by Zoey Parker
“Graduation is only a year away.” Lauren shrugged and climbed back into bed with me.
I yanked her up against me, holding her close. She smelled like baby soft perfume, and I loved that shit. The way she always smelled like a girl, so damn soft and feminine. Not like most girls I would hang out with, who smoked and cursed. Lauren was innocent, far removed from all the bad shit in the world. Even with her drunkass stepfather snoring from the hallway floor she saw the positive side. Graduation wasn’t just a year away; it was forever away. A whole summer and a full year of school stood in our way. Then we’d get the fuck out of there. My old man wasn’t much better than hers and my mom split when I was a kid. But until Lauren agreed to run with me, I decided to stay put. She needed me.
“Lisa asked me when you were gonna get around to asking her out,” Lauren whispered into the stillness of the room.
“When she gets some tits.” I moaned and slid down, getting more comfortable in her bed. I wanted to spend the night naked in her bed, with her soft body pressed up against me, but Lauren wouldn’t allow it. Friends, fuck that, we were more than that, but I think she was scared her stepfather would find out and really lay into her for being a whore. He said it often enough when she put on a little lipstick.
“I think he’s out good now, Michael. You gotta get home. You stayed here last night; your dad’s gonna think you ran away.” She gave me a shove and I rolled off the bed, hitting the floor. She giggled and leaned over the edge of the bed to look at me.
I tried to give her a surprised look, like I didn’t know she could be so fucking strong, but ended up pulling her down off the bed on top of me. I rolled with her until I was on top of her and kissed her. Our lips smashed together, and when I pulled back she looked at me with shock. I laughed and hopped to my feet.
I didn’t have to look back to know she was watching me from her window as I climbed down the roof and hopped onto my bike, revving the engine just before peeling down the road.
That was the last peaceful night I had for years to come. The next morning when I picked her up for school, her stepbrother, who was a few years older than us, was on her front lawn, pulling at her jacket. She struggled to get free of his grip, but the asshat held his liquor as well as his old man and just pushed her flailing hands away.
I jumped off my bike to get to her, to save her. His hand pulled back, she flinched even before it made contact. The resounding sound of his palm connecting with her face nearly knocked me off my feet. All reasoning flew from me. That fucker put his hand on Lauren. My Lauren.
He grunted when his head hit the grass as I tackled him. Straddling his chest, I laid into him, closed fists met his face, his nose, his cheek. From the distance, I heard Lauren calling my name. She may have been pulling on my shirt, but it didn’t budge me. That fuck and his father had done nothing but bring hell to Lauren’s life, and it was time for it to end.
My knuckles split, but that didn’t stop me. Jackass passed out, but I continued to wail on him. It wasn’t until the sirens blared in my ears did I ease up and sit back. Blood covered my fists, my shirt. Chad lay silent beneath me. He wasn’t dead. I could still feel his chest moving under me.
The police officers didn’t wait to hear my side, didn’t wait to hear what Lauren was yelling at them. I was hauled up to my feet, cuffs slapped tightly on my wrists.
“Wait. No. It wasn’t his fault!” I heard Lauren screaming as they shoved me into the back of the car. I saw her standing in her front lawn, holding her backpack in both hands, tears streaming down her face. Her stepfather loomed on the front porch, looking as though he just woke up. One cop stayed behind to wait for the ambulance. That fucker was fine. That fucker was also dating the police chief’s daughter, who had seen my last name cross his desk more times than he could count.
That was the last time I saw Lauren Robertson, and it was the last time she saw me. Because after they threw me in juvenile detention, any sweet thoughts I had about being with that innocent girl were crushed. After seven years of being in and out of lock ups, that girl deserved a fuck of a lot better than me. She deserved heaven on earth, and all I could offer was hell.
Chapter 1
Lauren
“I know, Mom. I can hear him just fine behind you.” I flapped open the paper bag that would hold my delicious lunch made up of celery sticks, peanut butter, and a ham sandwich. Lunch of every adult headed to their first day of their last semester of grad school. Or just me. Mostly just me.
Unlike the majority of my classmates, I didn’t make it into the elite program, nor was I on the list for the most sought-after internship in the architectural program at UCI because Daddy made an extra donation to the school’s architecture wing. No, I worked my butt of for every grade and every opportunity they gave me. Getting the assignment at Perkins & Will didn’t come to me on silver platter. I earned it. Just like I did everything in my life.
I learned early on things didn’t just come to you because you wanted them. Praying didn’t make things happen. It didn’t make my mom divorce her second husband, or her third, and it sure as hell didn’t help bring back the person I needed most in my life.
“Well, he’s excited for you is all.” My mother held the phone too close to her mouth when she talked, I could hear her breathing like she was Darth Vader. Cody, the son of her newest boyfriend, squealed loudly behind her.
“Lah-ren! Lah-ren! Go Lah-ren!”
“You know, you should have him see the speech lady again.” I picked at my lunch while listening to her shoo the six-year-old away. I met the new boyfriend a year before, at Christmas. Among the long list of losers my mom dated and married over the years, Frank was a shining star. Even if he did come with a six-year-old. He treated mom with respect, and she began to think the world rose and set with him.
“Yeah, Frank’s got a meeting with the counselor today about it. He was doing so well for a while, not sure why he’s slipping.” The concern I heard in her voice was real. Over the previous six months that Frank and his son had moved into my childhood home, she’d fallen back into her mom mode. Cody’s mom died in a car crash when he was only a year old, so he’d never had a mom before.
“Well, let me know how it goes. I gotta run, Ma. Traffic is gonna suck enough as it is.”
“Go get ‘em kiddo!” The upbeat cheer did little to elevate my nerves, but did plenty to bring a smile to my lips. It was good seeing my mom happy. She deserved it after all the horrible men she fell for; having someone care about her, and seeing her blossom beneath it, almost made the bad memories go away. Almost.
It would be easy to blame my mom for the crap we went through while I was growing up. After all, she picked the jerks she married. There were plenty of fish in the sea, because most of them were jerks and had been thrown back. My dad, my real dad, ran off a week after I was born. Mom never told me exactly why, but I knew it had more to do with my unplanned arrival than any excuse she might have cooked up if she hadn’t avoided the subject all together.
Working odd jobs, she did the best she could to put a roof over our heads. Apparently, not finishing high school because you got knocked up wasn’t exactly a life skill. Even when the deadbeats she dated moved in and out of our lives, I knew I could still count on her. For the big stuff anyway. Working all the time and trying to find the love of her life left not so much time to hang out with the scrawny kid who ate up most of the income she brought in. I was okay with it, though. I had a thick skin and friends. Well, friend.
Remembering every day of my childhood, watching my mom struggle to make ends meet, that was what drove me to get through school with high marks. Getting as far away from that place as I could manage gave me the fuel to work the extra hours, study longer, and get my butt to college on a scholarship and grants. I was no stranger to hard work, even outside of school. Those odd jobs I watched my mom slave away at, those were the sort I looked out for. Waiting tables, delivering newspapers, dog walking between classes. All of it was worth it
when I saw my name on this list for the fall internship.
I just needed to get through the summer session, and I was done with my class work. The internship would hopefully blossom into a sweet job offer, and I could finally afford to move out of the two-bedroom closet I shared with Asya.
After hanging up with my mom I ran down to my car. At eight in the morning, already the heat index had climbed to ninety. Chicago summers sucked; having no air conditioning in my beat up ten-year-old Honda sucked even worse. Hopefully traffic wouldn’t be terrible, and I wouldn’t be in a stand still. What little breeze moving in would be welcomed and help keep me from smelling like a locker room by the time I made it to class.
The sun blared into the car, bouncing off the light dashboard and right into my face. I hated sun; my fair skin wouldn’t tolerate too much of it before it turned to a soft pink, then straight to lobster red. Once settled, I turned the ignition. Nothing. Taking a deep breath, I tried again. Nothing.
Growling, I sat back in the seat and closed my eyes. When was the last time I took it in for an oil change? Was the battery dead? Moments like that made me want to rethink my decision to stay away from men until after graduation. Having a boyfriend at that moment would have been much easier. I didn’t know the last thing about cars.
Even after having spent countless hours watching the neighborhood boys fixing up their engines in their back yards and garages, I couldn’t tell the difference between a spark plug and an oil cap. Back then I didn’t need to—Michael took me where I needed to go in his car. Mom couldn’t afford two cars, and what little money I made at my part time jobs went to help keep the heat on in the winters.
Michael. Just remembering him brought a dull ache to my chest. Still, after seven years, when I thought of him I worried and missed him. He’d just disappeared on me. Of all the people in my life who let me down, Michael was the first to blindside me with it.
The beeping of my phone reminded me how short on time I was for class. Not knowing anyone in my or the neighboring buildings building who could help me, I caved and called for a tow. The AAA membership my ex had given me seemed like a crappy birthday gift at the time, but was proving to be a decent present. Although, I was pretty sure Tommy had planned on using it more for himself than me, but he gave up that privilege when he dipped his stick into my friend.
The tow truck arrived faster than expected, which gave me hope of actually making it to class on time if he could get my car to start.
“Sorry, this thing is dead. It’s not the battery, though you need a new one. It will need to be looked at.” The driver unhooked the battery from his charging unit. “I can take it in for you now, if you want. There’s a place over on Albany and Lexington. Brought a few people in there last month, they all seemed happy enough with the place.”
“Can you tow it there, and I’ll pick it up later?” I already had my phone out, calling an Uber to take me to school. I’d miss the first ten minutes or so, but I needed to get there. I gave him my information and took down the address and number for that garage.
His eyes wandered over my body as I pulled out my bags from the front seat of the Honda. I pretended not to notice him glancing over at me every few seconds as he started hooking up my car to his truck. Thankfully the Uber showed before he had a chance to pass me a line, or ask me out. The last thing I needed was to get involved with another guy.
Chapter 2
Michael
Ever since I took over the garage, business doubled. Buying the run-down station from that old man Nickels had been the smartest decision I made in years. Working for other assholes and letting them reap all the reward for my hard work didn’t work for me, especially when most of them wanted me to bow down and kiss their feet for even giving an ex-con like me a shot. Fuck that, and fuck them.
“Michael! Got another one for you,” Leroy called from the front seat of his truck. I waved him in and he pulled around the back. Most tow truck drivers worked for a single garage, going on a call when one came in. Not Leroy. He liked being a “freelancer.” Whatever the fuck that meant in the mechanics world.
I took a quick look at the run-down Honda he pulled behind his truck and shook my head. Whoever drove that car had run the poor thing into the ground. Rust spots on the back hood and the door to the gas tank wasn’t original but had been pieced back together. Who knew what I would find under the hood once I got her up on the lift.
“Where’d you get this piece of shit?” I tapped on the hood as Leroy hopped out of his truck.
“Some hot chick a few blocks away. Called in a dead battery. I tried jumping it, but still wouldn’t turn.”
“Ah, damsel in distress?” I looked over at the cab of his truck. “Where is she? You have her tied up in your truck?”
Leroy shook his head. If the chick wasn’t with him, it wasn’t by his choice. “That’s more your game anyway.” He winked and started unhooking the car. “Said she had to run to school or something.”
I laughed. “Going for them young now?”
“UIC, you prick,” he called from behind the car. “Her info’s on the dash. Said she’d be here this afternoon. Real tight, that one, wound up good.” Every woman who turned Leroy down had something wrong with them, according to Leroy.
“Thanks.” I reached in the front window and pulled out the paper with her contact info on it. I read the name on the invoice and my heart squealed to a stop. Lauren Robertson. No way it was her. After all those years of staying clear of her, no way her car ended up in my shop. Just a coincidence. My Lauren would have been done with college two years ago. No way this was my Lauren.
I dragged my hand through my short-cropped hair. Fuck. She wasn’t mine anymore. Hadn’t been for seven years. I walked away from her, from that place. Nothing had ever been harder to do than decide not to go back after juvie finally released me. I could have. My dad would have let me go home, had even asked me to move in with him, but I couldn’t. I needed space between that past and my future. By the time I was released, Lauren’s mom had gotten rid of that asshole drunk of a husband. She was safe enough. My going back would only bring trouble with me, and Lauren needed to get clear of trouble. She had had enough of that shit growing up.
I kept tabs on her for a few years, made sure she wasn’t getting into shit like her mom did. Once I heard she’d gotten a scholarship to college, I had made my decision to let her be. Last I heard, she had moved into the city somewhere. Like me, she didn’t keep up with the old neighborhood. No, this Lauren had to be a different one.
“You okay, man?” Leroy waved an oil stained hand in front of my face. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“This chick. What did she look like?” I couldn’t help myself. I needed to be sure.
“I dunno. Hot. Tight ass, nice tits.”
“Fuckin’ perv. What color hair?” I almost laughed at his description. If Leroy ever had to be a key witness to any crime the only thing he would ever be able to give the prosecution would be the cup size of the girl involved.
“Oh.” His eyes squinted as though thinking was that hard for him to do.
I did laugh then. “Never mind. Your eyes never left her ass.”
“If you had seen it, yours wouldn’t have either.” He gave me a light shove then headed back to his truck. “See you at Teddy’s on Saturday. Poker, ten o’clock. His girl’s gonna make snacks.” Teddy’s wife owned a food truck, the kind that sat in a parking lot all day feeding the machine workers at the factories. Her tamales couldn’t be beat.
“Yeah, see you then.” I headed back into the shop, determined to forget the name Lauren Robertson. I’d spent the last seven years trying to forget her.
***
Sure fire way to get a woman off your mind, get another woman. Kelly, an old flame that never quite fizzled out all the way, walked into my office sometime after lunch. Her car needed an oil change, no problem. Tony would have it done in no time.
“Since when do I have to sit in the waiti
ng room?” She smiled at me from my office doorway. I raised an eyebrow at her and took my time taking in her body. Her tits overflowed my hands, and took a lot of punishment from me when I found myself in the mood. The low-cut tank top didn’t even try to hide them, and the too short tennis skirt gave me more than a little wood looking at her ass when she turned around to shut my door.
“Maybe I’m busy.” I leaned back in my chair, rolling away from desk to give her room to slide in. Her red hair had been pulled up into some tight bun thing on top of her head, but being the good girl she could be when she wanted to be, she pulled it down for me, letting it flow over her shoulders. Hopping on my desk, she planted her feet on the arms of my chair. Both capturing me and giving me a sweet view of her pussy. “No panties?”