Scarred: A New Adult Romance (The Anderson Brothers Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

while taking
turns looking in my direction.
    “Can
I help you?” I say to her, annoyed.
    “Well,
I was going to ask you that.” She
winks.
    I
am so ready to blow her off, but then I think about Chris. I hate to say it,
but I think this girl would be perfect for him. She would surely get him out of
his funk. I down the rest of my drink. “Give me your number, and I’ll let you
know.”
    Red
gives me one of those satisfied kinds of looks. I’m sure she’s probably bagged
plenty of guys this way. She scribbles her number down on an unused napkin,
then her name beneath it—Adrienne. She has nice handwriting. Might actually be
a smart girl under that painted-on dress. Chris could certainly use one of
those types for a change.
    Smiling,
I fold up the napkin and stuff it in my pocket. “Thanks.”
    Red—Adrienne—is
still gawking. “You’re going to call, right?”
    “Yeah,
sure.”
    The
music fades to silence, and the crowd cheers. I check the time on my
phone—almost two a.m. Adrienne hops up from the couch and rushes to her
friends. I get up as well and head to the stage, snaking my way through the sea
of people in hopes of losing Adrienne for good.
    The
club’s emcee comes out on stage. “Last call for alcohol, folks! Next Wednesday
we’ll be having DJ Trype on the ones and twos for an old school trip-hop night.
As always, ladies, dress to impress!”
    Much
of the dance floor crowd thins as people head to the bar to get their last
drinks. I hop up on stage and make my way to Kevin, who’s packing away his
vinyls and equipment.
    “Hey,
what’s up, man?” I pat him on the shoulder.
    He
flinches and starts, looks up at me, and then beams. “Yo, Dom!” He sets down
his records, and we do our secret handshake followed by a shoulder bump. “I thought that was you I saw out there in
the crowd.”
    Other
than my uncle Adam, Kevin’s the only family I’m really close to. He’s the only
one who truly understands the shit I went through.
    Then,
as now, he’s the only one I ever trusted.
    We
break off the hug. “What’s going on, man?” Kevin asks.
    “Nothing
much. Working like a motherfucker.” Without even asking, I begin helping him
pack up his equipment. I’m the only one he ever allowed to touch his stuff. All
along, he trusted me as much as I did him. He’s always there for me to talk to.
    “Yeah,
I hear that.” Kevin sets his sleeved vinyls in metal crates. “Sorry I haven’t
called lately. I’ve been busy with a bunch of shit for the past month.”
    I
unplug a wire from the main mixer and begin wrapping it in a neat coil. “What
happened?”
    “My
girlfriend fucking backstabbed me. Because of her, I’m about to get evicted
from my apartment.”
    “ What ?”
    “I
got called to do a gig to fill in for one of the DJs that got sick, and I let
my then-girlfriend, Justine, stay at my apartment. Rent was due, but the
landlord had gone out to lunch by the time I had to leave, so I gave the money
to Justine to give to him when he got back. She left with my money and never
came back. Now the damn landlord has charged me double for being late. It’s utter bullshit. I owe the landlord
almost two thousand dollars now! If I can’t pay up in four days, I’m gonna get
evicted.”
    Frowning,
I set the coiled cord in a milk crate with the others. I hate seeing Kevin so
miserable. “Damn. That’s messed up, bro. Anything I can do to help?”
    Kevin
shakes his head. “Naw, I’m straight. I think after tonight’s gig, I’ll finally
have enough to pay the bastard. This whole ordeal has been such a fucking pain.
Here’s a tip, li’l bro. Don’t get famous, else the crazy gold-digging
bitches’ll come crawling outta the cracks like roaches. They think I’m banking
just ’cause I’m supposedly a “famous deejay” or some shit. Well newsflash! I
make just enough to pay the bills and not much else.
    “I’m
not nearly as ‘famous’ as some of the guys down in Cali or over on the East
Coast.