“Ladies first.” I smile down at Bubbles as I open the door.
I leave the shoes at the door as I fill Bubbles’ bowl with kibble and let her eat. She’s no longer interested in ripping out Shane’s throat.
Dogs are too forgiving.
Shane doesn’t stir as she scoffs down breakfast, his eyes stay closed. His face keeps that same ugly expression.
When Bubbles is done, I escort her into the living room, and she’s happy to go. Pulling the comforter in her mouth, she jumps up to her favorite part of the sofa.
I click the door shut.
I thank my height for managing to tie a loop around the ceiling fan without needing a boost from something.
Carefully, lifting Shane’s head, I tie another loop around his neck.
Still, he doesn’t wake up.
“Okay, fuck face, you’ve slept enough.” I lift him by the bad haircut and drop his face to the table.
The rope has enough give for that.
“Ah! What the fuck!” he slurs.
I’m not sure if he hears me pottering around behind him, but he shows no indication until I toss a notebook and pen onto the table.
“I wasn’t sure how I felt about using the other little book you seem so fond of. I’m not even sure where you’ve put it. So, I think we’ll use this one.”
His sleepy eyes glance at the notebook.
“Now, we don’t really wanna spend time together, so make this easy for both of us, huh? Write an apology letter to Dollie, detailing exactly why you’re sorry.”
“What makes you think I’m sorry?” His eyes meet mine as I hang on his chair, inhaling his bad morning breath.
“I don’t, Shane.” I smile, big and false, bending to his side. “Narcissists, psychopaths, they never are.”
“Well, you’d know.”
“I would, I spent enough time with one.”
“Enough time to become one. Oh, wait, you’re not, are you? That’s your little sister. The little sister you fuck. She deserved what I fucking did.”
“Did she? Why? I was the one who pulled her down onto my cock. Sucked her pretty pink nipples into my mouth. Almost fucking came when she came apart for me on my tongue. Shouldn’t I have been the one you hit?”
His mouth seals, and he looks away.
“Are you afraid to hit a man, or afraid I’ll bleed on you? She wasn’t afraid, you know? She let me go in raw, and my god, the way she screamed for me.”
“Shup up!” This guy’s so fucking hammered he can’t even talk.
The stupid fucker hasn’t noticed the rope around his throat either.
“One hit, Shane. I’ll allow one hit. Because I fucked her in ways you couldn’t, filled her in ways you never will.”
His fist swings out, sending my head snapping to the left. Blood drips from my nose to my lips, then my chin, and I wipe it with the tissue I already had in my hand.
“Thank you.”I smile over the expected hit.
Rising to my feet, I’m quick behind him. My hands again in his hair, I slam his head forward, harder this time. A bone in his nose cracks, breaking on impact.
