Dirty Bad Boys Box Set: Forbidden Romance Collection

“Uh-huh, like this morning?”

“I live at Charlie’s, it’s not my fault I overheard your dilemma.”

Her shoulders slump, relaxing her body as she continues to lean on me for support. “What’s wrong with us?” she asks. “We’re sitting in a jail cell, wet and covered in sand, laughing about how I almost got pregnant to a voyeuristic nympho, and how you’re a rebound hunter who’s a momma’s boy.”

It is funny. I don’t know why. The two of us laugh continuously until we hear someone clear their throat. Charlie’s standing on the other side of the cell along with the police officer. She’s dressed in her yoga pants and a T-shirt that reads, ‘This is my mom shirt,’ and fittingly it’s covered in something orange. I look down and notice her hand is blue. How odd. With her arms folded, the creases in her forehead stare back at me, along with her eyes which make her look ready to strangle my neck. She hands the police officer an envelope. He removes the keys from his waist belt and opens the door, allowing us to leave.

“Hey cuz,” I tread carefully. “Thanks for bailing me out.”

“Hey bestie,” Kate repeats in a sweet tone, attempting to kiss Charlie’s ass. “Thanks for bailing me out, too.”

There’s growling, louder than the sound of wolves, coming from Charlie. Lex is standing in the foyer, trying to keep a straight face. I want to laugh, but both Kate and I know better than to anger the beast even further.

Charlie refuses to comment, turning around until we scurry behind her and follow them outside the building and into the parking lot.

The car ride home is quiet, soft tunes playing through the speakers as Lex speeds along the freeway.

I lean forward, resting my chin on Charlie’s chair to catch her attention. “So you’re not going to talk to us?”

She remains quiet, purposely moving her head toward the window.

“You can’t avoid me forever,” I say nicely.

“I asked you to do one thing,” she says, livid, seething through her teeth.

“It’s not entirely his fault,” Kate jumps in. “It was my idea. You can blame me.”

“You don’t need to defend him, Kate. He’s a big boy,” Charlie argues back.

I turn to look at Kate, who’s shrugging her shoulders at me. Aside from my mom, who’s a relatively laid back woman, I’ve never had to answer to anybody.

As much as I love Charlie, I can tell we’re going to butt heads very soon, like in minutes.

“It’s just so…” Charlie bellows, “… irresponsible! I’m not even going to ask about the nudity part. You were both drunk. Swimming in the ocean. God knows what could have happened to the both of you! Haven’t you ever watched Baywatch? There are no lifeguards at night to save you. David Hasselhoff needs his sleep, you know.”

Baywatch? What the hell is she going on about?

“It’s not like you can talk,” I argue back. “When you were fifteen, you got busted doing the same thing with that boy you always hung around.”

Her head snaps my way, eyes like daggers.

Crap.

Lex interrupts our conversation. “What boy?”

Kate mumbles under her breath, “Here we go. I can’t believe you mentioned another guy.”

“I don’t know. Some boy she always hung around who everyone thought was her boyfriend,” I say out loud.

“I wasn’t naked,” Charlie disagrees, keeping her tone pleasant.

“According to the town gossip you were.”

“The town gossip is your mother!” she responds, this time in a huff.

“Well, maybe so. But here you are, quick to scold us for our ‘irresponsible’ behavior, yet you did the same thing. And much younger, I might add. You weren’t even of legal age.”

Lex grips onto the steering wheel tight, turning his head to question Charlie, ignoring both me and Kate. “So you skinny dipped with what’s his face, yet in Cabo when I asked you, you got all prudish on me?”