Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Wolf watched her go, a line sinking between his brows. “Hey, is she okay? She’s really quiet.”
I could have said yes, that would have been the reasonable thing to do, but instead, I panicked and blurted, “Her cat died!”
Jade didn’t even have a cat.
“I’m gonna go check on her.” I dropped my fork onto my plate, then hurried across the cafeteria. I caught up to her just as the bell rang and people started pouring into the hallway. “I’m sorry. They’re idiots,” I said when I reached Jade’s locker.
“Thanks for covering for me.”
“It’s fine. But... Your cat died.”
She frowned. “I don’t have a cat.”
“I panicked.”
A tiny smile touched her lips before she turned to her locker and twisted the combination. “Okay.”
“And, you know, I’m here for you. Whatever you need.”
“Thanks. I’m not pregnant. I just…freaked out. Like how stupid can I be? Wolf of all people.” She shook her head, and her gaze shifted over my shoulder. “Uh, Chase is staring at you like a dog begging for scraps.”
I groaned, refusing to turn around. “He kissed me on Friday night.”
Her brows hiked up. “Does he have a death wish?”
“It’s really awkward.”
“Well, it looks like he’s going to come over, so good luck with that.”
Jade smirked before she slammed her locker and walked away. God, I wanted to climb inside her locker.
“Good luck with what?” Zepp snuck up behind me, pressing a kiss to the side of my neck.
I was grateful for his presence because I wasn’t ready to address the whole thing with Chase. If there was one thing that would undoubtedly keep him away, it was my mildly homicidal boyfriend.
“I promised I wouldn’t break his arms, but…” He grabbed my shoulders and spun me around, pinning me to the lockers and covering my mouth with his. “Fuck his heart,” Zepp mumbled against my lips before deepening the kiss.
Zepp had a way of making me forget about anything that wasn’t him.
A loud clap sounded by my ear. “Mr. Hunt. Miss James!” Mrs. Smith huffed. “That’s enough!”
Zepp swiped his tongue over mine once more before slowly moving away, then taking my hand in his and walking me to my next class.
39
Zepp
Hendrix grinned like an idiot at the half-dead Christmas tree he had propped in the corner.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
“What’s it look like, ball bag? I’m putting up a tree.” He shook his head before crossing the room and plopping down on the couch beside me. “It’s festive and shit.”
“Where did you get it?”
“Stole it from the boy scouts.” He swiped the game controller from the side table.
I stared at my delinquent brother. Never mind the fact that I had no idea how he had brought the thing home but stealing from the Boy Scouts? That was low. Even for us. “You’re fucked up. You know that, right?”
“Jesus wouldn’t like you calling the spirit of Christmas the F-word, fuckface.”
For the past two weeks, Hendrix had been messing around with some preacher’s daughter. That had to be where the Jesus comment came from.
He started a game, and halfway through, paused it. “I’m hungry. Get Monroe to grab some Burger King on the way over or something, would you?”
“She’s over at Jade’s studying.”
“That’s bullshit. I want Burger King.”
My stomach grumbled at the mention of food. I pushed to my feet and swiped my keys from the table.
Hendrix scooted to the edge of the couch. “Where are you going?”
“Burger King.”
“Fuck you!” He tossed the controller down and hopped up, following me to the door.
I glared over my shoulder at him. “What are you doing?”
“Coming to Burger King.”
“You don’t have a car.”
“And whose fault is that?” he asked.
I cocked a brow as I opened the door. Hendrix had totaled three cars in the past year, which meant the police had revoked his license. “Yours.”
Grumbling, he shouldered past me and down the steps. When I got to the drive, Hendrix was straddling my bike. “Get off,” I said, shoving him.
“No. I want Burger King!”
I stood beside my bike, picturing how ridiculous we would look riding through the slums of Dayton with his bitch ass holding onto me. He may have been my brother. But, hell no. “You are not riding bitch behind me.” I slammed a fist into his shoulder. “Get off.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I won’t even hold onto you. Just suck it up and be a man.”
I snatched my helmet up and pulled it over my head. “Get up.”
“Fine.” He huffed. “I’ll buy.”
It was concerning what I would do to save five bucks.
After Burger King, we walked over to the Wal-E-Mart. Hendrix ducked off to the bathroom to take a shit, and I went to the jewelry counter. I had pushed an extra five hundred bucks’ worth of weed to save up for Monroe’s present. She was absolutely not the jewelry type, but I kept coming back to the diamond rings. Eighteen. Twenty-five. What did age matter? I loved her. More than anything in this world, and I just wanted to know that no matter what, she would always be mine.