Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
She frowned. “You think I would have found someone else?”
“I don’t know what I thought.” Hawk shrugged. “I’m used to women who are happy to be passed around. I’m not used to virgins. You were my first, Nikki. I fucked it up. I know that, but I wanted you all to myself, because I’m a selfish bastard. I wanted you to know that, but it’s not because I was embarrassed by you. I didn’t want to share you.”
She laughed. “Wow. You know, it sounds like you’re saying the sweetest things, but at the same time, you can’t even trust me?”
Hawk frowned. “Hold on a fucking minute—”
“No! You hold on. You didn’t want to share me? You wanted to be a selfish bastard? Why not trust me? Clearly, I’m not like the women you’re used to, and so what if a guy actually … flirted with me or hit on me? So fucking what. You didn’t even give me the chance to turn his ass down. I don’t know what kind of women you are used to, but I’m not like them. I was with you, Hawk, because I liked you. I was attracted to you, and not because you’re the president of the damn club or anything like that. I wanted you and only you, and you didn’t give me a chance to prove it to you.” She shook her head.
Hawk gritted his teeth. “That is not what I meant.”
“No? You could have fooled me.”
She shook her head. “Good night, Hawk.”
He watched her go, and he was so pissed at himself, he didn’t know how to say the right things.
****
The following day, Nikki was exhausted, but she knew there was no point in putting off emptying the trailer. She didn’t need it anymore, and it was getting close to rent-paying day. The sooner it was empty and she handed the keys over, the better.
She pulled up outside her trailer the following morning. Climbing out of her car, she gave a stretch and another yawn. She flicked through her keys, finding the one for the trailer, and let herself inside.
Rubbing her eyes, she knew she had to put on some makeup, but she just wanted to grab her things, take them back home, and head to work. Her mother had tried to talk about Hawk last night, and she knew her mother meant well, but she didn’t want to talk about Hawk. He missed her. She believed him. She wanted to believe everything he said, but she couldn’t help seeing the point he was making—that the women in his life were not to be trusted or relied upon.
Nikki closed the door behind her and glanced toward the corner, only to come to a stop when she saw Diana sitting at the dining room table. Only, something was very odd about Diana. Her ex-friend was very pale, almost white, and there was a stillness about her.
Nikki froze in place.
Her best friend was dead.
She felt a panic rise inside her.
Diana was dead at her trailer. She didn’t know what to think. For several seconds, she didn’t know what to do. One side of her brain was telling her to call the cops. The other side was telling her to call Hawk.
She knew Hawk had paid Diana a visit, but there was no way he would kill her.
Years of experience told her she couldn’t trust the cops.
There was only one person to call.
Her heart raced and she felt like she was going to be sick. Pulling out her cell phone, she pulled up Hawk’s number. Each time she had scrolled through her phone, she had hovered over his number, unsure if she should delete it or not, but something always held her back. Now, she knew why. She pressed “dial,” and waited.
Nikki tried not to look at her former best friend, but she kept finding her gaze drawn to the corpse.
Diana was dead.
Her friend had been a piece of work, but Nikki had never wished her dead. This was not the ending Diana deserved. Not that she ever expected to see her friend again.
Hawk answered on the fifth ring. “Nikki, what’s up?” he asked.
“I need you to come to the trailer,” she said.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t … just come, and make it fast.” She hung up before he could say anything more.
Staring at her friend, Nikki couldn’t move. She was going to throw up, and she had no choice but to rush to the sink, where she vomited. She pressed a hand to her mouth, trying to contain the next wave of sickness. Diana was dead in the trailer. What the fuck? She was in the trailer with a dead body and she didn’t call the cops. She called Hawk. What the hell was wrong with her?
Seconds passed. Minutes, possibly hours, and at one point, she had to wonder if Hawk would come to her. She hadn’t exactly given him a good reason after last night.