Hood Rat

by Geri Glenn

  When he tears his mouth away, he drops his forehead to mine and sighs. “Jesus. What are you doing to me?”

  I grin. “I don’t know, but whatever it is, I hope I don’t stop.”

  Tripp chuckles. “Me too.”

  We stand that way for several moments, our arms wrapped around each other with our foreheads pressed together, our breaths mingling in the limited space between us.

  “What did he want?” I ask, pulling back just enough to stare into Tripp’s eyes.

  “You,” he says with a hint of frustration. “He kept saying you were his fiancée, and demanded to speak with you.”

  I try to envision Benjamin staring down Tripp, but I can’t picture it at all. “You didn’t beat him up, did you?”

  Tripp barks out a laugh, his head falling back. “No, but fuck me, I wanted to. That guy’s a total dick. How did you end up with him?”

  I look away, ashamed. “Because I was told I had to,” I admit.

  “Do you want to see him again?”

  My head snaps up. “No! Benjamin isn’t the man I thought he was. And how did he even know about you in the first place?”

  “My guess? He’s been having you followed.”

  My scalp prickles at the thought. “I…Ew.”

  Tripp watches me, seeming to gauge my reaction. “That guy’s not right, Georgia. I want you to be careful, okay?”

  I nod, still trying to understand why Benjamin would care so much about me leaving him. It’s not like there weren’t a ton of money-hungry women just waiting in the wings to take my place.

  “There’s one more thing,” he says, this time looking uncertain himself. “I may have told him that we had sex last night.”

  My face turns molten. “You what?”

  He cups my face in his hands. “I’m sorry. I know it was stupid, but the guy was standing there, trying to lay claim to you and I just…I just wanted to make sure he knew he didn’t stand a chance.”

  That gives me pause. “You were jealous?” I can’t help the tiny spark of satisfaction that runs through me.

  Tripp’s eyes bore into mine, and my entire body begins to buzz. “Definitely,” he murmurs, claiming my mouth with his.

  His admission excites me almost as much as his kiss does. Almost.

  “What do you say we christen this new bedroom of yours?”

  I reach for the button on his jeans. “I say get your pants off.”

  TRIPP

  “Pizza’s ready!” Georgia calls from the kitchen, and as I stand, Max just about plows me over.

  Georgia’s been here every day for the past two weeks, and it’s clear that Max is falling in love with her almost as fast as I am. It only took Hailey a few days to warm up to her, and now I find myself having to compete with my siblings for Georgia’s attention. Well, all of them, except Carter.

  As I walk into the kitchen, Georgia is placing a slice of Max’s cheese pizza onto a plate for him. “Do you want juice, milk, or water?” she asks, as Max takes the plate from her hands.

  “Milk, please,” Max replies.

  I lean against the doorframe and watch the flurry of activity as everyone grabs their pizza and moves to sit at the table. When Georgia turns her attention to me, I can’t help but think how happy she looks in this moment.

  “One slice or two?” she asks.

  “Two.” As she reaches for the pizza, a plate already in hand, I come up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. Her hair is pulled back into a high ponytail, giving me the perfect access to the spot below her ear that seems to drive her wild.

  “Tripp, the kids,” she laughs, giving a half-hearted attempt at wiggling out of my grasp.

  I look over at the table to find Max watching us with curiosity. Hailey smirks. “Close your eyes,” I tell them.

  Georgia giggles when Max obeys immediately, but Hailey only raises a brow. “I tried,” I whisper into her ear.

  She turns her head to the side and catches my lips. “Later,” she whispers back, and never before has the word filled me with so much anticipation.

  “Hello? Fletchers?” I pull away from Georgia just as Zack strolls into the kitchen. “Hell yeah! Pizza.”

  “There’s plenty,” Georgia tells him, already reaching for a plate.

  “Thanks, gorgeous.” He leans in to press a kiss to her cheek. Seeing my glare, he throws his head back and laughs. “Relax, lover boy. I’m not trying to steal your woman.”

  I narrow my eyes, half joking, and that just makes him laugh harder. “Speaking of gorgeous women…” He takes the plate from Georgia and directs his question at her. “Is your friend Janet seeing anyone?”

  “Janet?” She sounds almost as surprised as I am.

  Zack loves women in all shapes and sizes, but I never imagined he’d be interested in someone like Janet. She’s nice, quiet, and good. She’s basically the exact opposite of Zack.

  “Um…n-no,” Georgia sputters. “No, she’s not seeing anyone.”

  Zack grins and pulls out his phone. “Good. What’s her number?”

  Georgia nibbles on her lip. “Um…I don’t know if Janet would be happy with me if I gave you her number.”

  Zack frowns. “Why the hell not? I’m a total catch. I’m hot, and all women love me.”

  Georgia nods. “And that might end up being the problem. Janet isn’t like that, Zack. Janet’s…different.”

  All humor in the room disappears as Zack’s eyes grow serious. “I know she is, and that’s why I need her number.”

  Georgia considers that before finally reaching for his phone and programming in the number. “If you hurt her, I’ll cut your balls off and feed them to you on a pizza all your own.”

  Laughter bursts from my throat, but Zack’s face twists in disgust. “Jesus, Tripp. Did you realize your woman is a fucking psychopath?”

  I wrap my arm around her neck and press a kiss to the top of her head. “Nope, but I kinda like it.”

  Zack considers that and shrugs, lifting the pizza to his mouth and taking a giant bite. “Me too,” he says around his mouthful. “Me too.”

  Sixteen

  Georgia

  Hands on the mattress, knees spread wide, I take every inch of Tripp’s cock as he drives it into me from behind.

  “Fuck, babe,” he grunts. “You’re so fucking tight.”

  I don’t answer. I can’t. All I can do is thrust back, slamming my ass against his hips, forcing him to drive into me deeper and harder with every thrust. When his fingers find the swollen nub between my legs, I’m lost.

  Every thought in my mind is gone, and all that’s left is Tripp and what he does to my body. The way he plays me like the finest violin. The way he can intoxicate me with just one tender touch.

  As my body shudders around him, I know without a doubt that Tripp is it for me. I know it’s all so fast. I know that we barely know each other, and I don’t plan to tell him my little secret anytime soon, that I’m falling hopelessly, head over heels in love with Tripp Fletcher.

  When our bodies have settled and our breathing has returned to normal, we cling to one another in Tripp’s bed, my body draped over his. “Do you ever think about the future?” I ask, swirling my finger in tiny circles in the center of his chest.

  “Sometimes,” he admits. “Though, I think your idea of a future and mine are likely very different.”

  I raise my head and look at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

  Tripp sighs. “It’s like you come from this world where you can be anything you want to be. You can get into college. You can get that great job and fancy house, and the two point five kids. It’s not like that for me.”

  I consider that. “I know it’s not the same,” I tell him. “But that doesn’t mean it’s hopeless for someone like you, just harder. You don’t seem like the type of guy to back down from a challenge.”

  Tripp chuckles. “No, I guess not.”

  “So what would you do? If you could do anything you wanted with your life, what w
ould you want to do?”

  Tripp skims his fingers along my forearm and back up again. “I’ve always wanted to become a paramedic,” he replies. “I even applied for a diploma program at the community college a couple of years ago and got accepted, but I just couldn’t do it. Between taking care of the kids, and working odd jobs to pay the bills, it just wasn’t possible.”

  Dropping my head, I press a kiss to his chest, just above his heart. “Why a paramedic?”

  Tripp sighs and stares up at the ceiling, his fingers tracing absent designs along my spine. “I watched a child die once. He was just four years old and I tried to save him, Georgia. I tried so fucking hard, but I couldn’t.”

  My heart clenches as he speaks, and I scoot closer, somehow knowing that he’s never really talked much about this before.

  “I see that kid in my dreams almost every night, and every night I try to save him, but I always fail, over and over again.”

  “You can’t save him now, Tripp,” I say softly. “Even if you were a paramedic, that boy is gone.”

  “I won’t be able to save him, but I could save someone else.”

  For the first time since I’ve met him, I see a desire for something other than me in his eyes. A desire to reach for his goals. A desire to be a better person than the amazing man he already is.

  “I love you, Tripp,” I whisper. When his body locks tight, I realize what I’d just said and freeze. He opens his mouth to speak, but I fling my hand out, pressing it against his mouth. “Oh my God,” I say. “I…oh, God. Tripp, don’t say anything. I’m so sorry. It just kind of came out, and I swear I’m not crazy, and I don’t expect you to say it back. Just forget I even said it, okay?”

  Tripp’s fingers wrap around my wrist and pulls my hand away from his lips. “Georgia, breathe.”

  “Oh, God,” I groan again, turning to flop back onto the mattress with my hands covering my face.

  “Georgia.” I spread my fingers to peek out at him. “I know what you mean because I feel it too. Maybe it’s too soon to say love, maybe it isn’t. But whatever it is, I’m right there with you.”

  Heat floods my chest as I realize what he’s just said. He loves me too…he thinks.

  TRIPP

  I walk into the kitchen around midnight to get a drink of water, and that’s where I find Carter. He’s sitting at the kitchen table, his head in his hands, his body shaking with sobs he’s trying so hard to keep quiet.

  “Carter?” I approach him slowly, like he’s some sort of wild animal. “You okay?”

  These past few weeks with my brother have been some of the hardest we’ve ever had together. He’s been angry and volatile, and downright defiant. To say I feel any sympathy for him at the moment may be a bit of a stretch, but he’s my brother, and I love him.

  Carter doesn’t answer. He just folds his arms on the table and drops his face onto them. “Go away,” he says, his voice muffled.

  “Cart, come on, man. Talk to me. Is it Trey? Did something happen?”

  Carter lifts his head from the table, and I take in his tearstained face and black eye. “He’s a bad man, Tripp. You were right.”

  A lump forms in my throat as I drop into the seat beside him. I don’t touch him. I don’t say I told you so. I just sit and wait for him to say what he needs to say.

  “We were down at the corner by the convenience store on Church Street. Trey was sitting in his car, waiting, while I sold what was left of the shipment he’d gotten in last week.”

  My face grows hot. Carter is sixteen fucking years old, and that son of a bitch has him selling fucking crack on the damn street corner.

  “This guy came up to me, and he was tweakin’ bad. Said he’d blow me if I gave him a dime bag. I told him to fuck off, and he dropped to his knees right there on the fucking sidewalk and reached for my pants.” Carter let’s out a shuddering breath. “Dude was big, freakishly strong. He scared the hell out of me. There was no way I was letting him anywhere near my dick, though, so I punched him in the face. Before I knew it, Trey was there with a gun and blew the guy’s brains all over the fucking sidewalk.”

  He chokes out that last part as tears stream down his cheeks. “He fucking killed him, Tripp. Killed him like it was nothing.”

  To Trey, it was nothing. The man is a sociopath.

  “What did you do?”

  Carter scrubs at his tears. “I ran. I didn’t follow Trey. I didn’t stick around for the cops. I just fucking ran, and now I’m here.”

  Oh, shit. “So Trey doesn’t know where you went?”

  Carter’s face falls. “No. He told me to come on, but I turned in the other direction and ran.” For the first time since he started talking, he meets my gaze across the table. “He’s going to kill me, Tripp. Just like he killed that junkie.”

  Extending my arm, I grip Carter’s shoulder and give it a squeeze. “Okay,” I say, my wheels already spinning, trying to come up with any way possible to get him out of this. “Would Trey think you would narc on him? Does he trust you?”

  “He did,” Carter sobs. “But that was before.”

  He holds out a cell phone I never even knew he had. “He’s been calling me every five minutes. He’s pissed. What the hell am I gonna do?”

  “Call him,” I say, finally coming to a decision.

  “What?” Carter stares back at me like I’ve completely lost it. Maybe I have.

  “Call him. Tell him you thought it would be better for you guys to split up. Tell him you’re home and you’ll see him tomorrow.”

  “And will I?” Just the idea of seeing Trey again has my brother’s face twisting with fear. When he looks at me like that, I can easily remember the boy he once was, and how innocent he used to be.

  Decision made, I nod. “I’ll take care of tomorrow. You get him off your back tonight.”

  Carter reaches for the phone. I watch him as he dials the number, and then puts it to his ear. He says everything I told him to say, and Trey’s angry hollers fade with each word he says.

  “Yes,” Carter replies, his eyes darting to me. “I know, Trey.” He listens, then, “Yeah, I’ve got it.” A pause. “Okay. I will.” Another pause. “See you there.”

  Carter ends the call and stares at the phone in his hand like it holds some sort of answer we haven’t thought of yet. “What did he say?”

  Carter swallows. “He said he’d see me tomorrow.”

  Something about the way his eyes shift tells me he’s lying, but this is the most my brother has talked to me in a very long time. I’m not pushing him any further tonight.

  “Go to bed, bud, and get some sleep. We’ll talk more in the morning, okay?”

  Carter nods and stands. “You’re a good brother, Tripp. And I’m sorry I hated on your meatloaf, even though it is kind of shit.”

  I bark out a laugh. “Good night.”

  “Night, Tripp.”

  When I crawl back into bed, I do it thinking about what it’s going to take to get Carter out of that gang and away from Trey. It isn’t going to be easy, but Trey had shown Carter his true colors tonight. Progress is progress.

  Seventeen

  Georgia

  It’s just ten minutes past three in the morning when Tripp’s cell phone screams out into the darkness of his bedroom. Tripp is up and answering it before I’ve even registered what’s going on.

  “Yeah?” I place a hand on his muscled back as he sits at the side of the bed, the phone to his ear. “Fuck,” he mutters. “Be right there. Don’t lose sight of him.”

  “What’s going on?” I ask as he jumps to his feet and begins digging around in the dark to find his clothes.

  “That was Zack.” He turns on the light beside the bed. “Says he just ran into Carter outside of Hendrix Park, high as a kite, beat to hell and scared shitless.”

  I hop out of bed to search for my own clothes. “I thought he was here, in his room?”

  Tripp snorts and yanks his shirt over his head. “You and me both. I talked to him
just a couple of hours ago.” I’m just pulling on my pants when he turns to me and places a hand on my arm. “Look, I don’t want you coming. Stay here. Be in my bed when I get home. There’s no need for you to go around Trey and those other pricks.”

  Straightening, I gaze up at him, my face serious. “I’m coming, Tripp. If Carter’s hurt, and you have to deal with the Vipers, he’s going to need me. And even if he doesn’t, I can’t let you go there and sit around waiting to be sure you’re both okay.”

  I can see the war waging inside his head, just by looking into his stormy blue eyes. Finally, after a few moments of contemplation, he nods.

  The night air is even colder than it was when I’d come here a few hours before, but Tripp’s moving so fast, I don’t have time to even think about it. He rushes down one alley and then another, skipping full city blocks with his knowledge of the layout of this part of town.

  When we come out in front of Hendrix Park, both Tripp and I freeze at the scene in front of us. A group of Vipers stand toe-to-toe with Zack, who doesn’t appear to be fazed in the least. Carter is on the ground behind Zack, his face bloodied and full of fear.

  We don’t discuss it; we just act. Tripp is at Zack’s side in a flash, and I move to Carter, kneeling down beside him to see where he’s hurt.

  “About time you got here,” Trey chuckles, shifting his focus from Zack to Tripp. “Your buddy here was just telling us how easily the two of you could kick our asses. Can you believe that?”

  Carter’s face has been beaten badly. His eyes meet mine, and the fear in them crushes my heart. This poor, foolish kid didn’t know what he’d been getting himself into, but whatever had happened tonight, he’s realized it now.

  “I want him out,” Tripp says from his place in front of me. “No strings, no blowback. Just out, clean and clear.”

  Titters of laughter float on the night air, as if Tripp’s declaration is the funniest thing they’ve heard all day.