Page 63 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

then stands taller, pissed,

neck straining below a steel-cut jaw.

He tosses his coat onto the chair.

“The fuck’s wrong with you?” he says.

“Can’t take a hint?”

Reaper smirks.

“Nah, this was never about your girl.

“This been about mine from the jump.”

Realization rains down Andrew’s face.

He has that look, like—here we fuckin’ go,

as if he’s been down this road before,

as if he’s heard this speech before,

different name, different guy, same story.

One of the three hundred other times,

I’m sure.

He points at Reaper. “Don’t even finish that sentence,” he snaps. “I ain’t doin’ this here. Not in front of her.” He reaches behind him, finding my waist. “You got a problem? Take that shit to your girl. This’s got nothin’ to do with me.”

Reaper pushes Andrew again, harder. “Think I’m lettin’ your punk-ass walk outta here? Nah. Been waitin’ on this.”

Andrew barely rocks back, teeth clenched. “You wanna feel tough? Go swing on a wall, bro. ‘Cause I ain’t throwin’ hands over some nonsense.”

Reaper squares his stance.

“Nonsense? You think this is nonsense?”

A bitter laugh cuts through Andrew. “I think you’re mad ‘cause you know the truth and you need someone to blame.” He lifts his chin. “You mad at the wrong person. Whatever lies she told you, that’s between y’all.” Andrew leans over to grab his coat again. “We're leavin'.”

“Oh, so she a liar now?” Reaper’s palms drive into Andrew’s shoulder so hard he stumbles backward into me. “You even know who I’m talkin’ about, dumbass?”

And the second Andrew knocks into me, he loses it. “You know who the fuck I am?!” he spits, steppin’ forward, giving him a once-over. “You think her name means shit to me? If we hooked up? It’s ‘cause she walked her ass over to me and asked for it. Didn’t say shit about you. So check your girl before steppin’ to me, yeah? ‘Cause I can guarantee I never wanted her.” Another step closer. “Now back the fuck up. For real, I ain’t playin’.”

The guy lunges closer, and Andrew throws an arm behind him, pressing his hand against my stomach to keep me at a distance.

“You really gonna swing? In a room full’a cameras? Over some lies?” he asks, nodding around the bar. “Don’t be stupid, man. Think for a fuckin’ second. If she was really about you, we wouldn’t be standin’ here. Catchin’ charges over a girl who ain’t even loyal? She ain’t worth a thought, let alone the record, bro.”

My stomach drops.

He may as well be talking about me.

I’m not worth a thought.

Reaper charges closer,

hands curling into fists.