Page 25 of Under Rusted Stars

“Two waters with lemon,” I say. The man nods and walks off to the other side of the bar to get glasses. I turn, and they have Olivia sitting at the table, firing questions off one by one. Rhett is with her, so I’m not too concerned. I take the waters from the bartender and make my way back to her.

“Oh, thank you,” Olivia says, standing.

“Aww. Come on, Olivia. Hang out with us,” Ryan says with a grin.

“Sorry, I’m going to make Bodhi feed me,” she says nicely.

“You two a thing?” Brady asks.

“Something like that,” she laughs.

“Ready?” I ask with a smile.

“Always!”

“We’ll see y’all around,” I say. I want us to escape before anyone tries to drag her on stage. She obviously wants to leave, so we will.

“Hey, Bodhi,” a woman says that I don’t fully recognize. Olivia must, because she tenses immediately. I rest my hand on her lower back as we stop, conveying without words that I am here with Olivia.

“Uh. Hi,” I say.

“Oh, you don’t remember me?” She teases, laying her hand on my bicep.

“No,” I say, wrapping my arm around Olivia’s waist to try to make it even clearer.

“Katrina,” she giggles. “You know, from Megan’s party after prom. You were so drunk; I’m surprised you could even finish.”

“I’m going outside,” Olivia mutters.

“No, hold on,” I say, holding her in place for a second to turn to Katrina. “Are you so fucking shallow that ten years later you can’t recognize I am not interested in you? You clearly see I am standing here with another woman, yet you come over here and put your hands on me anyway.”

“I’m sorry. I just…”

“What if a man did that to you? How would you feel?” I ask, raising my voice. “Disrespected, right? Violated? How do you think Olivia feels, because we all know why you are even over here?”

“I’ll see you later, Bodhi,” she says quietly before walking off. I turn to Olivia, and she grins at me.

“Can friends kiss friends to make a scene?”

“Fuck yes,” I say, grabbing her. I kiss her hard, and she leans into me, resting her hands on my chest. When I pull away, she has a dazed smile on her face. “Let’s go get food.”

“Mkay,” she says happily.

Chapter Eleven

Olivia

Bodhi drops me at the cabin before going out to get whatever it is he is feeding me for dinner. Once I am inside, he drives off, and I go to the bedroom to change.

I gently sit down on the bed, so I don’t irritate the cyst. It’s getting bigger by the day, but I am too scared to find out what’s wrong. I am hoping that maybe it drains on its own, but it hasn’t yet. I try not to look at things online because I’ll end up assuming that I’m dying or have pussy cancer.

I just need to get through court on Monday, and I’ll go to the clinic. They cannot legally tell anyone, so I’ll just avoid the drive and stay in town.

I eventually get up and change into pajama pants and a big shirt before going out to my living room. I have my back to the front door, but I don’t turn when I hear it open. “That was fast,” I say.

“Well, well, well. Isn’t this the cutest little cabin?” I hear a man say from behind me. I spin around and find the man I only know as Miguel standing at the door. On the porch, two other men are blocking the entrance.

“Get out of my home!” I shout at him as I back away.