She sucks on a cigarette, her slight body leaning against a brick wall. Her black boots are scuffed, her skirt almost non-existent, and her cleavage dips low. She’s badass, she’s fierce, and every time she climbs into a car with a guy, my stomach drops to my feet.
“Believe it, kid,” she whispers conspiratorially, leaning toward me. “Trust in the demon. The demon watching over you and me.” She winks. “Because it sure ain’t no angel.”
~ Jesse
Chapter Ten
Jesse
Absently twisting the leather band on my wrist, I lean back on the wall outside Damage Control and pretend I’m resting my eyes.
Not watching the street like a hawk, waiting for Amber to show up.
Maybe she changed her mind. I wouldn’t blame her one fucking bit. What the hell was I thinking when I suggested this idiotic plan? I wasn’t thinking, that’s the problem. Or thinking with my dick and that cold space inside my chest that feels warm when she’s around.
Fuck.
Besides, how will it help if she’s with me? Short of handing my money over to her, I don’t see how I’ll be convinced to spend it, and I’m not handing my money to anyone, not even to pretty, grumpy girls. So, what the fuck, right? I should turn around and leave.
But I don’t move, instead checking the street obsessively, tapping a rhythm with the heel of my boot on the wall and humming a song I hardly recall under my breath.
Until she appears.
A blue summer dress hugs her curves and she wears leather sandals that lace up to her knees. Her toenails are also painted a light blue, and goddamn, it’s sexy. She’s sexy. With those curves trying to burst through the cloth, her dark hair pinned up and her mouth in a small pout, she’s enough to make me forget my doubts.
Hell, if she asked for my money, I’d pass her my wallet right now, I wouldn’t even care.
Did I mention she’s dangerous? I have to fight to catch my breath as she approaches me and that small pouts turns into a hesitant smile. My jeans are fast growing too tight over my hardening dick, and for the first time since I can remember myself, I’d give my right arm to kiss a girl.
This girl. Only this girl.
Jesus F. Christ.
“Ready?” She adjusts the strap of her leather bag on her shoulder. “We’ve got a bus to catch.”
“Where are we going?” I start after her as she makes a beeline for the bus stop, fascinated by the sway of her ass and her swinging ponytail. It catches the sunlight, breaking into strands of ebony, auburn, copper and gold.
But fuck, that ass…
“It’s a shop Kayla told me about,” she says, “run by a friend of hers. Trust me, it will be good.”
“How so? Have you ever been there? Have you seen their stock?”
“No.” She throws a smile over her shoulder at me, and I hastily look away from her sexy backside. “But I’ve seen photos. And I trust Kayla.”
“You hardly know her!”
Yet that smile stays with me, breaking down my resistance as I jog to keep up.
“Ev vouched for her before I moved into the apartment, and despite some weird glitches in the Matrix, she seems very nice.”
I chuckle. What a strange girl. “What about you? Do they have girly clothes there, too?”
“Girly.” She makes a face as she checks the bus timetable. “If you mean women’s clothes, yes, they do, and no, I still don’t know what to wear. This sucks.”
“I’ll make sure you have fun this time at the reception,” I tell her back, studying the light spattering of freckles on her shoulders. “You’ll see.”
She turns around, her mouth opening in a startled “o,” but she says nothing, and I wonder why. One thing’s for sure: I’d love a glimpse inside her mind. I bet it’s just as devastatingly complex and beautiful as the rest of