“That’s it?”
She nodded. “We’ll call you if we can use you.”
Her assistant seemed floored. I walked over to Megan and moved a section of her hair away from her ear. I leaned down, ghosted my lips over hers, and whispered.
“You can call and use me anytime you want.”
She shivered. My work was done. I walked away knowing I’d won that round.
Late that night, I drove down the sad road to my small-frame house. It might not have been much, but we owned the land all the way to the shore in back. The tall trees cast shadows over everything.
On the way, I passed an unmarked car and a dark van with a magnetic plumbing logo. The Feds were onto us. It was only a matter of time before we would be taken in. Just another reason I needed to stay the fuck away from Megan. Last thing I wanted was her mixed up in my mess. Only one future needed to be screwed.
I parked in front of the garage and got out my truck. I used a worn key on my keyring to open the front door.
“Dad,” I called out.
He wasn’t in the front room. With me being older and taller, the house was pathetically small. When I was young, it had felt large.
“Dad?”
I found the basement doors and saw the light on down there. I went downstairs and found him at this desk.
We were sure the house was bugged.
“Hey,” I said casually. “How was the catch today?”
“Not as good as it used to be.”
My once proud father was more of a shell of his former self. He’d lost the little bulk he had and he’d let the gray take over his head.
“Yeah, well we’re going to need at least five bushels for the market this weekend.”
Dad should have taken the hint. Either he was truly preoccupied with the books he was working on, or he was taking me at my word.
“Why? Do we have a new customer?”
I glared at him, but he didn’t look up. “No, the forecast is a warm weekend. A lot of people will be cooking out.”
Finally, his eyes met mine. “Five, huh?”
Five didn’t mean bushels or even hundreds or thousands. Five large meant the boss wanted five hundred thousand clean money in cash by Friday.
“Well, you said the catch wasn’t as good as it used to be. And with the weather nice, a lot of people won’t be at the market. Still, I think we could sell five easily.”
Over the years, Dad had used his clever bookkeeping skills to buy an open-air market. Since we were scraping the bottom of the barrel middle class, the grants I got for college didn’t cover tuition. Even though Tate, Tade’s biological father, the one currently on death row was footing the bill, Dad had to funnel that money into legal status so he could use it to pay for my college.
I glanced at the wall behind Dad. There was enough money stashed there to buy a mansion, several fancy cars, a yacht, and maybe even a plane two times over. But we couldn’t use any of it. I thought about my shit truck. Good thing I’d learned auto mechanic skills in high school. I maintained it on my own.
“I was thinking about selling,” Dad said. He put his pencil down and met my gaze squarely. “I’m tired, son.” The weariness he carried showed in the lines that were etched all over his face. I scrubbed my face, unable to speak.
“You remember Connie?” he asked. I nodded. “She came by to tell me she’s finally getting married.”
Dad had stayed true to Mom as best he could when Bear wasn’t throwing women at him and forcing his hand. But Connie—the woman next door who cooked and baked almost as good as my mom, according to Dad—had tried her best to work her way into his heart. And from the look in his eyes, she had.
“Tell her I said congrats.”
I might have sounded happy for her, but I was sad for him. More sad for myself, as he was a reflection of my future.
“I got a job opportunity.”
There was no reason I had to tell him that. He already looked burdened with the world, but it had popped out.
“Good for you. You should take it.”
I can’t, I wanted to tell him.
“I’m going to build you a boat. And we’re going to fish together, you and me.”
Watery eyes met mine and he shook his head silently. “I’m going to retire, give up the business. You should take the job.”
It was my turn to silently shake my head. “I’m not going to let you give up. People will always want crabs and the markets are doing good.”
Our stupid between-the-line conversation continued because Dad knew although we were alone in the house, we were being watched and listened to.
“I didn’t send you to college to end up an old man alone with nothing to show for all his hard work but a two-bedroom house and a ten-year-old boat. You deserve more, son. Your mother would want more for you.”
I pinched at the corner of my eyes, hating my life and his. Who knew how close the Feds were to catching us. When would the search order come in? Would they take a wrecking ball to the walls and seize all we had left?
“I’m going to make us dinner,” I said. Dad looked like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.
“I’m not hungry,” he said to my back.
“Yeah old man, well, you’re eating.”
“I don’t want seafood.”
I laughed. “That’s the last thing on the menu tonight.”
Upstairs, as I rummaged through the kitchen, I thought about Connie. Would I end up in the future watching Megan get married to someone else?
14
megan
Ugh, I thought as I scrolled through the pictures a thousand times and came up with the same results.
“What’s got you aggravated?” Reagan asked, truly concerned.
My stomach grumbled. I needed to get to the café before breakfast was over. I had class in an hour.
“Stupid boy,” I muttered, more to myself.
“What boy is it this time?”
I loved her, but sometimes I wished she wasn’t so dense when it came to guys. It made it hard to talk to her about my love-hate relationship with them. She didn’t get it at all, thinking everything was straightforward.
“You act like there have been a dozen of them.”
Her eyebrow lifted in question.
“Okay,” I said, feeling defeated. “I’ve talked about a dozen of them—” Since she moved in this year. “—but I’ve only gone out with a couple.”
Each one had been more disastrous than the last.
“So who’s the flavor of the week?”
“You ask like they’re Skittles or something. Besides, there’s no flavor.” Unless there’s a Gavin flavor. That thought only made me remember kissing him, and boy did he know how to kiss. My toes had curled, literally.
“I just think you’re wasting your time. Boys are so immature.”
I felt sorry for my bestie. She’d grown up not with the fear of God, but the fear of life driven into her by her crazy mother. She was practically scared of her own shadow.
“And I think you haven’t given the right one a chance. We have a few more months of the carefree life until we have to act like responsible adults. We should be living it up,” I said.
“Living it up how, exactly? Letting some guy break your heart?”
“No.” Though hadn’t I been a victim of that with Derrick? “I’ve had exactly three relationships. I’ve decided I just want to have some irresponsible fun and chuck it up to college experience.”
“And I support you one hundred percent.” She shrugged when I stared at her. “That’s just not me. If I screw up just one of my classes, I won’t graduate.”
Because she was a transfer, she’d had to pack her course load to graduate on time this semester.
“Fine, but you’re going to the bonfire with me.” She groaned. “You act like you won’t need a break from that brain of yours. Then one day you’ll look back and regret you didn’t have the college experience.”
“Does that include ho
oking up with some random guy?”
I sat back and gave her the I don’t know look. “Whatever floats your boat? I’m sure Tade could help you in that area.”
She tried to hide a smile; it didn’t work.
“Just admit he’s hot. Heck, I’ll admit they are both smoking hot.”
“So you’re going to do Gavin?”
“Absolutely not.”
She glanced at my hand. “So why are you staring at a shirtless picture of him?”
I’d forgotten about my project and blew out a breath.
“You know I have to come up with a marketing campaign for my senior project.” She silently agreed. “I need to show how sex sells in ads. I need a hot guy—” I glanced up at her, shoving my hair back. “—and girl. And an average-looking guy to prove my theory.”
“And?”
“And he’s the best-looking guy that showed up for my model test.” I pushed at my cheeks, making fish lips. Ugh. “Why me?”
“Use him.”
I glared at her.
“Seriously, this is for graduation. You’re going to make a campaign with a less-convincing guy just because you’re scared?”
There were so many reason why I should stay far away from him.
“You’re right. Unless you can talk to Tade for me.”
She shook her head so hard, her hair tumbled from the knot at the base of her skull. “He’s pissed at me.”
“Yeah, he should be. You need to apologize.”
She slumped in a chair. “I planned to.”
“When?”
“At the bonfire.”
I grinned. She’d turned the tables on me.
“And when are you going to tell Gavin you need him?” she added.
That was a loaded question, though I was sure she didn’t get her double meaning.
“Right now.”
I wasn’t a coward, and I needed him to graduate. I sent him a text. When he didn’t respond immediately, I tossed my phone on the coffee table my feet were propped up on. I got up and headed to the bathroom.
“Where are you going?”
“To take a shower.” And a cold one, I thought.
Gavin was temptation times a thousand. If I sat there waiting for him to reply, I would end up replying as soon as he did, and for whatever game he was playing, I needed distance to make him sweat a little. Plus, thinking about the way he’d turned my body into an inferno by just kissing me, I so needed to cool off.
The library was quiet, which was why I’d chosen it as a meeting place. It was neutral ground and a place Gavin couldn’t bait me into anything. The guy had a magic mouth, from words to kissing.
He’d returned my text last night, but refused to agree unless I met him in person. So here I was standing near a table on the second floor, waiting on him.
I resorted to texting him to ask where he was. It was already five minutes past our meeting time.
Gavin: In the back corner.
I turned around and stared at the stacks through narrowed eyes. Here I thought that I’d held the advantage. Match point to him. I’d set the location, but he’d set the stage.
Pivoting on my heel, I marched in that direction. One side held a wall of windows, so the opposite with a secluded corner would be his choice.
I’d just stepped to the end of a stack when he snagged my arm and tugged me into an alcove I hadn’t known existed.
When I gasped, his finger came up and covered my lips to silence me.
“Shh,” he said.
How was it possible for someone shushing you to be sexy?
“So what was it you wanted to ask me?”
His eyes glittered and he knew his question was rhetorical. I glared through narrowed eyes at his blue ones. In the shadowy alcove, his appeared to have a growing storm in them.
“You know what I want.”
That came out way too breathy. Then again, his face was mere inches from mine. His lips were so close that if I stuck out my tongue, I could taste him.
“And what do I get in return?”
I placed my hands on his chest, prepared to push him back. We needed distance—or rather, I did. Instead, I felt the hard planes of his pecs and I had to stop myself from feeling around. I managed a weak shove. He gave in and stood straight with a damn smirk on his face. He knew I’d done nothing to push him away. He loomed over me, making me feel small. It was bad enough I was on the shorter side. Standing next to him, I felt positively tiny.
“Fifty dollars, that’s what I’m paying.”
For three models, it was a lot from my bank account. I’d wanted to buy something else with that money, but graduating was more important than the sex toy guaranteed to get you off, a less humiliating way to find out if I was broken down there.
“I don’t want your money.”
I blinked up at him, unsure where he was going with that comment. “What do you want?”
A grin curled on his lips in a way that told me I would be in so much trouble after his answer. “I want you. One night.”
I gaped at him. “You think I’ll sleep with you for your picture?”
I shoved off the wall he’d caged me in, prepared to leave. I’d beg Tade to do it.
Gavin stopped and pulled me back. “One night out with me and I’ll take my clothes off for you.”
A laugh escaped me and I hid my true feelings with an eye roll. “You are so full of yourself,” I said.
“And you need me. Me and you, one night. That’s all I ask.”
I folded my arms across my chest, feeling my nipples tighten in anticipation of all the things that could happen short of sex in one night. “I’m not kissing you. I’m not touching you.” He chuckled. “And you can’t do that to me, either.”
“Fine. I won’t unless you beg me to.”
I jabbed a finger into his center mass. “You are an egotistic—”
He took my wrist and lifted my finger to his lips. “You’re putting up too much of a fight for something we both know you want.”
The tip of my finger ended up between his teeth. His tongue flicked over the tip, feather light, before he released it and my hand.
I kept my finger raised. “One night. And I’m not spending it in your room. You can take me on a proper date.” His brow arched. “Those are my terms.”
Then I dropped my hand. My finger still tingled from his touch. Had to be from the mint his breath smelled like, because how else could his tongue make my finger tingle? I imagined what it would feel like if he went down on me.
“Tonight,” he said, his voice rough like he was envisioning the same things I was.
I pulled at the hem of my shirt, trying to keep my hands off him. I wanted to see his chest again. When he’d taken his shirt off at the model test, I had to bite my tongue to keep from drooling.
“I have to study.”
His hand landed on the wall, cutting off my escape. When he spoke, I faced him again. “Tonight or never.”
I opened my mouth to tell him off, but shut it. I had to remember that he was doing me a favor. Begging Tade felt like a better option, but if he said no, Gavin could tell me no, too, or up the ante.
“Fine. Eight o’clock.”
Though I didn’t rush, I ducked his arm and fled. My heart raced because as much as I hated to admit it, the boy gave me butterflies and damn crickets. My heartbeat chirped like sunset had fallen as blood rushed through my veins.
How would I survive one night alone with him?
15
gavin
To what end or purpose had me waiting for Megan to take her on a date? A date? When had I ever taken a girl out? Never.
I rubbed at my jaw, considering sending her a text and calling this off. Yes, I wanted her, but having and wanting were two different things.
She appeared through the archway, walking down the path to my truck. She wore jeans and a top that covered most of her. The coat she wore covered the rest. So why did I find her so fucking sexy, even more so th
an I did when I’d seen her in short dresses?
Shit, I probably should have gotten out the car or something. Her smile had frozen my brain. I reached over and opened the door just as she was reaching for it.
“Hey,” she said. Though she sported a grin, she sounded almost shy.
I nodded at her and waited for her to buckle in before I drove off.
“So you’re not going to speak to me?”
What the fuck was I supposed to say? Seeing her all lovely had me tongue tied. If she’d come in and told me we weren’t going to have sex, that would have been material I could work with.
“Are you warm enough?”
Her smile flattened. Instead of answering my question, she asked me one. “Are you going to be a donkey’s butt all night?”
Damn, I’d fucked up when my question had come out sounding sarcastic. She thought I was talking about all her layers, but I’d wanted to know if I should turn up the heat in the car. But what had she called me?
“Donkey’s butt?”
She gave me a casual shrug of her shoulders. “I don’t curse.”
That made me laugh out loud. When she only glared at me, I was more puzzled than ever by her. It had started as a challenge. Though I wanted to bang her, was that all? It didn’t feel like it. I shook my head knowing that’s all I could ever have.
“No, you’re not going to take me back?” she asked.
“What?”
Had she been talking?
“I said you might as well take me back if you’re going to be a pile of poo all night.”
Pile of poo? I chuckled again. “Is there something wrong with saying shit?”
She studied me before answering.
“No, but why curse when it’s not necessary? People say it far too much and it loses its impact.”
I gave her a quick glance. “And you think people will take you seriously when you say pile of poo?”
“That’s the thing; I don’t say things to impress other people. I have to live my life with no regrets. If I choose to say poo—” I waited for her to say, shit. “—instead of the other thing, it’s my right. I don’t need you judging me.”
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