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)
“Hey, Roe!” I shouted. “Why’d you beat Dale’s ass?”
Her hands went to her hips. “Because he’s a dick.”
I had been the king of all dicks to her, and it took her a good few weeks to punch me. “Did he touch you?”
Her head dropped back on a groan, then she tossed something inside her trailer, and hurried across to Wolf’s porch. The ladder creaked before her head popped over the gutters. Her gaze bounced between Wolf and me, a small grin pulling at her face. “Well, this looks cozy.”
Wolf slumped in his chair. “This is guy’s time, dude. She’s interrupting man-hour.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to shout across the trailer park like a redneck. Don’t worry. I’m not staying.”
I snatched her wrist before she could descend. “Did he touch you?”
“No.”
My hold on her tightened. “Then why did you punch him, Roe?”
“I told you, he’s a dick. He pissed me off.” She studied me for a moment, then huffed. “Will you stop?”
She told me the other night that she trusted me, and yet, here we were dancing around the truth. Like Monroe always did.
“What did he do exactly?”
Wolf sighed, then pushed up and shuffled toward the ladder. “I’m hungry,” he said on his way down.
Monroe’s teeth raked over her bottom lip. “Apparently, I must have a golden pussy to lock you down. His words. Not mine.”
Wolf laughed from the porch, mumbling golden pussy before the door below us opened and shut.
That was shit Monroe would usually roll her eyes at—shit I would usually deck someone for.
“Don’t look at me like that. I was feeling temperamental this morning.” She dropped onto the lawn chair, crossing one leg over the other.
Part of me wanted to put him in a chokehold, but then I figured, Dale getting a smackdown by a girl was humiliation enough. Monroe was the kind of girl who could fight her own battles.
“Do you have a golden pussy?”
She shot a sharp glare at me. “You’re funny.”
“So, I’ve been told.” I glanced back at her trailer.
A massive guy circled the tarp-covered car. My jaw tensed while I played with the idea of going over there and throwing a punch at him. I jerked my chin toward the bastard.
“That why you wanted the Hurst back so bad?”
“Yeah. Thanks for that, by the way.” A half-smile flashed over her face. “He was so pissed when you stole it right off the damn drive.”
My jaw tightened, and I leaned over my knees, staring at the bastard as he peeked under the tarp. “It’s not funny, Roe.” Had I known, I would have just let her have it.
“It is what it is.”
It is what it is... I knew her mom was there. I knew she was a crackhead. My mom may have let guys smack her around, she may have hidden it from anyone who tried to help, but high off her ass or sober, she would never let any of her piece-of-shit boyfriends touch us. The one that actually did whack Hendrix got stabbed in the gut. Monroe had told me the other night that her mom’s boyfriends had tried to rape her—but that was something that happened behind closed doors in the silence of the night. The bruises Monroe had on her, no way that could go unnoticed—ignored but not unnoticed.
“And your mom just lets that shit happen?” Part of me wanted to go set fire to the trailer at this point. That was a question I already knew the answer to.
“She’s too far gone to care about anything but her next hit.” Monroe sucked in an uneven breath. “And he’s giving it to her, so…”
Jesus Christ. I wanted to kill them both. “You don’t have to stay there, you know.” The words came out of my mouth before they had registered. And it wasn’t that I didn’t want her at my house, but more that I was afraid I would freak her out.
She hugged one leg to her chest, resting her temple on her knee. Monroe watched me like she was trying to work me out. “Where else am I going to go?”
“You can stay with me.”
An uncomfortable expression knitted her brows, and I panicked. Too much, too fast. Too stupid. God, she made me stupid.
“Or Jade or something,” I shrugged like it was no big deal. Just a suggestion.
“Pretty sure your parents wouldn’t appreciate picking up a stray. Or Jade’s.”
I sank back a little in the chair, bouncing my leg as I swiped at my face. “I don’t have any parents.”
“What?”
“My mom’s dead.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Sorry.”
My chest tightened until I couldn't find a good breath. “It’s fine.” It wasn’t. I missed her every day.
The sound of the cicadas seemed to grow louder by the second. I hated this shit. The entire “I feel bad, and I should act like it, but I don’t know what to say” bullshit. It sucked. But it was life, and this was getting uncomfortable. “So, you wanna go somewhere?”