Top Dog

I drove all through the night until I hit the Massachusetts border, then I pulled into a rest stop and prepared myself for some sleep.

I leaned the seat back and folded my arms across my chest. I closed my eyes and smiled as Theresa’s face appeared in my vision. Her innocent hazel eyes and her thick brown hair. That cute little smile with those chubby cheeks. I’d never admit it to Glen, but I did have a thing for his daughter. She was innocent and smart and curvy in all the right places. What looked like baby fat now, would smooth out into wonderfully thick thighs and an ass I’d want to sink my teeth in someday.

Hell no, I never touched her. And I didn’t have any plans to either. But fuck, it didn’t stop her innocence from calling to me. She was an angel hidden underneath layers of insecurities, and

my hands longed to strip her of those, fully exposing her to me after peeling back every layer before showing her how a real man treated his girl.

I would never have touched her until she turned eighteen. I respected Glen and what he’d done for me too much. But it was something that wouldn’t happen any longer. Good, upstanding people never really cared for bad seeds like me. Kids who came from poor homes and had holes in their shoes. They cared until it was too tough to care. They cared until it affected how their perfect little children grew up. If they knew all the hot water Hollis and I had gotten into over the years, they’d fucking flip.

It didn’t matter anymore, though.

Nothing did.

I fell asleep that night with Theresa on my mind. I needed to be figuring out what my next fucking move was, where I was going to live and how I was going to get money to fend for myself. But I couldn’t shake her smile. Or her laughter. Or the way her eyes lit up when she was reading a book she enjoyed.

I also couldn’t shake her defiance; the way her eyes had flared with anger when she came down the stairs that morning. I couldn’t shake the way she shrieked after me. Screamed for her father to stop. Too bad that’d be the first and last time I’d see that side of Theresa.

I turned over onto my side and drew in a deep breath. I could get a few hours of sleep before I needed to find a gas station and get back on the road.

The farther I got away from Bar Harbor, Maine, the better off I’d be.

CHAPTER 3

THERESA

PRESENT DAY

I filtered through the dresses in my closet as I debated on their worth. My father’s dental banquet was tonight, and he wanted me to be his “plus one.” Ever since Mom had died, that was my role in his life. If I wasn’t out with Ike, I was out with my father, fulfilling the social roles my mom used to. I knew it was simply because he was a good catch, and he didn’t want any other woman with any ideas getting too close. I was, more or less, his guard dog.

He never was the same after she died.

I plucked a yellow dress from my closet and held it up to my body. I loved the dress, but Ike wasn’t a fan of it. Not unless he was with me. I knew if I wore anything too revealing, he would get upset that I was going out in it without him. It didn’t matter that I was only going with my father to some boring dental banquet.

Ike was staying with me while his apartment complex fumigated for bugs. I had finally broken down and given him a chance during our senior year of high school. For most of the time we were together, I enjoyed his company though I was never content. It drove me crazy because I had a persistent desire for more. I sure as hell tried to carry on like everything was fine, but I knew, in the end, I was settling.

Lately, he’d started to become a little more possessive than I liked.

I usually bucked his ridiculous behavior, but tonight I was tired and didn’t want to deal with it. I put the yellow dress back and plucked a navy blue on from the back of the closet. It was sleeveless but had a high neckline and fell just below my knees. Besides, I rationalized, I was going out to a stuffy event with my father. Why did I need to look sexy? I grabbed my lacy white shawl off the hanger and threw it around my shoulders.

Satisfied, I stepped into the living room.

“How do I look?” I asked.

Ike looked up from his book on the couch, and I watched his eyes dance over me. I was waiting for that smile that had drawn me in, especially once he’d ditched the braces and gotten rid of his glasses.

But instead of smiling, he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“You chose that dress?”

“Don’t you like it?” I asked.

“Isn’t that a strapless dress?”

“That’s why I’ve got the shawl on. See?”

“Yeah, that looks nice. But won’t you get hot and take the shawl off?”

“Oh for the love, Ike. I’m going to a dental banquet with my father. It’s hardly a meat market.”