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)
“Why take on that burden?” I asked him as I began sanding down the door of the car I was working on. I preferred solitude. I hated being around people. Honestly, Jessie was probably the only person that I could stand dealing with. He even dealt with all of the customers that came through, and he just let me work, never having to deal with them.
I really wasn’t a people person.
And though the girl who’d just walked in here was fine as fuck with that red hair and all those curves, she was loud and mouthy—something I didn’t have the patience for.
“Girl isn’t trouble, Lincoln,” Jessie told me, and there was something in his voice that warned me to tread carefully about the girl. “She hasn’t had a good role model in her life. No father figure, mother’s a fucking alcoholic and a drug addict—dragged West into the wrong shit with the wrong people. That girl was headed down a dark path that would have left her in a shallow grave somewhere before she made it to eighteen. She just needs help and guidance and to know that people still give a shit about her.”
“Sounds like nothing but trouble to me, Jessie,” I told him honestly. And she really did. Who was to say she wouldn’t go right back to that shit? She obviously didn’t have much respect for people, judging by the way she had come storming into the garage after Jessie, popping off at the mouth when he was just helping her.
“West isn’t looking for trouble, Lincoln,” Jessie snapped at me. “She’s looking to finish her schooling, get off probation, and get the fuck out of this town. She just needs someone to lean on for a minute. She’s been fighting by herself for too fucking long.”
“I’m fucking changed,” West announced as she stepped back into the garage. “What do you need?”
I looked up, and I just about choked on my fucking spit when I did. She was wearing a pair of cut-off jean shorts with a pair of beat-up, steel-toed boots on her feet. Her legs were toned and thick, and at that moment, I wanted to do nothing more than find out what those legs felt like hooked over my shoulders.
Fuck, think of old women, Link. She’s still in fucking high school for Christ’s sake, I scolded myself.
Eighteen or not, she was off fucking limits.
“Need you to do some engine work to this Explorer,” Jessie told her, walking her over to the silver Explorer parked in the bay next to mine. “Got in an accident. Lincoln’s already done the bodywork to it. All the parts you need for the engine are in the storage room,” he informed her.
She nodded in understanding, moving away from him toward the toolbox.
Oh, fuck me, she could work on cars.
I really needed a cold fucking shower.
West
I pushed my hands deep into the pockets of my hoodie, listening hard to the sounds around me and watching out for anyone that I really didn’t need to be running into. Jessie had offered to drive me to the store, but I needed air—needed time to think and be by myself.
But now, I was realizing how stupid my decision was. There were people in this town that I was trying my damnest to avoid, and going out without Jessie was a dumb decision.
“I heard you were out of juvie, sweetheart,” that all too familiar voice spoke up from behind me, making me stiffen as I came to a halt. This confrontation was inevitable. I was just hoping I could put it off.
I turned around to face my ex, Jay. Jay was the reason I got sent to juvie, the reason I got caught up in any of this shit—him and my fucking mother. Jay had sweet-talked me into falling in love with him, but when I fell, it was into a bottomless fucking pit of darkness with no break in the fall—only destruction left in my wake.
“Why you didn’t come see me, sweetheart?” he asked me.
“Because I didn’t want to see you,” I bluntly retorted. His eyes narrowed at me in a warning to shut the fuck up, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t fifteen anymore. “Surprised my mother isn’t hanging off your arm, considering your dick couldn’t stay out of her fucking pussy.”
Jay sighed in aggravation. “Come on, sweetheart. That’s old shit. Let it go. You weren’t giving it up—refused to actually.”
“Good thing I did,” I sneered. “God only knows the fucking STDs that bitch has.”
He ignored me, reaching up to push a lock of my red hair out of my face. I slapped his hand away and stepped back from him. “I like the red, sweetheart,” he complimented, swiftly changing the subject like he always did when I brought up something he didn’t want to talk about. “Matches your personality—makes your green eyes brighten.”