12
12
Dolly
Carrying the pizza into the living room, I set it on the coffee table. I could feel Micah watching me from the sofa he was currently leaning back on, scrolling through Netflix. Before I could straighten back up, he leaned forward and took a slice.
“Damn, this looks good,” he said, then took a bite.
Refusing to watch him chew because even Micah could make eating sexy, I turned and headed back to the kitchen to get the bottle of prosecco and my glass. Pausing, I glanced over at the whiskey that Micah had bought last night and figured it would be rude not to take it in there in case he wanted more. He already had a glass with some in it, but I didn’t want him to choke on his pizza.
With a sigh, I picked it up and went back to the living room. His suggestion that we eat in there and watch a movie had sounded kinda nice. Even if he made me a little nervous. When Micah looked at me, I felt like that awkward girl I had been. The one that was still inside me. My appearance might have changed, but it hadn’t changed much else.
Placing the bottles beside the pizza, I sat down with little room between us because this sofa was not that big. I’d bought it, thinking it was perfect for me. Micah made it look even smaller than it was. The only other guy who had sat on this sofa was Canyon, and that had been only a handful of times.
Shoving thoughts of him aside, I spread out a napkin in my lap and then reached for a slice of pizza. When I lifted it carefully to my mouth to take a bite, I felt Micah’s gaze on me. I lowered the pizza and turned to look at him. He was smirking. What was so funny? I raised my eyebrows, feeling slightly annoyed that he could make me so self-conscious.
“Are you always so prim?” he asked me.
“Are you always so annoying?” I shot back at him.
His lips curled into a full-blown smile. “You know, Tink, I think you’re the only female who finds me annoying. But then I doubt you really mean it.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, hating that he was right. “You’re wrong there. Pepper thinks you’re annoying.”
He chuckled. “Little sisters don’t count. And I wasn’t making fun of you. It’s cute. That proper, prissy shit you do.”
Cute. If he called me cute one more time, I was going to shove my pizza in his face. It was grating on my nerves.
“Just stop talking,” I said, turning my attention back to the television.
“Ouch,” he drawled, but I didn’t respond.
Instead, I took a bite and started to chew.
I expected him to talk some more and continue to say things that made me angry, but instead, he started searching the movies on Netflix again. I watched as he went past several movies that might be good when he finally stopped at one.
“You good with this one?” he asked.
I nodded, not looking at him, then picked up my glass and drank down the rest of the bubbly inside of it before reaching to pour myself more. If I was going to watch an entire movie with Micah Abe, I needed help relaxing.
He clicked it, set the remote down, then took another slice from the table. I was finished with mine and used the napkin in my lap to clean my hands, then folded it neatly and placed it on the coffee table before settling back with my glass.
It wasn’t until I drank all that I had and was considering pouring more that I felt its effects. Turning, I looked over at Micah, who shifted his gaze from the television to me.
“Don’t you have better things to do on a Saturday night?” I asked him.
His eyes danced with amusement. “I can’t say that I do, Tink.”
I didn’t want to smile, but my lips did so anyway. Dang them. “You’re lying,” I replied.
He took a drink from his glass, not taking his gaze off me. “Why would you say that?”
I threw out a hand and waved it around the room. “This isn’t very exciting for you.”
He shrugged. “It’s enjoyable though.”
Enjoyable. That was a good thing. He was enjoying himself.
His hand reached over and took mine. My gaze dropped to see his thumb brush over the small red welt that the espresso had left this morning.
“You want me to get an ice pack?” he asked.
I shook my head, not sure I could form words. Micah grinned, then lifted my hand to his mouth and brushed his lips over the tender flesh. The butterflies in my stomach morphed into something much more intense. They were more like a bunch of crazed seagulls.
“You even smell sweet,” he murmured against my skin.
I was sure I might just pass out right now. Micah Abe was kissing my hand—or as close to kissing as one could get—and telling me I smelled sweet.
“You sure you don’t want me to get you one of those pretty little pink ice packs? I don’t like the idea of you being in pain.”
Good Lord almighty, had I fallen asleep, or was this really happening?
I started to shake my head when a loud knock rattled my door.
“Dolly, babe. Open up!” Canyon called from the other side.
Oh no. This was a bad thing. A real bad thing.
Micah dropped my hand and shot up from the sofa.
I scrambled to follow him as he started stalking to the door. He was almost there when I managed to wrap my hands around his arm to attempt to stop him.
“Micah, wait!” I begged, not sure what would happen if he opened that door.
“Let go, Tink,” he demanded.
“DOLLY!” Canyon shouted from the other side of the door. “You’re not answering my calls or texts. Talk to me, baby.”
Micah’s eyes locked with mine. “He’s called and texted you?” he asked me in an accusing tone.
“We were dating,” I exclaimed. “I didn’t respond. You heard him.” I didn’t like the way he was looking at me, as if I had done something wrong.
He jerked his arm free, and his hand went to his back, just under the leather vest he was wearing. Fear sliced through me as he pulled out a gun. Panicking as tears filled my eyes, I didn’t reach for his arm this time. Guns terrified me.
“Micah, don’t, please,” I begged.
His jaw clenched, and it only made the perfect angles of his face appear sharper. “I told him to stay the fuck away from you,” he said through clenched teeth. “He was using you, Dolly. What part of that do you not understand?”
Even though I’d already known this, it still hurt to hear him say it. I’d loved two men in this world—or at least, I thought I had. Micah had been the first and Canyon the second, but then with Micah, I had been too young. With Canyon, I had been…blinded.
“Just let me talk to him. Do you have to get the gun out for that? It’s a touch too much, don’t you think?”
“Go to your bedroom and lock the door,” he clipped out.
They were only words, but the memory came flooding back with it. I closed my eyes tightly, fighting it off.
“One hundred twenty-two,” I whispered. “One hundred twenty-two.”
Another loud knock. “Dolly! Come on, baby. Please.”
This was not happening. There was no gun. I wouldn’t lock myself in my bedroom.
“One hundred twenty-two.”
“Tink? You okay?” Micah asked as his hand touched my face.
I didn’t open my eyes. The lump was back. Choking me.
“Dolly, baby, I’m gonna break down the door if you don’t answer me,” Canyon warned.
Micah’s hand left me, and by the time I could get my eyes open, he moved to unlock the door and was swinging it open with the gun in his hand, pointed at Canyon. I was frozen and unable to even shout out a warning. Canyon’s eyes swung from Micah’s gun to me. He didn’t even flinch at the fact that Micah was prepared to kill him.
“Go to your room, Tink,” Micah said in a softer tone this time.
I didn’t move. One hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two.
Canyon held up both his hands. “Not here to fight with you, Abe. I just need to talk to Dolly.”
Micah took a step toward him. “You were told to stay the fuck away from Dolly. You’re not gonna use her the way you did my sister. It won’t be prison next time.”
One hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two.
The threat in his words didn’t even make Canyon flinch. Me, however? I was struggling to take a deep breath. It felt as if someone had me by the throat, tightening slowly.
One hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two.
“Baby, listen, it’s not like that. Not anymore. Maybe it was at first, but…then I got to know you. It changed. I swear.” He pleaded as he ignored Micah.
Not wanting anything to happen to him and very close to a complete mental shutdown, I knew I needed him to leave so Micah would put that gun away.
“Just go.” The sound of my voice sounded foreign to my ears.
One hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two.
The pain reflected in Canyon’s gaze only made the difficulty to breathe worse. I believed him. Why couldn’t Micah? Was it so hard to believe that Canyon could have feelings for me? That he could love me? Maybe it was. My father hadn’t loved me enough to stay. There had to be something wrong with me. I had always feared there was. I wasn’t good enough.
One hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two.
“You’re scaring her,” Canyon said, glaring at Micah now. “She’s terrified. Look at her. Jesus, Abe, put the damn gun down.”
“Leave before I put you down,” Micah replied in a cold, hard voice that was nothing like him.
Canyon turned his focus back to me, his expression softening. “I’ll prove it to you. I swear I will. This ain’t over.”
One hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two.
He’d hurt Pepper. I could never forgive him for that. But there was a part of me that had thought I was in love with him just a few days ago. That part was struggling with all this. That part wanted to be enough for someone to love. I wanted to believe someone would love me enough to stay with me.
One hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two.
“I’m gonna walk away, baby,” Canyon said softly. He lowered his hands. Then, with one last look my way, he did as he’d said.
My entire body felt numb when Micah closed the door harder than necessary.
“He’s a lying sack of shit,” Micah swore.
Canyon had hurt Pepper. Even if he was kind to me, even if he had come here to fight for me, it didn’t change the past. I couldn’t forgive him for what he’d done to her. I knew people could change, and maybe he had, but it made no difference to me.
Micah put his gun back in the holster as he watched me.
“Are you okay?” he asked, taking a step toward me.
I took a step back, needing my space. Right now, if someone touched me, I was sure I would fall apart. I was too close to the edge now. The number one hundred twenty-two was still replaying over and over again in my head.
I held up both my hands and nodded. “I’m fine.”
“You’re pale, Tink,” he said in a gentle tone. “I’m sorry about the gun.”
I nodded again and took another step away from him. From the door. From all that had just happened. Going back to the living room to finish the movie seemed impossible now. My emotions were all over the place, and I needed to be alone.
“I’m going to bed,” I said simply and left him there, watching me walk away.
One hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two, one hundred twenty-two.