Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 110549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110549 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“I hate you,” she sneered at him.
He shrugged at her before he crossed his arms over his chest. “You may now, but in eleven months when you’re riding into the sunset away from this place, you’ll thank me for not letting you fuck your probation up.” He pointed his finger at her. “And your ass better be at school on time tomorrow and at that fucking garage on time,” he ordered.
With that, he stormed out of my house, leaving me alone with West. “Looks like you can’t ignore me anymore,” I told her after a moment, trying to lighten the mood, which definitely wasn’t my style.
“Fuck off,” she snarled. I raised my hands in surrender. Damn, she was a fucking spitfire when she was pissed. “Where am I sleeping?”
“For right now, you can sleep in my room until I get your furniture from Jessie’s. I’ll take the couch.”
Without another word, she jerked up to her feet and strode down the hall, leaving me alone in the living room, staring after her.
Tonight confirmed it.
This girl was trouble.
And I was already in too deep with her to get the fuck out to save my own ass.
Shit.
4
West
I strode into the garage, my eyes instantly landing on Lincoln, who was currently closing the hood of the Explorer, smiling at a young blonde woman who had to be fairly new to town. I didn’t remember her from before juvie, and with a town this small, everyone knew everyone else, even if you’d never spoken to them before in your life.
She placed her perfectly manicured fingers on his arm, and raging jealousy reared its ugly head. I clenched my jaw.
He’s not yours, West, I bitterly reminded myself, forcing my body to turn away from them. You wanted no-strings-attached, remember?
Jessie stepped out of the office with a cigarette between his lips, his eyes instantly landing on me. “Thanks for picking me up,” I snapped at him, my temper instantly flaring. He had never shown up at school to pick me up. I had to walk all the way to the garage.
He shrugged. “Since you seem to be so fucking cozy with Jay and determined to fuck up your future, I figured you would get a ride here from him,” he retorted.
I clenched my fists, my lips twisting into a snarl. Jessie smirked at me, and I hated how attracted I still was to him despite him doing his damnest to rile me up. “Don’t even fucking play with me right now, Jessie,” I sneered at him. “That’s a fucking low blow, and you know it.”
Jessie stormed over to me and glared down into my face. I met his glare with one of my own, refusing to back down from him. “When you feel sorry for what the fuck you did, then maybe I’ll feel differently.” I swallowed thickly, my heart thumping wildly in my chest. God, I hated it when Jessie got pissed at me like this. “I’m not bending my ass over backward for someone who doesn’t give the slightest fuck about their future.”
“Can you two stop arguing long enough for her to pay for her car?” Lincoln demanded, snapping both my and Jessie’s attention over to him.
I shook my head with a clenched jaw as Jessie stepped back from me, smiling at the blonde woman, his mood doing a complete one-eighty.
“Give him some time, West,” Lincoln gruffly spoke up from next to me as I watched Jessie disappear into the office with the woman. I shoved my hands into my pockets so no one would see them shaking. I slowly turned my eyes to Lincoln. “He’s been worried about you since you got out, and that worry only increased last night when you ran into Jay.”
“If he’s so worried, then maybe he shouldn’t bother himself with me, Lincoln,” I snapped at him.
Lincoln crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged at me. “That’s not how Jessie works, West, and you know it as well as I do.”
I shrugged. “I’m done talking about it. Just tell me what I need to get done today,” I grumbled.
A few hours later, I was sitting on Lincoln’s front porch with a cigarette between my lips and a throw blanket wrapped around my shoulders against the slight chill in the air and the cool wind that was coming off the pond. Lincoln was cooking dinner for us since I wasn’t worth a damn in the kitchen.
I sighed as I stared out at the darkening water, my mind flickering to Jessie. I hated when we fought like this. He was my rock, the one person I knew I could rely on no matter what.
And I hated it when I broke his trust and made him doubt me like this. But I was a disappointment; it was my toxic trait.
Jessie’s car pulled into the drive, and a moment later, he slid out of the car, his black leather jacket on his shoulders over a plain grey t-shirt. I watched him as he wordlessly took a seat in the rocker next to me, his eyes on the pond. I slowly turned my eyes away from him, looking back toward the pond, keeping silent as well.