Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
I make my way back to the duck room. She’s already unpacking her clothes into a small dresser that’s made of clear plastic. Leaning against the doorframe, I watch her.
“I like it here,” she tells me, looking up from her task. “Without Alejandro…without Mom.”
“I do too.” I scrub my palm down my face. “I’m going to work my ass off. I’ll make sure we get to stay here. Maybe even get someplace better eventually.”
“You’re afraid.”
I let out a heavy sigh and sit down beside her on the bed, hugging her to me. “I’m afraid they’ll tear us apart.”
“Me too.”
“They can try,” I say, ruffling her hair in a playful way.
We both grow quiet because it’s not a joke. If they separate us, I’ll do everyfuckingthing in my power to bring us back together again. My father is a law breaker. Maybe the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I’d do it for Roux. I’d do anything for Roux.
“We’re going to be okay.” My whispered assurance does nothing to calm the stuttering in my heart.
Will we ever be able to relax in this lifetime?
“I hope so,” she says. “I really want us to be okay.”
I walk out of Coach Rendell’s office burning with anger. It’s irrational, but I want to throttle Hollis. He’s nowhere to be found, which is good, because there’s no telling what I’d do to him if I saw him right now.
Definitely not rub my fucking dick against him like yesterday.
A shot of lust shoots straight to my dick when I remember the way he ran his fingers through his hair and worried his plump bottom lip between his teeth. I was furious, but something about his nearness made me burn hot with something else. Something unfamiliar and strange.
Attraction.
Intensity.
Need.
I’ve fucked a few girls in my lifetime, and none of them, naked and balls deep on my dick, ever made me feel that way. It was mindless sex to get off and pass the time.
Hollis fucks with my head.
The hate I have for him feels a lot like desire.
Strangest fucking thing ever.
In this moment, I’m unsure if I could even kick his ass. Not that I’m afraid he’d get one over on me. That’s not it at all. I’m afraid I’ll let him do worse. Much worse.
Images of kissing him assault my mind—unwanted and hot.
It makes my headache worsen.
Fuck this and him.
I’m charging out of the locker room when I slam into a hard body. Terrence grips my shoulders and steadies me.
“Dude, what the fuck?” he mutters, his dark brown eyes assessing me. “Are you okay? What the hell happened yesterday?”
I rub at the back of my neck and let out a heavy sigh. “Too much.”
Footsteps round the corner, revealing Jordy and Cal. Jordy rushes over to me and yanks me to him for a hug. I let out a heavy sigh as I sink against my best friend, desperately needing his violent strength to get me through the fucking day.
“There are rumors and shit,” Jordy growls, pulling away to glower at me. “I want to know the truth.”
Cal nods behind him, his normally playful features twisted into a solemn expression. “Yeah, man. Tell us what’s up.”
My three best friends crowd in on me. We’ve been tight ever since I can remember. Bad boys with a bond. They’re my family.
As much as I want to throw Hollis under the bus, just to bitch about him, I can’t. So, I do what they ask. Tell the truth.
“Alejandro pulled a gun on me.” I wince at the reminder. My heart gallops in my chest. Had he pulled the trigger…
Jordy gently slaps at my cheek. “He did fucking what? Focus, man. You’re dazed right now. Are you on drugs?”
“W-What? No.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and shake my head. “Alejandro tried to mess with Roux. I don’t know what he was planning on doing, but I wasn’t fucking having it.”
Jordy’s eyes darken and his nostrils flare with barely contained rage. Roux is not just my little sister, she’s theirs too. They take care of her like their own.
“The fucker pistol-whipped me and then started in on Roux while I was out—”
Slam!
Jordy rams his fist through a locker, crunching it inward. The sound echoes loudly down the hall. I cringe, wondering if it was loud enough for Coach to hear.
“Did he…” Terrance trails off, unable to finish.
Cal’s haunted expression chills me to my core.
“No,” I mutter. “I woke up and beat the fuck out of him.”
Jordy slides down the wall of lockers, falling on his ass. Anger is his go-to expression, but currently, his features are pinched. His eyes are glassy. I don’t miss the tremble in his hand before he scrubs his palm over his face.
“So you bailed?” Cal asks, brows pinched.
“Not exactly. I got a concussion. I was kind of out of it and it scared Roux.”