“Fine,” I tell him as he finishes with his phone and slips it back into his pocket. “My name is Winter, by the way, not babe, and I can’t have you buy me a pizza and still hold onto your money. That just feels … wrong.”
He shakes his head as a puff of smoke blows out toward my face. “It’s nice to meet you, Winter. Your pizza will be here in ten,” he tells me. “Trust me, I won’t miss the cash. Just keep it, but you have to promise that you’ll spend it the way that I would spend it. It’s only fair.”
He nods back to the party, indicating for me to join him and for some unknown reason, I find myself following along. “Oh, yeah?” I question. “And how’s that?”
Knox grins and looks back at me with a cheesy-as-fuck grin. “Drugs, alcohol, and sex.”
I roll my eyes, wondering if I’ve found my first friend in this shitty over-the-top town. “You’re such a guy,” I tell him as we fall into the crowd.
“There’s no other way to be,” he tells me before grabbing my hand and dragging me toward a bunch of drunk guys who look like trouble. “Now, we’ve got ten minutes to waste, teach me how to lift the way you did.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Okay, but I’m warning you. It’s a fine art, and if you get caught, I had nothing to do with it.”
Knox looks back at me with a wide smile. “Deal.”
I can’t help but laugh at the excitement in his eyes, and for the second time tonight, I find myself thinking that maybe this godforsaken town has more to offer than I realized.
CHAPTER 3
Pushing myself up on my elbows, regret pounds through my head instantly. What the hell was I thinking staying out at that party all night?
I got back home at three in the morning and set off three car alarms on my way, making sure that the neighborhood hated me even more than they already did.
After scarfing down the pizza that Knox so kindly bought me last night, I was going to hit it and quit it. I had a whole plan to get the hell out of there and stock up on food I can hide in my room. Then I was going to crash for the rest of the night.
That didn’t happen because, damn, these Ravenwood Heights kids can party. My throat burns from chain-smoking, or maybe it’s from the constant laughing with Knox. We fucked around all night, and hell, I might even have the courage to say that I made a friend. We didn’t talk to anyone else, just hung out as he told me about the ins and outs of Ravenwood Heights. He warned me not to steal from Carver and his friends, but that was the last he mentioned of them. It killed me all night not to ask, but I have a feeling those are questions I don’t want answered.
I’m sure we would have stayed out longer had the cops not broken up the party, and to be honest, I’m surprised it took so long. We weren’t exactly quiet, and it makes me wonder if bullshit like this happens on the regular. One thing is for sure, knowing that the cops around here are pretty laid back is always a bonus for me. I have a little issue with ending up on the bad side of the police in every single town I’ve stayed in. Hell, it’s part of the reason I’ve been shipped away sometimes.
I clench my eyes, willing the throbbing to ease from my mind, but I’m sure after a hot shower, I’ll be fine. Not wanting to leave my bike behind, I was smart enough to not drink, but the noise and atmosphere have me regretting my choices this morning.
I pull myself out of bed and reach over to silence my old phone. It’s only seven in the morning, but with school starting in less than two hours and having shit to do, I need to get going.
A loud banging on my door rattles the whole frame, and I whip my head around to watch as the door shakes. “Get up,” Irene’s deep tone rumbles through the room. “You have twenty minutes to be out of here. I’m not waiting around for you.”
Fuck.
Her fist bangs against the door, and I groan, wishing for the opportunity to introduce her face to my brass knuckles. “Alright,” I yell back. “I’m coming.”
“Don’t you use that tone with me, young lady. I promise you’ll regret it.”
Yeah, right. I’m sure there’s nothing she could do to me at this point that would really make me regret anything. I’ve already suffered through a million kinds of hell, and this cow has got nothing on the last bitch I was dumped with. Though, to be fair, I really made her earn her check every month.