Page 20 of Acting For Daddy
Mina is mine, Goddamnit!
I stalk towards the pair, my fists clenched to my side, ready to plant on the stranger’s face. I must make some kind of noise because the two turn to look at me with surprised expressions and… I stop.
Standing a few feet from me is the last man I ever thought I would see in this part of town. I haven’t seen him in a little over seven years and it feels like a lifetime and fuck, when I finally meet him, he has his arms wrapped around my girl. “Jared?”
“Oh my God, Adams!”
My high school best friend is the only person that calls me Adams and it feels like ages since I last saw him. We were close before I got wrapped up in my band and he got busy with law school and now, here he is!
Jared drops his arm from Mina and steps forward to hug me, punching my arm like we’re in high school and not grown men in their thirties. It almost feels like no time has passed at all.
“How long has it been? Seven, or eight years? Jesus Christ man, I don’t even remember.”
“About that long, yes,” I tell him. It was right around the time the Cosmic Rebels started to gain popularity and he went off to law school.
“I can’t believe it’s been so long, man!” he whistles but his sound is cut by a dry chuckle from his side. We both turn to look at Mina whose eyes are downcast and she kicks a rock, barely registering the attention on her.
“Him you remember but not me,” she mutters, her voice filled with so much bitterness it feels like a slap.
“Oh right,” Jared speaks out, misunderstanding her words. “Alex, I don’t know if you remember Mina. My little sister. Excuse her attitude. She likes to whine about how I don’t visit her often and accuses me of not remembering her!”
No, that’s not what she meant.
And now, I want to turn the fists to myself. If there is anyone here who deserves to be punched into oblivion, it’s me.
Jared Hendricks was my best friend and the shy teen with pigtails and braces who showed up at all of our concerts… Mina Hendricks.
Fuck!
How the fuck did I not immediately make the connection? Well, because I was thinking with my dick, is why. The clues were all there and I didn’t see it. See her.
I know we just met but there was – is – a connection between us. You feel it too, right?
“Mina…” I start but she is already walking away. I go to grab her wrist but Jared steps in front of me, his brows knitted in confusion.
“What the hell is happening, Alex?” he asks clearly sensing some tension between his sister and me. “Wait, what are you even doing here, at Mina’s building?”
“Look, I will explain everything later!” I say, looking over his shoulder to see Mina disappear into her building.
“Wait, are you and my sister–”
“Shit, I had no fucking idea she was your sister!” I hiss, running my hands through my hair in frustration. I can’t get the look of hurt and betrayal I caught in her eyes out of my mind and it’s driving me insane. “Short story is, I’ve been seeing Mina, but Jesus Christ, Jared. The last time I saw her she was a freaking child!”
Jared glares at me. “You and Mina are…” he shoves me a little and I can see he is trying to make sense of my words. “Wait, how could you not recognize her? She went to all your fucking shows even when our band broke up. You are an asshole dude!”
“I know,” I grit. “Fuck, I need to make this right!”
I need to fix things between Mina and me, but I know her brother will not let me through, and much as I hate the thought of brawling with my best friend after not seeing each other in so long, I will do it if he gets in my way of getting to Mina.
“You and I need to talk about this!”
“Later!”
“I will kill you if you hurt her,” he grinds, his voice dangerously low and those eyes – not unlike his sisters – turning cold, and for the first time, I see a side of Jared I have never seen before. “If you break my sister’s heart, I will hurt you in the most painful way you can imagine, Adams. I will kill you and follow you to the depths of hell to finish you off!”
“And I will let you,” I assure him. “Now let me fix this!”
His eyes narrow on mine for a long time, but he must read the desperation in my eyes because he steps aside for me, and I run into the building and straight for the stairs. I know the elevator to this building is broken so I don’t even bother going to check. I run up the stairs and to the third floor where I catch Mina rushing down the corridor to her apartment.