Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Forcing a smile, I dart my eyes to the door. “Roan’s waiting.”
“Bye, beautiful.”
I close my eyes as he mauls me with a kiss that tastes like a mixture of desperation and obsession. When it’s over, I flee from the classroom. Rather than go to the parking lot, I make a stop by the bathroom to fix my face. Then, I head to the office.
“Ms. Frazier?”
Charlotte’s aunt feels more like my aunt sometimes.
“What is it?” she asks, immediately sensing my distress.
“I, uh, was wondering if I could change my schedule.” I gnaw on my bottom lip. “Starting tomorrow.”
“If you’re having trouble with one of your classes, I don’t mind tutoring you like old times.” She smiles. “I’m sure it’s nothing that can’t be fixed over cookies after school.”
As much as I want to confide in her, I don’t. If Jordy or Roan gets wind about Wes, they’ll freak out. With everything going on with Renaldo, I can’t afford that. I just need to fix this and make it go away.
“My last class is with Charlotte. We’re not on speaking terms anymore. It’s distracting. I can’t focus.” Not a lie. “Please.”
Understanding glimmers in her eyes. “Of course, honey. I’ll make the change. You can go to Miss Peterson’s class starting tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
When I finally make it outside, Roan is sitting in his truck waiting. I all but run, eager to escape this hell hole. His brotherly stare assesses me, no doubt picking up on my distress.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just asked Ms. Frazier to switch my classes.”
“Which one?”
I swallow and level my brother with a hard stare. “My last one.”
A million emotions flash in his amber eyes. “Good. Do I need to kick anyone’s ass?”
“I took care of it myself.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yep.”
“Of course you are,” Roan says, winking. “You’re a Hoodlum.”
Damn right.
Hoodlums are tough.
We don’t take shit.
He starts to drive off and we pass a parked car. Tom is sitting in the driver’s seat, his creepy stare on us. Roan nods at him as we drive.
“You know Peeping Tom?”
Roan whips his head to the side. “You know Tom?”
“He’s my stalker,” I deadpan.
Roan snorts. “Good. Everyone needs a stalker like Tom.”
With those words churning inside my head, I wonder where my stalker was when my teacher went possessive boyfriend on me.
“Where are we going?” I ask, shoving thoughts of Wes into the dark corners of my mind.
“To bug Jordy. Maybe he’ll hook us up with some free food.”
Getting to see Jordy erases every terrible thing that happened today.
“Roan?”
“Yeah?”
“When will our lives stop being so hard?”
He reaches over and takes my hand. “One day soon, Roux. We’ve earned it.”
Jordy
Every time I set a plate of food in the window, I catch Renaldo’s glare. He’s sitting with Juno and a few other thugs, causing a ruckus. Bob says nothing, clearly terrified of Renaldo. It pisses me off that Renaldo seems to hold power over everyone in this town. I’m about to start on another order when Roan and Roux walk in.
Fuck.
I shake my head at Roan, but he’s not looking at me. Renaldo, though, is boring a hole through me. Slowly, he turns around to see who I’m watching. I’ll give Roan credit. He doesn’t flinch the moment he realizes what he just walked into with Little Hoodlum. Acting as though he’s unbothered, he takes a table far enough away from them.
I need to distract Renaldo.
Rushing through the kitchen door, I make my way over to Renaldo and Juno. I crack my neck and level my glare on Renaldo.
“Wow, man,” Renaldo sneers. “Someone fucked you up.”
I run my tongue over my sore lip. “What do you want?”
“Just checkin’ on my boy.”
Juno smirks. “Bet you learned your lesson, huh, little bro?”
“Fuck off, Juno,” I grind out.
They all laugh at my anger. I’m about to explode. I wish to hell Roan would leave, but it would be too obvious. Plus, my stupid best friend won’t leave me to get my ass kicked if he thinks that’s where it’s headed.
“My brother says you wish you were fuckin’ that young thing over there,” Renaldo says, losing all humor as he glowers at my girl.
I want to grab his hair and bash his face against the table for even looking at her.
“Your brother is an idiot.”
Renaldo studies me for a long moment. “He is, but he’s a fuckin’ kid. What’s your excuse?”
“I don’t know what sort of bullshit baby Ramirez whines about when you two are watching the Disney channel together late at night during family time, but he doesn’t know shit about me. I grew up with them. I’m not interested in what high school brats are up to. I certainly don’t want to fuck them.”
Renaldo whistles. “You two. Get over here.”
Fuck.
I can practically feel Roan’s protective rage pouring over me. Roux comes to stand beside me, between me and her brother. Renaldo looks her up and down, and I’m thankful she’s wearing a hoodie so he can’t check her tits out. Today she seems messy and frazzled. I’d rather him see her as a young kid than someone fuckable.