“Game?”
“Exactly. You hate me, as near as I can tell you hate every woman you come in contact with. You flat out told me that we’re not going to be friends, you warned me away from your son and honestly, I could keep going. So why are you talking to me now?”
“I have another question for you,” he says and I frown, something about that look on his face warns me that I’m probably going to hate what he has to ask.
“What is it?” I question, carefully treading ahead.
“Is the fact that my son’s not here the reason you don’t want to talk to me?”
I blink. I don’t really understand what he’s asking.
“What?”
“I think I made myself pretty clear,” he responds and I just shake my head.
“You’re about as clear as mud.”
“I think you’re one of those women,” he responds, doing nothing to help with my confusion.
“What kind of woman?”
“The kind who play up to a man’s son just to get to his dick.”
“I… What did you just say?”
“I think you heard me.”
“I did, but I honestly can’t believe you said that to me. You’re really fucked up in the head, you know that?”
Something moves across his face. I see it. It’s almost physical and it looks painful. He doesn’t say anything else to me, he just turns and walks away. I want to scream at him; I want to demand he tells me what the fuck his problem is.
I do nothing but walk to my car. I’m late for work as it is. I don’t have time to worry about my neighbor from hell.6DieselI shouldn’t have said that to Rory. She didn’t really earn it and I took my anger out on her. Leaving Ryan at school this morning was the hardest fucking thing I’ve ever had to do. He’s out of my protection there, and too far away from me. I paid a fuck of a lot of money to put him in a private school and one where the security is nailed down tight. I made sure absolutely no one but me is on the list to pick him up and that they know Ryan had been the victim of an abduction—one that involved his mother. I gave them all the court documented paperwork, showing that her rights to Ryan had been terminated and that she was deemed to be unfit and harmful to Ryan’s wellbeing. I had extensive meetings with the principal, the office staff and Ryan’s teacher.
You would think all of that would make me feel better, but it doesn’t.
Not even close.
I’m nervous as fuck, stressed and fucking tired. I’m so tired that I feel it deep in my bones. It feels like I weigh a thousand pounds and I’m just dragging my body along with me.
Seeing Rory this morning, remembering her moans last night, I forgot myself and tried to joke with her—forgetting for a moment that I shut her down and she has reason to hate me. Forgetting that I shouldn’t even want to talk to another woman in my lifetime.
My instinct tells me that Rory is nothing like Vicki—or Violet for that matter. But then, when have I been able to trust my gut when it came to women? Violet was the last one and that almost cost me my son. I need to remember that—not think about Rory.
Unless…
I could treat her like a muffler bunny. She’s obviously in need of a man if what I heard last night is any indication. I definitely need a woman. Finding a woman of my own was where I went wrong all those years ago. That’s how Vicki got to me. I wasn’t like most men in my life. I never wanted to share what I had in my bed—not long term. Now I’m thinking that’s exactly what I need. No strings, no drama.
Fuck buddies.
I could look elsewhere, but Violet left her own set of scars on me. I haven’t really wanted another woman since. Something about my red-headed neighbor with the killer ass and tits has changed that.
The thoughts are still there in my mind when I pull into the Whitefish General Store. I have about thirty minutes before I pick up Ryan and I thought I’d stop here and get some supplies. Whitefish doesn’t have normal shopping centers. They have a general store which sells everything from groceries to clothes. It’s kind of a poor man’s idea of Walmart—which works great for me. I hate shopping almost as much as I hate driving around in my truck. I’ve been dying to get my bike out, but a bike makes Ryan too vulnerable. Maybe I can take it out for a bit tomorrow while he’s in school—I just have to be careful and make sure my cell never loses signal. I need the school to be able to reach me at all times.