Enemies

by Tijan

You never knew when your time was up. Then what would you do? Die with regrets of not trying something? That’d be worse than dying having tried and been rejected. Who cared about rejection? That stuff was never remembered. But not living, that was remembered till someone’s death bed.

“Fuck no, you don’t!” A cement arm grabbed me around the waist, and just like we were kids, Stone had me up in the air. “No!” Everything was turned upside down. Me included.

Ahhhhh omg I need someone to turn me like this

Stone growled, ignoring our growing audience. “Dusty. Now.” I just raised my hand higher for the taxi driver, pushing up on my tiptoes. “Do not think I won’t pick you up and throw you in my truck, head first and everything. I’m two seconds away.” I stopped and stared at him. Shit. He meant business.

“Tomorrow we can go back to hating each other.” I hiccupped on a sob. “Deal.” So the rest of the night, he cradled me. The rest of the night, I cried. The rest of the night, we didn’t hate each other.

“I’m so sorry, Jared. I’m so sorry.” “Yeah, well.” His own voice broke. “Do you not want me, Dusty?”

“Let’s talk about that.” Which was code where he said the command and I was expected to confess everything. Fuck that. I wasn’t his bitch. I looked out the window instead. “Dusty.” A low growl from him. A snap back from me, “Stone.”

I’d been fucked by a superstar who was helping me out of guilt. Okay. He said he cared, but I wasn’t looking at him with rosy glasses. This wasn’t a romance waiting in the wings.

I have loved you as my own son, and I know Dusty still cares about you. I have a wish for you. If you are ever in a situation where my daughter needs help, please be there for her. She’s the silent trooper. She suffers in silence and she doesn’t think I can tell. I do. And I know life has ups and downs, and you both will have challenges. Please reach out. Please care for each other. Please don’t let this thing between your mother and my husband keep you away. Life is short. Live. Forgive. I will be watching over both you and Dusty. — All the love, Sherry

“Good. I like you standing.” His eyes flashed, growing molten. “I like you in other ways, too, but I want you fighting the most. I need you to fight again.”

“Baby!” Jake hooted. “Who you calling baby? I don’t call anyone baby unless she’s under me, or straddling me, and even then—” He stopped, his eyes darting to me. “Uh. Sorry. I mean…” Then he shrugged, throwing back to Colby, “You want to get the right terms, baby. I’m sweetheart, not baby.”

Lisa was defending me now? No. I was wrong again. Hell had frozen over. We were all still alive, so that meant hell came up to us.

love her roommates, sometimes. like now

“I can’t imagine. I’d be in jail by now if it were me.” Lisa grinned at Nacho, who put his arm around her shoulders. “Aggravated assault and battery. That’d be me.”

My man. I sighed after she left. My man. Her words echoed in my head. Stone and I said no romance. We hated each other, then bam, death put us in bed together, and that’s where we still were.

“I’m going to ride you.” He groaned. “Fuck.”

Fucking dead

He squeezed my shoulders once more before holding out his hand and half-burping, “Beer me.” A beer materialized from the crowd and was placed in his hand. He winked at me before leaving. “God. I love this place.”