“You don’t have a problem with me dating her?”
He shook his head. “I ain’t her fuckin’ dad. I’m not even really her uncle. But I care about her. Known her since she was little. Figure you’re teenagers. Gonna do whatever the fuck you wanna do anyway. Least I should do is make sure you can take her out and shit.”
I wasn’t quite sure I believed that explanation.
“Although, you ever fucking hurt her, I will kill you.” The casual way he tossed out the threat made me believe it.
“I’d never hurt her.”
“Sometimes we can’t help hurting the ones we love the most,” he said in a low voice I barely made out over the noise in the parking lot.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Dex. Juliet and I just met.”
“Doesn’t matter. Sometimes you just know.”
An uncomfortable sensation rolled through my chest. Juliet was the one for me. Knew it the second I met her. My rational brain knew that was crazy, but the rest of me, didn’t care.
Dex saw it too and didn’t think I was crazy?
He handed over a card with a name and address.
“What’s Crystal Ball?” The address was way the fuck down in the city of Empire. Not sure how he expected me to find my way there.
“Club owned by my MC. Come down and see me. I’ll find you some work.”
“Uh,” I hesitated and considered handing the card back. “Whatever the job is, it has to be legal and I have to get it approved by my caseworker. Plus, I have no way to get there.”
He stared at me for a second. “You always such a rule-follower, Roman?”
“No, but I’m not really in a position to do anything about it, unless I want to get moved to another home, which I’d rather avoid.”
He nodded as if he approved of my answer. “You’re awfully level-headed for your age.”
“Sometimes.”
“Give me a time to come up with another lead. In the meantime do me a favor.”
Finally, the reason he came to see me. I lifted my chin and waited for him to continue.
“Look out for Juliet. Her uncle’s nastier than ever. Make sure everything’s okay there. If it’s not, let me know and I’ll handle him.”
“I noticed he’s a prick. You think he’d hurt her?”
“Don’t know. Not sure she’d tell me if he did.”
“But you think she’ll tell me?”
“If she trusts you.”
He picked his helmet up off the seat of his bike and strapped it on.
“Wait,” I said. “When’s her birthday?” It had been bugging me all night that I didn’t know.
Dex smirked and gave me the date which was three weeks from today. That made her younger than me by about eight months.
“My cell’s on the back of that card,” he said. “Call me if she needs anything.”
As if he just thought of it, he reached into the pocket of his leather vest and pulled out a silver flip phone. “It’s nothing fancy, but if you need to get a hold of me, or if she needs you, use it.”
Phones, or any electronics besides small MP3 players were strictly forbidden. Plenty of kids at the home had contraband phones. I’d considered it myself once or twice, except who the fuck was I gonna call? I had no brothers or sisters I wanted to keep in touch with. No parents. The risk of getting in trouble seemed pointless. But now I had Juliet, and Dex was right. If she needed me, I wanted her to be able to reach me. I didn’t enjoy taking charity from anyone, but it would be stupid to turn it down.
“Thanks. Appreciate it.”
He shook my hand again before taking off. I made sure the phone was turned off and slipped it in my bag before going inside.
“Morning, stranger,” Juliet greeted me at our locker. A teasing smile played over her lips. She was wearing the jacket Dex gave her yesterday and a pair of brown leather boots.
“Dex give you a ride?” I asked.
She blinked. “How’d you know?”
I nodded at her jacket. “The outfit. And the fact that he was outside waiting to talk to me.”
“He what?”
“It’s cool. He said he might be able to help me find a job.”
“Why? So you’re too busy to spend time with me?”
I snorted and emptied my backpack into our locker, pulling out the books and notebook I’d need for first period. “I think he just doesn’t want you dating a bum.”
I was staring right at her when I said it, so I didn’t miss the way her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. Or the way her cheeks turned an even deeper shade of pink. “Are we dating?” she whispered.
The air in my lungs vanished and my stomach bottomed out. Did I move too fast?
I closed the locker door with a quiet metallic click and braced my hand against the cool metal, thinking of how to answer.
“Roman?” she prodded.
Finally I met her troubled blue eyes and let it all out. “I don’t have anything to offer you, Juliet. Not a penny to my name to give you the things you deserve. My time’s regulated more than an inmate. Can’t spend hours online with you or even call you without someone listening in on our conversation. Got no car or way to take you out—”
“Stop.”
“Don’t have a family to introduce you to,” I continued.
“Roman, I don’t care.”
“You deserve more.”
“So do you.”
Do I?
I hated dwelling on it, but living in the system for so long left me bitter, jaded, and full of anger. I hadn’t done anything wrong to be placed in foster care, but I’ve been treated like a criminal since I was seven years old. Eventually you start believing maybe you deserved your shitty life and weren’t worthy of a better one.
Our eyes locked and to my utter shock, she placed her hand on my chest, over my heart. Blood thundered through my veins. My heart was literally in the palm of her hand and I wondered if she could feel it practically jumping out of my chest.
Looking up at me through her lashes, she raised up on her tiptoes and leaned up, softly pressing her lips against mine.
Sweet, beautiful, mercy she was so soft and shy. It took everything I had not to grab her and devour her completely. She trembled as she opened her mouth against mine, running her tongue over my bottom lip. She tasted like cinnamon and crisp spring air.
I snapped. The attraction that had been building between us for days flared like a lit match. I captured her lips with mine and swept my tongue inside her mouth. Tasting and teasing her. She moaned, the soft vibration firing me up even more.
“Roman.” Either she whispered my name or thought it. We were so entwined I wasn’t sure where I ended and she began.
My cock jerked against my zipper so hard, it shook me from head to toe. I framed her face with my hands, holding her still for more kisses. She fell into me, pushing her perfect tits tight against my chest. Fuck, I wanted to sneak a hand up under her shirt and run my thumb over one nipple.
She smelled so damn good. I wanted her scent embedded in my clothes and skin so everyone knew I was hers.
“Yeah, dawg. Get some!” A kid shouted.
As quickly as it started, our kiss was over. I pulled back enough to lean my forehead against hers and whisper, “I want to do that again, Juliet. Soon. And often. But not here.”
She closed her eyes tightly, her lips curving up with happiness, relief, or satisfaction, I wasn’t sure.
That kiss was a cataclysmic shift in our relationship. We were no longer locker buddies or new friends getting to know each other.
We were soul mates.
Deep, deep down, my heart twisted with anguish. Nothing good had ever come from caring for someone before. I wasn’t sure I even knew how. And even if I learned how to love someone.
I always lost them anyway.
Thirteen
Juliet
Who knew one little kiss could devastate and electrify you at the same time?
For the rest of the day, I floated through school on a cloud.