“Don’t play fucking dumb with me, Morrison. You like her enough to bring her here and then go back to Vegas to win her freedom. You sell your place, saying you don’t need anything in it, but you basically ignore her. When she spends the night in your bed, you crash on the couch. Then you take your sweet time coming back here, not saying shit to any of us, having two-minute conversations with her, basically blowing her off. She and Livi are tight as hell, and Livi told me she’s into you, so what the fuck are you doing? The three of us are all in. But you? None of us have a fucking clue what’s going on in your head, then you come back here with some bullshit story about the stairs. You don’t do all that if you aren’t gonna claim her.”
“Claim her?” I laugh. “Hailey isn’t one to lay claim to, Hendrix. The minute I do that, she’ll jet.”
“She ain’t going anywhere, Morrison. She knows what you’ve done, and anyone with half a brain and a heart knows she is falling just as hard and fast—”
“I’m not in it for the fucking fall, Hendrix. What happens after you fall?” I don’t wait for him to answer. “You get up and move on. I’m not gonna let that happen.”
“You’re wrong, man.”
“You ain’t listening.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Different strokes for different folks. Your approach with Livi—the caveman shit, moving her in without her even knowing what was going on—that worked for a woman like Livi. The underwear and shit; she already let you inside her—”
“Watch it,” he growls.
“Will you shut the fuck up and listen! It was exactly what she needed. She agreed to it, gave her consent to the thing that held her back. She wasn’t owned by her abuser in the literal sense of the word. You know that. But I know Hailey. That little momma isn’t gonna be around if it’s just because of the fall. I lay claim to her, and she’s gonna head for the fucking hills the second there is a problem. With her, she needs to feel freedom from everything like she never did before, so she’s gonna be the one to claim me, you feel me?”
He smirks.
“I’ll play bitch to Hailey any day of the fucking week until she feels free. Then, and only then, will I show her what a Caldwell man really is. She doesn’t just have to fall; she has to jump.”
“I wanna play twitch.” I hear the little one’s feet pitter-patter on the cement floor as she runs to me.
I squat down as she stops and smiles, and then I grab her and pull her into a hug. “You, I’m claiming.”
“Like the mermaid with that shell?” She giggles and hugs me back.
I have no fucking clue what the hell she’s talking about. I look up at Livi, who smiles at me and holds her hand to her heart.
“She’s been watching The Little Mermaid movie,” she explains. “Clams.”
“You wanna watch?” Marisa asks.
“How about you call your momma and ask her if it would be all right for me to take you out on a dinner date?”
Chapter 16
Hailey
Days. I have spent days feeling like I am holding on to something while wondering if it’s really there in the first place.
Morrison and his road trip…Frustration builds further inside me as I dwell.
Does he really think I buy the bullshit he’s selling? Is he upset because I got in and played the game? Is he angry that I won my own pot to pay my way out? Did I mess up some plan he had for me to be in debt to him?
My head is all over the place, as are my emotions. I want so desperately to trust him. The closer I get with Livi, the more I can see that the Caldwell boys are good. Then, when I don’t hear from Morrison, doubt fills me. Do I have blinders on? Am I seeing what I want to see, not what’s really there?
Given my history, I’m not good at judging people’s character. Honestly, I have never been in a situation to sort out who is good and who is bad—I was never allowed choices. The people I met and associated with were Monte’s people. Even Jamie, in the beginning, was chosen by Monte to be my best friend, although I’m sure he never expected her to become a true friend and not just another pawn in his game.
Sure, Morrison answers when I call, but he has made no attempt on his own to reach out to me. His return from Vegas has taken longer than I ever expected it to, as well. His response to that is he was taking in the scenery.
Again, I call bullshit.
I wipe down the bar in front of me. Oh, well, it is what it is, right?
“Deep in thought over there, girl,” Jared barks out at me.
I hurry over to him, then take another look around to make sure he really was talking to me before I smile sweetly at him.
The man holds his liquor well. He also holds back so much behind those dark eyes as he spits out joke after joke to his friends. Serving the regulars, night in and night out, I have learned that friendships seem to form, and to last, over a simple glass or two, or three…
“Hit me with your best line.” He raises an eyebrow in challenge to me. It’s the same thing he tries every night, and every time, his response is the same—a deep frown and a reply to try again on a different day.
“Why does Alice ask so many questions?”
He shrugs his shoulders for me to answer.
“Because she’s in Wonderland.” I smile, and Jared shakes his head.
“Momma, we need to get you out more often. Every night I come in here and you give me some fairy-tale joke. My days of reading bedtime stories have long since passed. Serve me up, darlin’, and we’ll keep this our little secret.”
I laugh out loud, making him look at me strangely.
“I can actually serve you without making you laugh, really?”