“What’s it worth?”
I slammed the palm of my hand on the steering wheel, getting sick and fuckin' tired of Jord’s game tonight. “What do you want?”
“Your Mustang for two days.”
“No,” I ground out. “Nice fuckin' try, Jord, but not in this lifetime.”
“Was worth a try, huh?”
“Yeah.” I chuckled and slowed down as I got closer to the apartment complex I was staying at. “You can try all you want. Ain’t no way you’re ever getting your hands on my baby.”
“Whatever.” He cleared his throat. “Girl is Jenna Ford—”
“Did you just say Ford? As in, the guy who just pointed a gun at me?” I glanced in the rearview mirror, driving around the block once more to make sure I hadn’t been followed back here. The last thing I needed was to be watched while I was watching someone else.
“He drew his weapon?” Jord practically shouted.
“Calm down,” I warned him. “I’ll fill you all in properly next week, in the meantime, who the hell is this girl?”
“Dunno.” Keys clicked in the background. “I’ll do some research, but if they have the same surname then they’re related, right?”
“Right.” I pulled into the lot and parked toward the back. “The way he was acting makes sense now. And I’m guessing that Hut either doesn’t know about her, or he knows too much about her.”
“Does this mean Ford is a problem?”
“No.” I shook my head and turned the engine off. “This means he just became an asset.”
* * *
LOLA
We had a tradition every spring that we never forgot about, no matter how bad things got. On the first day of April, we cleared out the small back yard, scrubbed the grill, and had a cookout. Friends from the neighborhood were invited, and we ate and drank, and had fun.
This wasn’t the normal party that Hut threw—this was different. It was about friendship and having a good time without getting absolutely shit-faced. Of course, drugs were in the house and consumed, but people put a limit on themselves—the only time they ever did.
I wondered whether it would happen this year, but when I woke up, and Hut was scrubbing the grill outside, I nearly broke my face with my grin. There were many memories I remembered, both good and bad, but this one was always good. I could even remember my dad being sober one year, and that was a miracle in itself.
Hut gave me money and Ford drove me to the store where I got all our usual food along with some extras to try something new. We were back at the house prepping meat before I knew it.
“Grill’s all set,” Hut announced, walking into the kitchen with his arms caked in dirt. “I cleaned off the chairs and table out there too.”
“Awesome.” I looked back at the meat I was mixing for the burger patties and glanced back up at him. “You should get a shower before people start getting here.”
His lips quirked, reminding me so much of the fun-loving teenager that he used to be. “That right?” He stepped forward. “Maybe I wanna stay dirty.”
My smile dropped, my hands stilling in the meat. To anyone else, it would have been a few innocent words, but that wasn’t how he meant them, and I knew it. I used to play pretend and act like I didn’t know what he meant, but I couldn’t do that anymore. Not after last year.
The breath whooshed out of me in a rush as I stared at his hazel eyes. What I thought would be a day to forget everything and just be the way we used to, was vanishing before my very eyes.
“I’m joking, Lola.”
I chuckled, but it was forced, and he knew it. “I know.” I lifted my fingers out of the meat and moved to the sink.
“You know—”
“Hey, Hut?” Ford called from the living room. “We need some more beer.”
Hut huffed and stomped into the other room, leaving me on my own to prep the food. I didn’t mind doing it, and if it meant being away from him for a while, then I’d stay in this kitchen for as long as possible. Anything to keep me from remembering that night and what he’d tried to do.