While searching my car, the cops found my stash and took Jimmy in for questioning. It was probably a good thing he was oblivious about my ‘pharmaceutical occupation.’ He gave his full cooperation and walked out of the station a free man.
I wasn’t so lucky.
There was a warrant out for my arrest, and it was the final nail in the coffin of my downward spiral.
After this last good deed, I was going to turn myself in.
I’d been on the wrong path since I was too young to know better, directed there by the one person I should’ve been able to look up to. I was my father’s son. He’d made sure of it, and now I was going to suffer the same fate as him—a dark, lonely cell.
In an attempt to redeem myself, I’d promised Mackenna I’d find some things out about Casey, because when she’d heard about the baby situation, she was concerned.
Hence, the reason why I was at Casey’s house.
I told myself it wasn’t because I wanted to personally check on her. It wasn’t because I wanted to catch one last glimpse of her before I went away for a long, long time.
Because no matter how pretty she was, I wasn’t a pervert. I didn’t fuck around with girls who were four years younger than me.
I only had one thing to offer her.
Extending my arm, I held my palm out, facing up. “Here, Jaxon wanted you to have this.”
Lie number two.
Casey stared at my empty hand, then glanced from side to side like she was questioning her own sanity. “Um, there’s nothing in your hand.”
“Oh, silly me. I forgot to do this…”
Closing my fist, I turned it over. I tapped the back of it with my fingers, then opened it again. Seeming to appear out of nowhere was an envelope. The white rolled-up paper uncurled, and Casey’s eyes widened in wonder.
It was a magic trick I’d perfected. An illusion. An entertaining sleight of hand.
Snatching it quickly, she made sure our hands didn’t touch. When she looked inside, she frowned, then speared me with a glare.
“This is four hundred dollars. Jaxon didn’t win the fight.” She tossed it back to me. “If it’s his drug money, I don’t want it.”
I just shrugged because she wasn’t entirely wrong—it was drug money, only it wasn’t Jaxon’s. It was mine.
I held it out to her again. “Please? For the baby.”
“Shh!” Quickly glancing behind her, she clamored out onto the porch and slammed the door behind her.
Stepping close, Casey ran a hand through her dark strands.
The space suddenly felt much smaller with her out here. I could smell the fruity scent of her hair in the breeze.
Needing distance, I stumbled back ungracefully, leaning my ass against the unstable railing.
Casey crossed her arms over her light-blue tank top and she quietly muttered, “My mom doesn’t know yet, okay? She might kick me out when I tell her.”
Shit.
It’d been a long time since I’d cared about anyone but myself, but for some reason, the thought of this girl alone and scared made me feel weird.
“All the more reason for you to take this.” I shook the envelope.
Indecision warred in her mind as she toyed with her necklace. A small prism hung from a silver chain, and she ran it back and forth as she considered my offer.
I studied her face for signs of recent crying, but there were no splotches on her cheeks. Her eyes weren’t red or puffy, and I respected the determination shining in her crystal-clear blues.
Without the makeup, everything about Casey screamed of youth.
Innocence that had been stolen too soon.
Her rosy cheeks were slightly rounded, and her body was thin. Her hips lacked curves, and her denim shorts hung loosely on her slender frame. Her lips weren’t overly full, but the shape was attractive. The corners naturally turned up, like she wore a constant smirk. The arm that was lodged under her breasts pushed them up, creating cleavage that was extremely distracting.
I smiled a little when I looked down at her knobby knees.
She was totally rocking that awkward stage between childhood and maturity, and hints of the woman she’d grow into peeked through.
Someday, she was going to be a knockout.
And I shouldn’t have been thinking of her that way.
Averting my stare, I waved the envelope again and the tense muscles between my shoulder blades relaxed when she reluctantly took it.
My mission was complete.
“You have red hair,” she blurted out, then blushed the prettiest shade of pink. “I just didn’t notice it last night because it was dark, but in the sunlight, it’s really obvious.” Flapping a hand toward my head, she looked down at her bare feet and rubbed her toes together. “Sorry. You know what color your hair is. I just don’t know any ginger guys.”
Throwing my head back, I laughed. She wasn’t saying it like it was a bad thing. Just a light-hearted observation.
Trapping her bottom lip between her teeth, Casey tried to contain a grin while lifting her shoulders in an awkward shrug. When her smile won out, dimples appeared in both cheeks.
Aw, fuck, she was cute.
Gazing at her, I imagined the what-ifs.
What life could’ve been like in an alternate universe where I wasn’t a fuckup. A place where I took the straight and narrow, did well in school, went to college. Got some job with a suit and tie. Another world where Casey wasn’t too young for me, and I wasn’t too messed up to be good for someone like her.
One last glance at her knobby knees put me back in my place, and the tremble in my fingers reminded me of the hellish drug withdrawal I was about to experience.
“Well, good luck with everything.” I nodded my head toward the trailer, hoping her mom would be supportive. Then I added, “Keep your chin up and your standards high. You hear me?”
The amused twist of her lips sobered as she hugged her middle. “I hear you.”
“Promise,” I demanded.
“I promise.”
When I turned away, I trailed my hand over the rough wood of the railing as I soaked up the last remnants of my freedom.
Wind rustled the tall maple trees surrounding the trailer park. The sky was a perfect cloudless blue. The summer breeze smelled like fresh-cut grass and cornfields.
I’d miss all this.
Just as I made it off the bottom step to the cracked concrete, Casey asked, “Will I see you around?”
I hadn’t expected that question, or the hopeful expression on her face when I glanced over my shoulder.
I gave her a sad smile. “No.”
And that was the truth.
Get Magic Man here!
Good Guys Series:
Trucker
A Trucker’s Christmas (Short Story)
Dancer
Dropout
Outcast
Magic Man
Loner
The Good Guys Box Set
The Night Time Television Series:
Untamable
Untrainable
Unattainable
Standalone Novellas:
His Mimosa
Sweet Dreams
Between Dawn and Dusk Series:
Between Dawn and Dusk
The Fae King’s Curse
The Fae King’s Dream
The Fae King’s Prize
Jamie Schlosser writes steamy new adult romance, romantic comedy, and fantasy romance. When she isn’t creating perfect book boyfriends, she’s a stay-at-home mom to her two wonderful kids. She believes reading is a great escape, otters are the best animal, and nothing is more satisfying than a happily-ever-after ending. You can find out more about Jamie and her books by visiting these links: