Page 35 of Savage in the Streets

So Ash-hole’s dating history is a sensitive subject. Good to know.

“Then I guess I don’t have to worry about E. coli,” he finally replies.

My stupid lips betray me by curling into a smile.

“Why are you so interested in my sex life all of a sudden. Not that I have one at the moment.”

He scowls in my direction.

I flip him off, saying, “I’m not stopping you from having women over. I’ll stay in my room if you give proper warning.”

“Believe it or not, random women don’t just show up naked at my door when I want them to. I need to be able to go out to the bars and play the field.”

Mabel snickers. “With your kind of money, I don’t think you’d have much of a problem getting women over.”

Ashton grabs a beer from the fridge and goes back to his office without another word.

“God, what’s gotten into him?” Mabel says.

“He hates me and can’t wait until I’m no longer his problem.”

Mabel shakes her head. “You’re crazy. He has zero reason to hate you. You’re his client, and he’s going out of his way by letting you stay here.”

“For…reasons that he won’t divulge, and he takes every opportunity to remind me that I’m a lying piece of trash that came from the gutter.”

Mabel’s lip sneers upward. “No. That’s not Ashton at all. You’re misreading him.”

Unable to keep our elicit kiss a secret any longer, I whisper to Mabel, “If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell Ward?”

“Of course! Hoes before bros!”

“Just over a week ago…we kissed!”

Mabel’s hand flies to her mouth.

“And afterward, he hated me.”

“Oh gosh…”

“What?”

“It’s not you.”

“Then what is it?”

“I can’t say, just know that him kissing you was probably significant.”

Curiosity needles me, but I know better than to hound Mabel for information. She’s a good friend, and I don’t want to make her compromise that.

Not that she’s going to care about you once you’re behind bars. As soon as your brother gets what he wants, Ashton will drop you as a client, and Mabel is going to forget you ever existed.

I know I’m being unfair, but right now, I need to be alone.

“Thanks for all your help. Since the shops closed, I guess this will be the last time I see you.”

“Why would you think that?” Mabel says. “You’re like…my new bestie.”

The last thing Mabel needs is to be strung along with a front-row seat to my downward spiral. I have no room for friends in my life, and why would she want a prison pen pal.