Assumption

“I’m on my way home,” he warns me, and I hear the line go dead.

“Oh, great,” I sigh, pulling the phone from my ear. I start to toss it on the bed when I remember that the bed is no longer there, so I squeeze it in my hand.

“Did Cassie hit you?” Nancy asks, her eyes zeroing in on my cheek.

My hand naturally lifts to my cheek and I swallow. “Um…the thing is…she pulled my hair, so then I smacked her, and she smacked me back.” Yes, the chick is crazy, but I’m at fault as well.

“Are you okay?” Viv pulls me into a hug, and I feel Nancy put her arms around us both.

We stand there for a few moments. I didn’t think they would be offering me comfort after what I just did.

“Oh, isn’t this just f**king sweet? Seriously, she hit me and trashed my car and you’re f**king coddling her?” Cassie yells.

I pull back from Nancy and Viv before facing her. Her face is red with rage, but there is no mark on her cheek from where I smacked her.

“The cops are on the way. I hope you know you’re going to jail for what you did.”

Shit, she’s right; I’m probably going to jail for what I did. Then I’m probably going to lose my job when I have to tell them why I can’t show up to work tonight.

“Why are you here, Cassie?” Nancy asks her.

“I needed to talk to Kenton.” She shrugs, glaring at me again.

“You know he’s at work, so why are you really here?” Viv asks, stepping in front of me.

“Well, if you really must know, I wanted to tell him about the woman he has living with him. Did you know she’s a stripper and was letting random men do body shots off her at a club downtown?”

My stomach drops at her evil tone. I have no idea how she could possible know about that.

“It’s all over YouTube.” She smirks, reading my face. “Yep, your whore face is all over the Internet.”

I feel bile crawling up my throat as I look over at Nancy and Viv. I honestly don’t care that people are going to see me acting stupid and drunk, but I do care that the guy in Vegas could somehow see it and know where I’m now staying. I hate the idea of bringing danger to not only Kenton, but everyone else around me—people I really care for and consider friends for the first time in my life.

“Did you do it? Did you post that video?” I ask, ready to push her ass down the stairs.

“Cassie, why the f**k do you keep showing up at my house?” Kenton asks, walking up the stairs. Butterflies erupt in my stomach when our eyes meet, and then his eyes go from soft to hard when they lock on my cheek. “She f**king hit you?” he growls. He must have forgotten that I already told him about our little exchange. His head swings to Cassie, the look on his face forcing her to take a step back. “You hit her?” he asks.

“Don’t you f**king dare, Kenton Mayson. She is not the f**king victim in this situation. She hit me then trashed my car.”

“You came to my house and hit my woman, and now you want to point f**king fingers? I told you to never show your face here again. I told you we have not one f**king thing to talk about.”

I suddenly feel faint. His ‘woman’? I didn’t think I was his, but he just said that I am, and he said it in front of his mom and aunt. I’m not going to explore why that made me feel all squishy and warm inside.

“Now, for the last f**king time, get the f**k out of my house.”

“Wait! She can’t leave!” I shout, grabbing Kenton’s arm.

“I’m out of here,” Cassie hisses and hurries down the stairs. I start to run after her, but an arm wraps around my waist and my back hits the solid wall of Kenton’s chest.

“Let her go, baby.” His lips brush my ear as he speaks.

I shake my head and he squeezes me tighter. “No, she can’t leave! She said there was a YouTube video of me from the bar the other night. I don’t know who put it up, but maybe she does.”

His body goes tight behind me and he lifts me, swinging me behind his back before running down the stairs. I look at Viv and Nancy before following behind him.

The second I reach the front door and swing it open, I see Kenton pacing back and forth, talking on the phone to someone. Cassie is next to her car trying to lift the mattress off of it. Just as I take a step out onto the front porch, two police cars pull up the driveway. Kenton’s head swings my way, and he lifts his hand and motions for me to come over.

I look at the cop cars then at Cassie, who is glaring at me while trying to lift the headboard. If things were not so messed up, I’d be laughing at her. I walk to Kenton. His voice is a low rumble when he tells the person on the phone to track the video and have it removed. When he hangs up, his hand goes to the bottom of my shirt and he pulls me until I’m forced to step closer to him.

“Justin’s on it. He should have the video down in a couple of hours.” When his arms wrap around me, mine automatically do the same, and I lay my head against his chest. “Don’t worry, baby. Everything will be okay,” he says right before I feel his lips at the top of my head.

I close my eyes, soaking in the feeling only he gives me, but the moment is broken when I hear someone clear their throat. I open my eyes and turn my head. A cop is standing there, his mouth curved into a slight smile. I don’t know what he could possibly be smiling about, but his eyes go from me, to Kenton, then over to Cassie, and he shakes his head.

“Looks like you got a little bit of a situation on your hands here, Mayson,” he says, tilting his head towards Cassie and her car, where there is another cop talking to her. “Wanna tell me what happened?”

“Cut the shit, Ford. You know that woman is crazy as hell,” Kenton says, and I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering if it’s wise to talk to a cop like that.

“You were warned about her. Everyone told you to be careful when you got with her, but you are so f**king stubborn you had to find out that shit for yourself. Seems to me you have been taught a valuable lesson,” Officer Ford says as I try to pull away from Kenton, who only holds me tighter. “So what happened?” he asks again.

“Cassie showed up here not long after I left to head to the office. She pushed her way inside.”

“So how did the bed end up in her car?” he asks, looking at me.

“I may have lost my temper,” I whisper.

Officer Ford smiles then shakes his head before looking at Kenton.

“I want her arrested!” Cassie screeches, and I look in her direction, seeing her pointing at me. “I want to press charges.”