Page 20 of The Obvious Check
“Too bad you’re working tomorrow night.”
“Working?” I shake my head, my voice cracking ever so slightly. “That’s my night off.”
He laughs, the sound cold and brittle. “Not anymore.” He raises the tickets between two fingers, his eyes never leaving mine. “I’m going to need you to tend the bar while I’m at this game.”
There it is. I should’ve known this was coming. The minute I saw those tickets between his fingers, I should’ve known they were no longer mine. I’m not allowed anything unless Luke permits it and he’s not going to let me go out and have a good time without making me pay for it somehow.
“That is, unless you want to come with me?” The threat in his voice is clear. This isn’t an invitation. It’s an ultimatum. Go with him, or don’t go at all, and if I go with him, any chance with Cade will disappear.
“No,” I answer so quickly, I regret it immediately. The mere thought of being seen out in public with Luke sends bile soaring up my throat because it makes the fact I work here more real. “It’s just those aren’t my tickets. They’re Chloe’s. If I’m not going, then neither is she.”
“Mhm.” He leans back, his elbow resting on the bar as he taps his chin in mock contemplation. “That is a predicament. I guess you’re just going to have to tell her you lost them.”
My chin quivers with things I can’t say without consequences. I want to so badly tell him to fuck off, but I can’t. There’s nothing I can do. Once again, I feel trapped and powerless. I look at the tickets one more time before Luke stuffs them in his pocket, reminding me all too much of that idiot Daniel from a year ago. Take, take, take. How can I forget that’s the only rule here? What’s mine is theirs until there’s nothing left.
I raise my hand, my hope lost. It’s my own fault for having it in the first place. “Sure, I hope you have a great time.” It’s lackluster and unbelievable. Not that Luke cares.
“Does that mean you aren’t coming with me?”
I shake my head. My fingers curl into fists as I straighten up, my pulse hammering in my ears. “Like you said, someone needs to be here. I expect overtime, though.”
“Overtime?” He raises a brow, surprised at my response. It’s the first time I’ve ever tried to barter with him, and frankly, it’s because I’m pissed off. Pissed off that he has so much control over me and pissed off that he clearly enjoys that fact.
He pushes his lips out, mulling it over. “A couple of hours overtime for a pair of hockey tickets. Sounds like a good trade-off.”
He holds his hand out, and I accept it. His hard calluses scratch across my palm. I shiver, hating the feeling and knowing one day he’ll no doubt ask for something I’m unprepared to give.
“Have fun,” I say tersely, pulling my hand away and heading to the back room.
A lump forms in my throat and it’s only when I’m through the door and in the changing room that I let my tears flow.
Everything good is always taken. I’ll never be enough. Why can’t I just accept that? Why do I persist in trying to be normal?
Sitting at the vanity, I take my phone out and text Chloe.
Savannah:Sorry, I won’t be able to make it tomorrow. Luke says I have to work. Maybe we can do something else another time.
I drop the phone into my bag, not wanting to think about it anymore. Chloe is the easy one to let down. She’ll be disappointed, maybe even a little annoyed, but she won’t push. She won’t ask questions I don’t want to answer.
But Cade?
My stomach twists.
He’ll think I blew him off. That I gave my tickets to Luke without a second thought, like they meant nothing. Likehemeant nothing, but maybe that’s for the best.
If he knew the truth that I didn’t have a choice, then he’d see too much. He’d know I’m fucking broken and powerless at this point. I’m just a girl who dances in a rhinestone bodysuit because a man owns her debt and her future.
I squeeze my eyes shut, pressing my fingertips against my temples hard enough to bruise, desperate to dam the tears threatening to spill.
It doesn’t matter.
It shouldn’t matter.
But it does.
Because for the first time in a long time someone made me feel like I wasn’t just an invisible foster kid drifting through life unnoticed. But after tomorrow? He’ll probably want to forget I exist.
Chapter 6
