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Harlow’s spine stiffened even straighter She went back to noteye contact with me “He’s not Rush’s brother If he were, it would be evenwith Nan”

Kiro grinned like Harloas the funniest person in the world and he was proud of her spunk “My kitten has claws, and apparently only you bring theirl’s shit list Now that’s funny as hell” He looked extre draw from his joint

I wasn’t amused I didn’t like the fact Harlow hatedmy back on Nan wasn’t possible She wouldn’t be able to handle so her Even if her slutty ass deserved it I wouldn’t letwith Guess I rong about those guys I thought for sure they were sleeping with each other Instead, they were all sleeping with Nan

“Have a good night, Daddy,” Harlow said, then turned and walked out of the room before Kiro could demand she stay with me

Kiro laid his head back and closed his eyes “Shame she hates you She’s special Only known one other like her, and it was her mo ground she walked on I would have thrown all this shit away for her I had planned on it I just wanted to wake up eachand see her there beside irl and know that they were mine But God wanted her et over it Never”

This wasn’t the first time I had heard hiot high She was the first thing that came to his mind I hadn’t known that kind of love Scared the shit out of h I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to know it Kiro had never recovered I had met the man when I was a kid and ed his dad, Dean Finlay, the drummer for Slacker Demon, to take me with them on one of his weekend visits

I had been in awe It had been the first of many weekends And Kiro would always talk about “her” and curse God for taking her It had fascinated me, even as a child I had never witnessed that kind of devotion

Even after ianna, I had remained close to Rush His dad still carown up personally knowing the endary rock band in the world

“Nan hates her Who the hell can hate Harlow? She’s too da to Nan, yet Nan’s oddamn snake Poor Harlow stays away froirl so defenseless She needs to toughen up She needs a friend” Kiro set his joint down in an ashtray and turned his head to look at me “Be her friend, kid She needs one”

I wanted to be a lot ’s friend But she wouldn’t even look at me I had triedslanced at me Prove me nuts “Not sure I can be her friend and Nan’s at the same time”

Kiro frowned, then sat up and leaned forward “Three kinds of women in this world The kind that suck you dry and leave you with nothing The kind that only want a good time And the kind that ht woet enough She’s the kindif you lose her, you lose yourself”

His bloodshot eyes told h, he

“I’ve had all three Wish like hell I’d stayed away from the first The second is all I touch anymore But that third oneI won’t ever be the same And I wouldn’t take back one minute I had with Harlow’s mom”

He ran his hand through his stringy hair “Nannette, she’s the first kind Be careful of the first kind They will fk you over and walk away laughing”

Harlow

Three months later

Only nine months Just nine months I could make it nine months I would hide in my room and only come out when she wasn’t here Classes would start soon and I would have my courses to distract me Then Dad would be home and I’d leave this place behind iven me any other option

The house was quiet The loud sounds of Nan havg sx with so I had put on my Beats and cranked up my favorite playlist At some point I had fallen back to sleep Because the , I wasn’t sure if I was home alone or not It was after ten and the house was so quiet, I was pretty sure no one was here Besides, Nan didn’t seem like the kind to have a sleepover this late

She screwed them then tossed them

I threw back the covers and raninto the hallway Silence was all that met my ears I was safe I could eat Nan hadn’t been here when I arrived last night, but I knew sheon me when I had landed at the airport

After finding the house, I had gone to buy soht this house for Nan with the understanding that I would stay with her for nine months while he was on tour with Slacker Demon She wanted a house in Rose one Dad did everything big Which was good for me I could hide from her more easily Unfortunately, there was only one kitchen

I walked down the hallway and headed down the winding staircase, which spiraled past the top two floors before ending at the bottom floor My bare feet made very little noise as I walked across the hardwood planks I had just opened the fridge to get anic milk when a door opened and closed somewhere in the house

I froze and considered shoving theI wasn’t ready to face Nan yet I needed coffee before I dealt with her The heavy footsteps on the stairs weren’t Nan’s Which e , either I wasn’t dressed I still had ontank top were all I had on I glanced around for a hiding place, but before I could figure out what to do the footsteps landed on the bottom floor