With a light chuckle, I dropped into my seat and fired up the engine.
FIVE
LEON
Fucking unhealthy, my ass. The only thing unhealthy around here was the size of the chip on that chick’s shoulder. I watched as she revved the engine and sped away, leaving a cloud of exhaust fumes in her wake. Reaching down to adjust my semi, I felt my lips twitch when I thought of Lissa’s hands on my dick. Not gonna lie, I was pretty surprised it hadn’t frozen solid and snapped the fuck off.
Don’t get me wrong, the girl was smokin’. Her face? Fucking flawless. Aqua blue eyes that tilted up at a little at the edge and gave her a slightly exotic look. Porcelain skin, sleek blonde hair. And that body? A straight up ten. Plus, an extra point for the perfection that was her ass. Walking behind her across the parking lot afforded me the kind of unobstructed view guys dreamed about: two peachy globes you could bounce a quarter off of swathed in tight grey leggings that left little to the imagination. She had my dick all sorts of stirred up, which wasn’t necessarily unusual.
The problem wasn’t with the way she looked. It was the fact she was a certified psycho who fucking hated my guts. The vitriol she spewed my way daily attested to that. Never had figured out exactly what I’d done to incite her hatred. I’d asked her a couple of years back what it was about me that pissed her off so much. She’d said my face. Since there wasn’t a lot I could do about that, I’d left her to it. It hadn’t stopped me jacking off to thoughts of her on occasion, though. I’d bet my left nut every guy at Claremont had stroked one out while picturing that tight ass at least once.
But that was as close to tapping it as any of us would ever get.
Lissa gave less than zero fucks about the usual stuff most girls tripped out over; fuck all impressed her. She didn’t give off those come rescue me with your dick vibes, either. Her vibe was more like come near me, and I’ll stick a skewer through your ball sack. Wasn’t worth the aggro.
But the snow queen had just gone and called my dick average. Fucking average? I gripped my hips and gave my head a light shake. Bullshit.
Now, I had a point to prove, and a mission to make the girl eat her fucking words. Preferably along with my dick. I stood in the same spot for a few seconds, a slow grin working its way over my face. Not sure why; no fucking way would this end well.
My phone vibrated against my hip and I slid it out of my pocket, clamping it to my ear with a muttered, “Yo.”
“Where the fuck are you?” Ren clipped. He’d had a hell of a time of it the past few months, so I took his shit like a champ. Plus, I was late as fuck because I’d spent the past twenty minutes ogling Liss’ ass, so…
“Heading to the truck as we speak.” I spun on my heel, flipping my keys around my finger as I walked back toward my truck. “You still at the garage?”
“Yeah. Waiting on your late ass.”
He’d been spending more and more time there lately. It wasn’t just about learning the ropes anymore. He used to work weekends and holidays, but since everything went to shit, he’d been opting to go to the garage instead of class a couple of days a week. Made sense. Graduation was only a couple of months away, and Ren already knew what he’d be doing after school let out. We’d both be sticking around here for the foreseeable.
My uncle was the foreman for a local construction company, and my mother had taken it upon herself to arrange for me to spend the summer working for him to get some experience, citing the fact I lacked direction. The plan—hers—was for me to do an apprenticeship while I got my qualifications at the community college in Richmond.
Her hard-earned cash was no longer good for my less than stellar habits, and now I was living alone in a trailer and cut off. If I wanted to smoke weed and kill my brain cells—her words—I’d have to pay for that shit myself. Or blackmail Jackson Bateman and get some free of charge. The woman underestimated my resourcefulness.
“Be there in a couple of minutes. Why? Got somewhere you need to be? I can just drop this stuff off at your place if I’m holding you up.” I jumped into the truck and hit the speaker button on the phone before tossing it into the cup holder.
“I can wait. Your mom cave yet?”
“Hell no,” I muttered, peering into the rear-view, and teasing the tips of my hair with my fingers. “She’s serious as a heart attack. Had a suitcase full of my shit waiting with your duffle when I dropped by this morning to grovel. She wouldn’t even hear me out. When I texted earlier, asking what time dinner was, she basically told me to fuck off and fend for myself. The woman won’t even feed me now. Chips and dips for dinner tonight. Fucking yum. Got enough for two, if you’re interested?”
A low laugh sounded. “Tempting as that sounds, count me out. Got plans.”
I snorted, my eyes dipping to the phone. “Had plans last night, too, didn’t you?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, studying.”
I grinned, hitting the brake as I slid the truck into an open spot on the street opposite the garage. “Yeah, I saw your study partner bolting through the park like a fucking cat burglar. Went well, did it, the study session?”
“Just ask what you want to ask, Le,” Ren said, frustration bleeding into his tone.
I rolled my eyes. This was a conversation best had face to face. “I’m out front. Come get your shit.”
Kicking the door open, I got out of the truck and opened the rear passenger door, then leaned in and grabbed the holdall filled with the stuff Ren had left behind at my place. I turned to see him jog across the street with his coveralls tied around his waist and oil streaks painting his worn vest.
“Mother dearest said you can go back anytime. It’s just the people she shares blood lines with that she tosses out onto the street,” I said and passed him the bag.
He smirked as he took it, letting it hang by his side. “You’re hardly fucking homeless. I don’t even know what you’re whining about; you’re at the trailer every weekend, anyway.”
I rubbed a hand over my jaw and nodded slowly. “Yeah. Trashed the place last weekend, though. She’s pissed about that, too. I’ve got to live in my own squalor or clean it myself. Apparently, there’s a lesson in there somewhere. Fuck if I know what it is. If I find out, I’ll let you know. Might starve to death first.”