Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 504(@300wpm)
“Fuck that hoe,” Hunter spat. “She wants to talk out of her ass? I’m going to ask her how mine tastes.”
“Hunter!” She didn’t respond as she quickly typed a comment and hit send. I stole a peek at what she wrote and saw that she’d written precisely that. “Bitch, you hell!” I said, cackling.
An hour after her comment, Will was on live, calling Hunter every name but a child of God. Hunter and I thought it was pure comedy, knowing he was trying to save face and appease his horse-faced fiancée.
A notification for a post that Hunter was tagged in popped up while we were watching Will go off. She rolled her eyes when she saw the name, but clicked on it nonetheless.
The post was from a distant relative of Hunter’s, announcing the memorial service of Lester Parrish.
Hunter’s father.
The bastard had died tragically in his sleep during a house fire.
In his fucking sleep.
The grape I was chewing turned to ash in my mouth. “Oh, Hunter, I’m—”
“It’s fine,” she cut me off. Hunter darkened her phone without responding to the post.
I sent a text to Ocean anyway, who dropped whatever he was doing and rushed home.
Three days later, Hunter had still barely spoken a word to anyone. We found her alone in the training room that morning, taking her frustrations out on a punching bag.
Ocean had come prepared, though.
I took a seat on one of the benches and hugged my legs as I watched Ocean slowly approach Hunter like he would an injured animal.
And just as any would when cornered, Hunter attacked.
For what felt like hours, Ocean and Hunter battled it out until Ocean managed to pin Hunter to the mat. “It’s a lie. He suffered,” Ocean swore as Hunter thrashed violently underneath him. “I promise you, baby. He fucking suffered.”
Hunter suddenly went still, and so did I at the realization that, of course, Ocean killed her father. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake as he did with Roshaun. I never in a million years would have thought I’d actually smile at the thought of someone being brutally murdered.
One by one, our enemies fell until there was only one.
Malcolm.
Ocean was still hanging out at home a week later.
Back to herself again, Hunter kept rolling her eyes at our insistence on coddling her.
If only she knew…
Draping his arm over my shoulder, Ocean kissed the top of my head as we waited for Hunter to finish putting her makeup on. “Ready?” he whispered so Hunter wouldn’t overhear.
I nodded eagerly as I bounced up and down on my toes. “Hunter, go outside!” I squealed when my excitement became too much to bear.
She turned from the mirror at the vanity table in our bedroom and gave us both a weird look. Ocean was better at keeping a straight face than I was. I was grinning like a maniac because it was Hunter’s birthday today, and Ocean had pulled off the mother of all surprises.
After trying unsuccessfully to get us to spill the beans, we followed Hunter and Coco through the house and out the massive front doors. Just as she stepped out from under the portico, her birthday surprise appeared.
An off-white 1993 Ford Thunderbird.
Abel was behind the wheel as he parked the old car in front of Hunter, who had gone utterly still.
It seemed impossible for my smile to get wider as I watched the shock play out on Hunter’s face.
Abel climbed out of the car after killing the engine, which didn’t knock or sputter like it had before the car went into the pond. She even had a fresh paint job and a new interior.
It had taken a while to repair the extensive water damage and find all the genuine parts needed to restore the old Thunderbird to her former glory. She was in even better shape than when Hunter found her, but still a cranky old bitch.
Honestly, it would have been cheaper and easier to just buy Hunter a new car, but she’d never love another car the way she loved Deb.
Before the three of us came together, this car had been the only place that ever truly felt like home to Hunter. And she’d sacrificed Deb to save me.
Abel nodded in deference to Hunter and me before tossing something to Ocean.
It was a long platinum chain with two silver keys hanging from it.
Ocean stepped forward and draped it over Hunter’s neck. I watched him kiss her cheek, and then I did the same. Hunter’s hand trembled when she reached for the chain.
Once she felt the car keys resting against her heart, she dropped to her knees and sobbed. “Debbiiieeeeeee!”
A moment later, Kellan burst through the front door behind us. “Is it here? Did I miss it?”
No one answered him as Hunter sobbed.
This time, they were happy tears.
Deborah was back, bitches.
OCEAN
My father’s failed attempt to frame me for Roshaun’s death had forced me into the offense just as he wanted. Instead of cutting down everyone in my path to get to him and dying in the process, I started by cutting off his cash flow. It had taken months and copious amounts of bloodshed, but I’d finally weakened my father enough that he’d lowered himself to request a meeting.