Filmed_ An Alpha Bad Boy Romance(50)

I felt like he had punched me back, but worse. I felt like he had torn out my guts, held them up to me, and said, “See? They’re black and rotted, just like mine.”

“Now get in your car, drive to lunch, and act like you give a single shit. Do you understand?”

I kept staring at him, my body willing me to punch him again, to do anything. I wanted to scream and yell, tell him he was wrong about mom, tell him he didn’t know anything about her. I wanted to run away to Linda, spend the rest of my life learning every inch of her body. I wanted to do anything but go to that restaurant. He returned my look, his face a passive mask.

Finally, I let out a long breath, breaking the tension. I turned and began to head over to my car, my hands shoved in my pockets.

“I’ll see you at the restaurant,” he called after me.

I climbed into my car, started the engine, and began to drive out of the cemetery. I thought about Linda, her smile and her laugh, and the way she blushed and got so angry every time I talked about her sexy polka dot panties. I thought about the night we spent together, and the first time I kissed her in the movie theater. I thought about how wet she was for me, constantly aching for my body, and how badly my cock needed her warmth. I would have given anything to see her in that moment, to hold her hand, and to make her laugh.

But I was not a good guy. I wasn’t even a halfway decent person. Just because I did a few nice things for the people that I cared about, didn’t mean I was a good.

I imagined myself through my father’s eyes and I hated what I saw.

I made a right and headed toward the restaurant.





Chapter Sixteen


I ripped the ticket stubs, smiling at the couples as they walked by me. It was the last showing, and my feet hurt already. By then, I was on autopilot, completely comfortable in the theater. I smiled over at Chuck, and he grinned back as he dumped a bunch of popcorn into a bucket. He was cute, with shaggy brown hair and a boyish smile, though only an inch or two taller than me, and a little out of shape. Not like I was shallow or anything, but for some reason I began to notice that sort of thing. Guys that took care of themselves were inherently more attractive to me, at least ever since he came into my life.

I shook my head, dispelling thoughts of him. I looked out across the lobby and sighed. Selena was changing out the trashcans but was using the wrong bags again, which meant I was going to have to fix them. She started working at the theater a week ago, and still hadn’t caught on to everything. She tried hard and wasn’t lazy, but she was pretty spacey and sometimes forgot simple instructions. In all honesty, though, she was a step up from that other guy, wherever he went to.

And we had needed someone immediately when he had quit. There was no warning, no two weeks’ notice, nothing. Just one day, he walked into Miss Havisham’s office, told her that he wasn’t coming back, and never did. At first, I tried to do both of our jobs, but it was pretty impossible. I had no clue how he did it all before I was hired. Eventually, I asked Selena if she needed a job or something, and it all seemed to work out.

Except that he was gone, and I had no clue where he was.

As the last customers filed by, Chuck ambled over to me, grinning. He pulled me out of my introspection, and I smiled back at him.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“Slow and boring.”

“So pretty good then.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it’s a stellar night.”

“At least you don’t have Mikey’s horrible stench to deal with.”

I made a face. “You two are truly gross.”

“Not me, I shower at least once a week.”

“How are you two allowed to touch food?” I said with mock horror.

“I usually wash my hands,” he replied.

“Wait, seriously though, you do wash your hands, right?”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. Want some popcorn?”

I groaned. I knew he was joking, but the two of them could be so immature and disgusting sometimes. The fact that they handled all of the food felt like a travesty in my mind, but it wasn’t my place to question the perfect business acumen of Miss Havisham.

“If anyone gets sick...” I said, trailing off, then laughing.

He smiled when I laughed at his joke. It felt good to make him smile, even if it was easy. Ever since he had left, Chuck became my closest friend at the theater. We even started hanging out between classes during the day, which I guessed made him my actual friend, and not just a work buddy.

“Doing anything tonight?” he asked me.

I paused. “Probably just going home like usual, why?”

“Want to do something? Get a drink or whatever?”