Community Service. Two words I should be thankful for, but I’m not. I resent the hours it’s away from building my business. 

When they push the little girl into the room, her crazy curls barely held back by the barrette in her hair, and studious glasses on her face, I can tell she’s scared. Something inside of me breaks, and I want this girl to feel wanted again. 

What I’m unprepared for is meeting her mom. The second our hands touch, there are fireworks, bright lights, and a picture of the future I could one day have. The future I’ve never allowed myself to wish for. 

Community service becomes more than a chore. In the months that follow, I realize they’re just like me: they’ve been abandoned, left behind by the world, forgotten by those who should love them. 

Thanks to the one last hope in both our lives - we found the light in the darkness we’d been searching for.

Trick is created by Laramie Briscoe, an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.

Trick

I hear the front door to his apartment slam, and my hands shake. I’ve never had the kind of reaction I have to Trick, to anyone else. It’s like a current flowing through both of our bodies, an electrical jolt that would make my heart start beating again if it stopped. Nervousness courses through my body, and I try to examine why I’m nervous.  


Because he’s going to be honest with me.


Because I’m going to be honest with him.


I haven’t opened myself up to a person in a long time. The last person I opened up to tried to use anything I ever told him to hurt me in the divorce proceedings. My brain knows that’s the kind of man my ex was, but the irrational part cautions me against opening up to anyone else ever again. Even though it’s lonely, it’s easier that way; no one to hurt you in the long run.


Chapter Twenty-Five: The Past