So. Long(217)
I managed to get him off me and stand. We exchanged a few more punches before he got in another headshot, knocking my scrawny ass to the ground. Lonnie and Darren ran after Lou.
I staggered up and darted into the woods after them. I ran and ran until my side hurt and my lungs burned. But I couldn’t find Lou anywhere.
I eventually sat on a stump, head in my hands.
God, please don’t let Lonnie find her.
A few minutes after I gave up, a whisper floated to me on the breeze. “Buck. Buck. Look.”
I turned this way and that, trying to find her, but still I couldn’t see her. A little branch bounced off my leg. I twisted to see where it came from. There she was, up a tree, grinning like a possum eatin’ peaches. She waved at me with the puppy’s paw.
I stood.
She tucked the pup under one arm and worked her way down the limbs.
She dropped the last few feet, rolling into the leaves, puppy sprawling over her belly. When it licked her chin, she giggled and reached for my hand, pulling me down to join them.
I edge out from under Tuffy.
He lets out a small whine, his tail thumping the hardwood floor.
I step over him and head to my room. Too bad Lou’s never half as happy to see me as she is to see Tuffy.
A throat clearing behind me pulls me up short. “Buck?”
“Yeah, Pops?” I reach around the door frame and switch on the light.
Pops holds out a handful of yellow sticky notes. “Someone named Adrianne keeps calling.”
I clench my teeth. “You mean Arianne.”
“Adrianne—Arianne, whichever. She really wants to talk to you. Must’ve called here at least thirty times today.”
“Fuck.”
“Who is she?” Pops scratches his forehead.
“Arianne is…lesson one-oh-one in don’t mess around with the producer’s daughter.”
If I’d known when I met her that she’d be so clingy, I’d have skipped that pussy. Problem is, I didn’t know, and now I’m stuck between my dick and a hard place because she doesn’t want to retract her claws and let me loose. No matter what I tell her.
“So, someone you shouldn’t have taken out?”
“Met her on set, the movie before last. Didn’t really know who she was when we first…”—fucked—“went out. But it didn’t take long to figure out she was the producer’s daughter. He’d brought her along because she’d never been to Italy.”
“And you two didn’t hit it off?” He quirks an eyebrow.
“She thinks we did. Now, I’m fucked, because there’s a leading role I’m trying to land with Razor Wire Productions, who her daddy now works for—correction, her daddy now runs. Hazards of working in a small industry.”
He tucks the stack of messages into my hand, folding my fingers over them. “Well, good luck with that, Son.”
I nod. “Thanks, Pops.”
Good luck. I need more than luck to get rid of this particular boil on my ass.
The phone vibrates in the seat next to me. I pull into the parking space and pick it up.
I slide my finger across the screen. “Stephens. What the hell are you up to?”
“Hiya, Fontaine. I haven’t heard from you since you left. Thought I’d see what my favorite Marine’s been up to.”
“Shit. I was never your favorite, just the one you never bagged.”
He chuckles. “All right, you got me. But I always liked you, even though you never sucked my cock.”
“You have to have a cock to get sucked, Stephens.”
“Man! Still busting balls.” I can hear his grin through the phone.
“Some things will never change. Hey, I’ve got to go. What did you need?”
“Well, my buddy Russell and I are taking a road trip. We both took two weeks leave, and we’re going to Florida. You’re in Louisiana, right?”
“You stopping in to see me?”
“Fuck yeah, we are!”
“Text me the deets. I’ll try to make sure I’m off work for a day or two.”
“So, you don’t mind my friend crashing at your place too?”
“I’ll have to check with my Aunt. It’s really her place, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Oohrah. Let me know if there’s any problem. Otherwise, I’ll see you then.”
“Sounds good.” I hang up, smiling.
It’ll be good to hang with Stephens again, and this Russell guy—I don’t know him, but he’s a Marine. Marines are my people. I’ve missed my people.
Why the fuck did I get out? Maybe I should re-enlist.
Doesn’t matter right this second though. That’s a decision for another time. Today, I have to do what needs to be done to help Aunt Delores right now. No matter how much I hate the thought.