Free Here And Now (American Valor 2) by Cheryl Etchison Page A

most?”
    “The guys. The camaraderie. Being surrounded by people who’ve got your back no matter what.”
    “Sounds nice.” She wrapped her arms around legs, resting her chin on her knees. “I don’t know that I’ve ever had anyone in my life like that.”
    “Well, now you do.” He leaned over, bumping her shoulder with his. “If you need someone, I’ve got your back. No matter what.”
    L UCK, IN ADDITION to a man named Lucky, was on her side that afternoon. The fact she got all of her things out of the apartment before Curtis came home from work, thus avoiding a face-to-face confrontation, was nothing short of a miracle.
    Now she stood in her own place, as empty as it was, and felt like she could breathe for the first time in months. It didn’t matter she didn’t have a sofa or a bed or a television. She could eat her meals at the breakfast bar since there were two bar stools. She didn’t have to haul her clothes to the laundromat since the trailer came with a washer and dryer. And if the weather stayed nice and she felt like cooking out, there was a small gas grill on the back deck, along with one helluva view. It was more than a lot of people had and it wasn’t as if she would be without the other things for very long.
    Since Mr. Culpepper didn’t make her pay the last month’s rent or deposits on the utilities, she’d be able to buy new furniture come payday. Nothing fancy. Certainly nothing custom ordered. But she’d have enough to buy new instead of scouring the ads on Craigslist. Heck, she might even find a furniture store that would deliver it for her. Of course, if they didn’t deliver she knew exactly who to call.
    In high school, Lucky James was one of the nice guys. The teachers liked him because he was smart. The coaches liked him because he was a team player. The guys wanted to be friends with him and the girls wanted to date him.
    And much to her surprise, he hadn’t changed one bit. He was still smart. Still nice. A real white knight kind of guy she could fall for so easily if she weren’t careful. But she would be careful because she’d learned her lesson this time. Especially since once upon a time Curtis had been a nice guy, too.
    They’d met at a Super Bowl party thrown by mutual friends. At the time, she was sleeping on her friend’s sofa, having moved in only weeks before after she found out her previous boyfriend was stealing money from her. But Curtis was different than other men she’d dated. He had recently moved to Durant, working as security at the casino. He had never been married, didn’t have any kids. Their friends said he was a great catch who’d never found the right girl.
    In the beginning, he brought little things each time he saw her—a single rose, her favorite kind of candy. Each gesture practically sweeping her off her feet. He was straightforward with his feelings, told her he wanted to be with her, only her, for the rest of their lives because from the moment he laid eyes on her he knew she was “the one.” Within a matter of weeks she moved in with him and by the month’s end he began to change. He wanted to know everywhere she went, who she was going to be with, and how long she’d be gone. If a trip to the grocery store ended up taking longer than he determined to be an appropriate length of time, he’d call her.
    For too long she ignored her gut feelings. It didn’t help that her friends were convinced he was just a romantic. They thought his possessiveness showed how much he cared and they often wished their boyfriends and husbands bothered half as much as Curtis did. But as time went on, he became more controlling than caring, more manipulative than romantic.
    Then, as if she conjured him by merely thinking his name, her phone chimed with a new text message.
    You stupid bitch.
    Who the hell do you think you are?
    I should have you arrested for theft.
    Her heart pounded in her chest as the messages came fast and furious to her phone. But she