Brian.
I jumped off the stool and scooted out through the patio doors, shutting them behind me. “What are you doing calling me?”
“Babe, come on.”
“Brian, leave me alone.”
“Come on,” he said silkily. “After all we’ve been through? You and me? You’re just going to write us off?”
“There’s no us. I made that loud and clear.” But God, it was good to hear his voice. The longer I was away from him, I remembered more of the good times we had together than the bad.
“Let me come over. Let’s talk about this.”
“No.”
“Babe.”
“Brian, no. Go and screw Liza, I know she’s probably panting right behind you.”
“She’s not you, Tar. There’s no one like you, that’s what’s fucked up. I want you. I miss you.” He sighed.
I couldn’t say anything that I hadn’t already said and I wasn’t about to tell him the truth—that I missed him. He’d be relentless.
“Babe, you can’t tell me you don’t miss me. I’m your family, Tar. I’ve been your family for the last XX years. You can’t just dismiss me. You know that. I know you know that.”
“Yeah, well…” What I said next was harsh, but I had to, “I have a new family now.” I hung up. Breathing heavily, I leaned against the wall, hidden from inside where I knew there were at least a few pairs of eyes on me, I tried to pull myself together.
Mandy came to the patio door and opened it a crack as she stuck her head outside. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said shakily, trying to paste a grin on my face.
“You don’t look okay. Who was that?”
“Just…someone from my past.”
“An old boyfriend?”
“Guess you could call him that.”
“He sounded hot over the phone. Is he hot?”
“Oh yeah, and he knows it.” I chuckled. He was different from Tray. Tray’s looks could mesmerize people. Brian’s almost scared people away—he has the cliché bad boy look and everyone saw that when they looked at him. They’d be correct in stereotyping him; he is a bad boy—he’s spent more than his fair share of time in juvie.
The phone rang in my hands. I saw Mandy reach for it, ready to do my dirty work, but I shook my head. “No. I have to do this.” Clicking the button, I murmured, “What?”
“Babe.”
Yep, he was relentless.
“You call me again and I’ll get a restraining order on your ass. You know I’ll do it,” I snapped as I turned away from Mandy.
“You don’t mean that. You don’t really want me out of your life.”
That pissed me off. I’d lived my life not letting anyone tell me what I wanted or didn’t want, and Brian knew that—he just screwed up. “Just watch me.”
“Babe, you don’t really want to do that.”
“Oh really? Why? You think I don’t know all about your shit you got going on? About your little deal with Carmen Rizzo or about the drugs you always keep at Christian’s house? Oh wait, no…here’s the best one—how about the videos of that bank you robbed. I have those, I know where they are.”