Chapter 22
Javi, Present
Fuck this.
I’ve been sitting in my car stewing while I watched their interaction.
Neither of them even noticed me pull up. And my car is loud as fuck. They were too involved with whatever shit they had to be discussing.
Nothing. They have nothing they need to discuss.
If I don’t want anyone talking to Declan, that feeling is amplified to an unimaginable degree with Carter.
Declan slams the front door shut. That’s when I make my move. I storm over to Carter as he stands upright in front of the plat bed, grabbing onto his shoulder and whipping him around to face me.
“Whoa! What the—Morales? Why the hell are you—”
I step into him, getting uncomfortably close. “Why the fuck are you talking to him?” My question comes out gritted and angry.
His face scrunches up in confusion before smoothing out into an easy smile. “Oh. That.” He lets out a condescending laugh as he places a hand on my shoulder. “You were always so jealous.”
I slap his hand away as hard as I can. “Leave. Him. Alone.”
I can feel myself vibrating. Violence and anger banging against the inside of my skin.
He smirks and shakes his head. “You still got a thing for him, huh?” He pauses for my answer, but I only glare in response. “Well, listen, if he wants it, then I’m not gonna say no.”
“He doesn’t want shit from you,” I bark back.
He leans in, almost touching my nose with his. “I think we both know that’s probably not true.”
My breath leaves me in a harsh rush.
There are those thoughts again. In the back of my brain. Rearing up at the mention of what happened.
“Hey, boys!”
We both turn toward the driveway to find Nancy getting out of her car, followed shortly by Harold.
Carter’s demeanor immediately changes. The sarcastic fuckboy face replaced with the blond boy next door. “Oh hello, Mrs. Turner!” Then he smiles like a fucking kiss ass.
I try to fix my face but I just can’t. It only wants to stare angrily at Carter while I imagine ripping his head off of his shoulders.
Nancy shakes her head as she makes her way up to us. “I told you to call me Nancy.”
“Of course,” he says excitedly as she stops in front of us. “Sorry about that, Nancy. I just finished up the work and was about to head off when I ran into Javier.”
Nancy nods as Harold joins her and says, “Javier, you alright there, son? Looks like someone pissed in your Cheerios.”
Nancy scoffs. “Harold. Disgusting.”
“What? It’s a common saying. Look at his face,” he says while gesturing toward me.
“Just—uh—had a bad day,” I offer as a poor excuse.
Nancy looks at me for a long time, eyes flicking all over my face before she turns back to Harold. “Leave him alone. Let’s go inside. Carter, thank you for doing the weeding. And see you around, Javier.”
“Bye,” I try to say evenly at the same time Carter cheerfully says, “Of course!”
They both shuffle inside and close the door.
I turn back to him. “Stay the fuck away from Declan.”
The arrogance is back, smeared across his face like shit. “I’ll do as I please, Morales. Especially when he’s the one trying to come after me.”
He did not.
But I don’t really know that, do I? And history hasn’t fared well for me there.
By the time I’ve snapped out of my thoughts, Carter is already across the street, opening his front door and disappearing inside.