Chapter 38
CHAPTER 38
BETH
M artin has spent the last few nights with me at my house and I can’t say I don’t like the company or the incredible sex. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. I provide him a place to escape his father and he provides all the emotional and physical needs I have.
And, I’m not talking about food or a roof over my head.
I wake to the sensation of his lips running over my shoulder, rousing me. “Let me sleep,” I grumble like an ornery beast, but he just chuckles in my ear.
“I can’t. Don’t you start your new job today?” he whispers softly in my ear.
I groan. He’s right, but I don’t have to like it.
“Yes.” I let out a loud yawn. “Why did I have to agree to train in the morning?”
He chuckles. “Well, it is a small town and there aren’t exactly a lot of job opportunities. You take what you can get.”
That’s true.
“You take a shower and I’ll make some breakfast.”
My heart does that stupid pitter patter thing he makes it do and I want to scream for it to shut up. All the muscle ever does is get me in loads of trouble. What Martin and I have is good without the L word getting involved.
I let Nigel in and he hurt me. I let Oliver in and he betrayed me. I let Shawn in and he died.
I’m cursed and that’s okay.
Martin climbs out of bed, still as naked as he was when I passed out last night, and I roll my eyes. He is a little too comfortable walking around my house naked and I’m not mad about it. The view is really nice.
I don’t want to get up yet, but duty calls, I suppose.
I get out of bed and take a shower before getting dressed. I don’t have a lot of clothes, but luckily, the “uniform” for being a waitress is very simple. Black t-shirt and beige pants or shorts.
Luckily, I do have some shorts that hug my ass nicely.
* * *
Martin dropped me off before he headed off to his unpaid internship. He said he’d pick me up after my training. It’s supposed to be a full eight hours, but I know most first days of training are only four at most and that’s how long his intern shifts are.
It’s okay if I have to walk back. I don’t mind it. It’s just really hot at high noon and that will be about the time I get off if my calculations are correct. I used to be a waitress here before I moved so it won’t take much shadowing at all. There have only been a few items added to the menu and the clientele has remained the same.
I finish pouring a cup of coffee when I look out the window and see a black Mustang drive into the parking lot. My heart slams into my stomach, ricocheting up into my throat at the sight of it.
No. It can’t be him. There are a lot of black Mustangs in the world.
I covered my tracks and Martin has kept my location undetectable.
He won’t find me here. He wouldn’t even want to find me. It’s his best friend that does. My little sex tape could be a motive, since I got my vengeance by giving my body to his cousin. Maybe he didn’t like that Martin got a taste of me.
He’s gotten more than a taste though. He has sampled the entire buffet.
I get back to work, ignoring the appearance of the Mustang the best that I can. A few men who I’ve known my entire life get a little too handsy, but considering this is my first day back, I have to let it slide. I can’t hand them their ass while I’m on the job. That would be unprofessional.
“If anyone gives you trouble, just let me know and I’ll set them straight,” Miss Irene, the owner of the diner, says with a big smile on her face and I nod.
“Thanks.” I didn’t say anything to her, but I guess one of the other girls did.
“It’s good to have you back, Beth. We missed you around these parts.” She pats my shoulder.
“I’m glad to be back.”
“How’s your mom? I’m a bit surprised you’re here and I haven’t heard anything about her rejoining the church.”
Yeah, that might seem a tad suspicious, but I’ve got that covered.
“She’s good. She’s just taking a mental health break. She’ll be back soon.”
No, she won’t, but I can keep that excuse going for a long time. After a while, people will stop asking about her. She’s fine in rehab and when she gets out, she’ll make her decision about what she wants to do. Stay in Grove Hill or come back to Hempstead. Either way, I’m not going back.
That place was just toxic. The only good thing about it is that now I have Martin. In a way, he’s a better companion than Delaney or Teigan. I still miss them, but he knows me in a way they never did.
I collect my tips and stuff them in my pocket before Miss Irene asks, “On your way out, could you be a dear and take out the trash under the register?”
“Sure.” I do as she asks before walking out the back door, throwing the trash bag into the dumpster. I whistle to myself as I walk around the side of the diner and come face to face with…Earl Porter. He used to be a nice man, but he’s become a drunk in the past few years and nobody likes this fucker now.
“Bethany!” He grins wide and I watch him warily.
“Hi, Earl. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get home,” I say as nicely as I can.
I don’t want trouble and he sure as fuck won’t like what happens if he makes trouble for me.
“Now, wait a minute, young lady,” he grumbles, a hint of anger on his face. “I wanted to have a conversation with you.” The hint of alcohol on his breath is nauseating.
“Sorry, but like I said, I need to get home. I’ll see you tomorrow and we can talk then if you want.”
He’s a regular at the diner and if I’m in the same section then, I’ll have no choice but to talk to him. If he’s being creep like he is now, I might have to get Miss Irene involved.
I try to move around him, but his fingers dig into my arm and he slams my back into the wall. I let out a hiss of pain from the impact on my head.
That hurt like a bitch, but I’ve been through worse. Seriously, my mom slaps harder than that.
“You really don’t want to do this,” I warn.
“Come on, Bethany. You’re all grown up now,” he hisses in my face as he keeps a firm grip on my arm. “I just wanted to–”
He is yanked back by way of his hair by a dark figure bathed in shadows created by the trees on the other side of the fence. I’m blinded by the sun but there is no mistaking the voice coming from the shadow.
“She said no, motherfucker.”
Oliver.
I wasn’t imagining things when I saw the Mustang.
He’s here.
He found me.
The sound of crunching bone is followed by squelching and the gurgling associated with someone choking on their own blood.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I curse under my breath before stepping out of the direct ray of light so, I can actually see where he is and what kind of carnage he inflicted on poor Earl. He was no match for me and he sure as hell was no match for Grove Hill’s town psychopath.
Once out of the light, I see Earl on the ground in a pool of his own blood. His head is bent backwards, the bones in his neck pushed out through his flesh, and the man takes his last breath as I slowly shake my head at the sheer brutality.
The man suffered, but not for long. Such a shame. I would’ve made it last longer, but Oliver is impulsive and he’s not bound by the Bastard rules as long as he’s not in Grove Hill.
Oliver’s icy blues blaze into me as I notice his hands are covered in Earl’s blood and the splashes on his shirt.
He looks livid.
“Just fucking great!” I growl. “You know, I didn’t need the assistance. I had everything under control.”
He rolls his eyes. “Sure, you did. In case it wasn’t clear from your perspective, he had his hands all over you.”
“And?… What do you care?” I huff and see no change in his expression. So typical. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but you better clean this up. In case it wasn’t clear, this is my job, how I make money to support myself and I’m not going to let you ruin it for me.” I walk around him, stepping over Earl’s corpse and the blood beneath him. I really don’t need to explain to Martin how I got blood on my shoes. Plus, some deep seated part of me wants to keep this secret for him.
I fucking hate Oliver. He hurt me, betrayed me, cut me so deep that my head has only remained above water because of Martin’s kindness. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to associate him with anything other than hate, but there’s still that part of me that holds onto a small part of him.
“Wait,” he calls out from behind me.
“No,” I respond in kind.
“Princess,” he groans and I stop, rage building inside me.
I’m not his princess anymore. I’m not anything to him. He made that perfectly clear with his vile words and heartless expression.
I snap around and point my finger in his devastatingly handsome face. “Don’t you dare call me that. I thought I was pretty fucking clear, but maybe I need to be blunt. I want nothing to do with you or your friends or your fucking town. I’m done. You and everything that happened between us mean absolutely nothing. You are dead to me so, go ahead. Go back to the pits of hell you crawled out of and stay the fuck away from me. You got what you wanted and I got what I wanted–away from you and your best friend. Simple as that, Oliver. Clean this up and get the hell out of my town.”
I turn on my heels and walk away, my heart hammering against my ribs with every step I take.
Why the hell was he here in the first place? Was this just some stupid coincidence or did he track me down? Is he going to tell Nigel where I am?
I honestly don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. Maybe it never did.
* * *
After a shower and washing my clothes, I get started on trying to throw something together, but I don’t have a lot of ingredients. I might need to settle for chicken alfredo with chicken nuggets as the protein.
Yup. That looks like what I’m going to need to do.
I’ve barely turned off the stove when I hear the front door open.
I actually like the quiet of the house and how I can always hear the air conditioner switch on or the creak of the floorboard beneath my feet.
“Hey,” Martin announces as he walks into the kitchen.
“Hi.” I smile as he walks over, wearing that business casual wear I’ve slowly gotten used to.
“You know, you could’ve called me to let me know that you were released early. I was worried when they told me you weren’t there.”
Oh. My. God.
“I’m so sorry,” I mutter as I walk the rest of the way to him. “I completely forgot. He just got into my head and I’ve been spiraling since I got off work.”
His eyes narrow. “He who?”
I let out a long breath before crossing my arms over my chest. “Oliver. He showed up at the diner.”
His eyes widen a fraction, but he doesn’t say anything.
“He didn’t even say much, but him being there just pissed me off. I was so mad that he was there and he had no reason to be. I just hope he doesn’t tell Nigel where I am.”
Martin runs his fingers through my hair, dragging my attention up to him. “Listen to me. I won’t let him hurt you again, okay? I’ll make sure my cousin knows to keep his mouth shut. You don’t need to worry. He and O’Reilly don’t seem to be on the best of terms anyway. There’s clearly a lot of tension there.”
He pulls me into his chest and I cling to him. I would be lying if I said I’m not scared of Nigel. I am, especially since I’ve done a lot of things lately that would piss him off.
Maybe the sex tape wasn’t the best idea.
“He’s not going to hurt you, okay?”
I slowly pull back and nod. “‘Kay.” I’m not so sure he won’t, but Martin has earned my trust.
“Let’s eat and then we’ve got somewhere to go.”
My head tilts with confusion. “Where?”
He grins. “You’ll see.”
Why do I have a bad feeling about this?