in silence. As Dart and I unload her boxes, she carefully takes in her plants. The house is so full of tension, I feel like I’m drowning in it.
Dart isn’t dumb, and when we’re alone in the room, he asks, “Are you two fighting?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not good on moving day.”
I shrug. “It happens.”
“True that. Did you choke out that Leroy guy? It was either you or the chick, ’cause his neck was busted.”
I raise my hand, owning it. “He called Angie a fat, disgusting cow.”
Dart blinks and hooks his thumb behind him. “And you let him walk away?”
I exhale heavily. “I can’t have a record for assault. It will ruin my work with the mental health compound this summer.”
“Ah, true. Okay. Want me to go back and make sure he can’t walk?”
I cup my best friend’s shoulder, laughing. “He isn’t worth it.”
“Shit, it’s more for me than anything. Oh, and Angie’s honor.”
And this is why Dart is my best friend.
We share a nod of acknowledgment before we go to get more boxes. Once everything is in the house, I move her desk to the plant area where she is. Very carefully, she rearranges her plants and makes sure none of them are touching. She doesn’t look as happy as she usually is when she does this, and that’s how I know she’s truly upset about our fight. I set up her laptop and then some of her schoolbooks before putting her book bag on the chair.