BooksBarbecue
Back Losers: Part I Save as PDF
Chapters (58)
  1. Table of Contents
  2. Content Note
  3. A Note From The Author
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. Acknowledgements
  57. Also By Harley Laroux
  58. About The Author

“Come down from there,” he said. His voice was far calmer than I was capable of right then, but there was an edge to it that couldn’t be missed. “Now.”

Jess quickly shook her head. “Nope, I think I’m safer up here.”

“You’re perfectly safe,” Jason said, tapping his bat repeatedly against the ground. “Come down.”

“You guys go back inside,” she said. “Take the dogs too. Then I’ll leave.”

“Leave?” Vincent said. “No, no, no, Jess, you’re not leaving. We need to have a little chat.”

“No, thanks. I don’t think that — Ah, shit!” She’d tried to readjust her position, but her shoe got stuck between the limbs and she slipped, tumbling out of the branches face-first. Lucky for her, Manson was there to catch her. He managed to grab her before she hit the ground, stumbling a bit but keeping his feet. She immediately started wiggling, but Manson was having none of it. He hauled her up over his shoulder, pinning her legs under one arm.

“Let me go!” she shrieked, kicking and bucking, thrashing about like a fish out of water. But he kept walking, marching back toward the garage with the rest of us following. The dogs stayed right at his heels as they tried to get a sniff of Jessica’s face. “Let me down! Goddamn it!” She swatted at his ass in a last-ditch effort to escape, but Manson only laughed.

As much as Jessica made me feel like I was losing my damn mind, I also understood her a lot better than she thought I did. She was too much like me, in the worst of ways. Impulsive. Proud. So goddamn stubborn. But because I understood those parts of her, I also understood what she needed.

Attention. Good, focused, four-on-one attention. And she was going to get it now.

15

15

Jessica

Manson carried me back to the garage, thrown over his shoulder. My head bobbed up and down, giving me glimpses of the other men’s faces. Lucas’s expression was fierce, so tense I wouldn’t have been surprised if sparks started shooting out of his eyeballs. Jason’s was tight and controlled, like he was about to attend the funeral of someone he hated. Vincent was smiling, the eerie expression punctuated by occasional shakes of his head.

“Let’s see what you got up to, Jessica,” Manson grunted, shifting me slightly as we reached the front of the garage.

“No, no, let’s not,” I said quickly. All the blood was rushing to my head, and I groaned, my stomach churning with dread. How could I have been so abysmally foolish? When they saw what was inside that garage, my ass was dead.

Vincent squatted down beside us, using a small key to unlock the rolling metal door. He grasped the handle and pulled, and every creak of the metal sounded like another nail being hammered into my coffin.