Hard Bastard(129)

And that was when it really sunk in. The piece of shit was cheating on my mom. I always had my suspicions, always figured that was why he took long trips all over the place. But I didn’t have any proof of it, and besides, Jules seemed content with what was going on.

“Worth the money?” Jess asked.

“Hell yes it is.”

“Fine. Transfer it now and it’s yours.”

I pulled out my phone, opened my banking app, and set up the wire transfer. It took all of thirty seconds to make Jess slightly rich and me a lot poorer.

She nodded at the confirmation screen and handed me the drive. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

I laughed. “You’re such a devious bitch.”

“I guess. This job, the whole film industry, it’s not easy. It’s all about power and connections. Even making shitty documentaries. Doesn’t matter how pure your intentions are. If you can’t kiss ass and get producers to invest, you’re completely fucked.”

“I guess that’s how you got involved with Cliff.”

“Pretty much. But it looks like I can go make the films I actually want to make now without assholes like him.”

“So we’re done?”

She laughed. “Not yet, but we’re getting there. I’ll still finish your movie. Who knows, I might still get something out of all this.”

“Thanks, Jess. You’ve been a huge pain in my ass, but this really saves me.”

“Sure. Happy to help. I was sick of Cliff’s smug face anyway.”

I laughed and she smiled. It was the first time I had seen a genuine smile from her, and I had to admit that she actually looked pretty attractive. She suddenly seemed light and free and happy.

She nodded once, turned, and walked out.

I was still going to be seeing a lot more of her, but I was hoping something would change. Maybe Cliff was the reason she was constantly hounding me, constantly on edge. Maybe without him pressuring her all the time, we could actually get along.

I wasn’t going to be too optimistic.

As I walked away, shaking my head, I had to formulate a plan. My mother was going to be devastated. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I also didn’t want her to stay with a cheating piece of shit.

I had to talk to Aubrie, I realized. I had to get her opinion. She was the only person I knew that understood the situation.

But more than that, I wanted to be close to her. I had the crazy urge to smell her skin, to kiss her.

Abandoning everything, I walked off to find her.





Chapter 20





Aubrie





I slammed at the paddles, ignoring the sounds that lit up the machine’s screen. Whenever I watched Lincoln play, he made it seem so easy, like the whole thing was an extension of his body. He did that with the piano too, though ever since we started sleeping together he played that less and less.

It was a distraction from sleep, he had said. The playing calmed him when the dreams got too bad.

I shook my head. I didn’t need to think about him. I had already done more than enough for Lincoln. I didn’t need to remember the way he made my body feel and the way I felt like I was floating when we laughed and joked softly with each other.

The ball rebounded off the paddle, slammed into one of those bouncer thingies, and flew back at me, sailing directly between my flippers. I sighed and smacked the side of the machine, frustrated.

“You have to be gentle with it. Won’t respond to you otherwise.”

I whirled. Lincoln stood leaning against the pool table, grinning at me.

“When did you get in here?”

“Just a minute ago. You’re awful at that.”

“We can’t all spend every free hour playing old games.”

“Maybe not. But you’re like a statue there.”

“Like a statue? Come on, there’s no real strategy to this. You just hit the flippers.”

He laughed and walked over to me.

“I’ll show you.”

“We all know you’re good at it.”

“No, I’ll show you how to play. Here.”

He stood behind me and grabbed my hips, positioning me in front of the machine. For half a second, I wanted to push him away, but his hands felt good on my body. I let him gently move me into position, his hands shifting to cover my hands.

“Loosen up, Brie baby.”

“I am loose.”

He laughed and rotated his hips behind me, his dick against my ass.

“Looser. And relax your shoulders.”

“Okay. Fine.” I took a deep breath and tried to relax myself.

“That’s better. Now, hit the start button.”

I pressed it and the metal ball popped into the chamber. He guided my hand toward the metal pull-lever and helped me gently pull it back. We released together, and it smashed forward, propelling the ball into the machine.