Page 66 of Reckless
“What you’re saying is, you want me to lie to your mother and Oliver so you can get frisky with your freaks?” Funny how Jacob refused to call them my boyfriends, even though that’s what they were. It’s what he was, too…even if he was about ten years my senior.
Jacob Hall, my ex-cop, ridiculously grumpy boyfriend who, as it turned out, wasn’t really Jacob Hall.
Whatever. He was a good man, even if he’d done some terrible things in his past. The scars on his body bore the truth, and now every time I thought of them, I couldn’t help but wonder what his childhood was like. My mom might’ve been a helicopter parent, but she’d never hurt me, never abuse me. I couldn’t imagine what he’d gone through as a child to make him want to die and burn them all.
“Boyfriends,” I corrected him. “The right term is boyfriends, Mr. Grumps.”
He muttered a string of swearwords under his breath that made me think he was never going to call them that. Whatever. He didn’t have to. What he did have to do was not tell my mom or Ollie the truth about where I was going right now. Could Mr. Grumps handle that?
“Well?” I asked, when he was silent for a while. I saw Dante emerge from the high school, cutting across the parking lot and heading straight for us. “Are you in?”
“You didn’t really give me a choice,” Jacob muttered, turning those pretty hazel eyes on me. The sunlight shone off his light brown hair, making it look almost like a dark blonde.
I tapped his car, pushing away as I decided to take that as a yes. Moving to stand beside the motorcycle, I waited for Dante to reach me. He sauntered up, wearing his typical leather jacket and worn jeans. His tatted head flipped to Jacob, whom he gave a smirk to.
Jacob responded by lifting his hand and moving to hold it out of the window, giving Dante a one-finger salute.
Dante only laughed, turning to me. He snaked an arm around my lower back beneath my backpack and pulled me against his chest, planting a hard kiss on my lips—to show off in front of Jacob, who couldn’t walk around and do that.
I pushed Dante away, saying, “This whole thing requires Jacob to be on board, you know. I don’t think it’s a good idea to piss him off.” I made sure to say it loud enough that Jacob heard; couldn’t have the grumpy one thinking I liked Dante showing off.
Even if, you know, I kind of did.
He let out an annoyed sound, turning to glance at Jacob to mutter, “Fine. Sorry, my man. I meant to keep it all behind closed doors—”
I knew Dante would only say more, so I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward his bike, shooting Jacob an apologetic look. Having all of these boyfriends also meant I had to keep them on their best behavior, especially when they were interacting with each other. If one pissed another one off…I might be required to make some choices I never wanted to make.
Choosing. I really didn’t want to choose. Not now, not ever. Maybe that was selfish of me, but it was the truth. My heart belonged to each and every one of them, and it was a dream to have them all simultaneously, to survive this year and move on with my life with all of them at my side. I knew we’d get to the future if and when we got to it; no point in getting ahead of myself now.
Dante was slow to get on his bike, finally choosing to ignore Jacob’s presence. Jacob started his vehicle up, and Dante did the same to his bike’s engine. I knew Vaughn was somewhere in the parking lot, getting into his family’s limo and telling the driver where to go, and with how badly Dante was gesturing for me to hop on behind him, I bet I knew why.
He wanted me to himself for a little while. I couldn’t blame him. They all wanted to be selfish when it came to me and my time. And my body.
When I got on the bike, I wrapped my arms around his abdomen, feeling his stomach muscles tighten under his shirt. My cheek leaned on his leather jacket, and I met Jacob’s eyes as Dante pulled out of the parking spot. Eventually I had to close my eyes, because riding on a bike and watching the scenery fly by was not my scene. Got a little nauseous, you know.
The motel Dante was living at was on the edge of town. I didn’t even know if it was in Midpark or technically the neighboring city, which meant the school had to have a different address on file for him. And, anyway, Dante was a few years older than me, so I bet all of his paperwork was forged, to some extent. All to get to me, to spend more time with me since Skull wouldn’t let him come back.
Skull…my dad. Would I ever meet him? Did I want to? I supposed that hinged on the fact that I pulled out of this mess alive. Don’t get me wrong, I was rooting for me, but someone else in Midpark clearly wasn’t. Their kill count was at three right now. Three that we knew of. How many more would be dead in a week, a month? Who would survive until graduation?
Those were worries for another time. Right now, I should focus on the muscled man I was holding onto and what we’d get up to in that motel room.
Jacob’s car never lost sight of us, and as Dante parked his bike in a spot in the motel parking lot, Jacob pulled up beside us. Dante and I got off the bike, and he went over to the car, tapping on the glass. Even though I knew he didn’t want to, Jacob rolled it down.
Leaning in the open passenger side window, Dante asked, “Are you coming in or waiting out here?” As he spoke, a sleazy smirk crossed his face, and I knew he only asked Jacob to rile him up. Those two…they had a strange relationship. Then again, some people might say all of this was strange.
“If you think I want to watch you two go at it like rabbits,” Jacob growled out, looking annoyed to the max, “you couldn’t be more fucking wrong.”
Dante shrugged, pushing off the car and wrapping an arm around me as he began to lead me away from his bike and Jacob. “Just thought I’d offer,” he told me. “You know, to be nice. Since we’re all at your disposal—” I only got him to stop saying that shit by elbowing him on the side.
They were not at my disposal. They were…they were my boyfriends. There was a difference. I cared about each of them so much I could hardly explain it. They each resided in my heart, and there was no way I’d ever willingly let one of them go or get tired of them.
Going to Dante’s motel room this time was worlds different than it had been before. For one thing, I was here of my own volition. Before, the jerk had threatened both me and my mom to go with him, so I didn’t have a choice. Funny how much things had changed in so little time, huh? I guess when you went through shit like we did in Midpark, you tended to form fast bonds with each other. Being surrounded by death and framed for murder made you realize you better live your life to the fullest while you can, because, who knew? Tomorrow you might be one of the dead ones, or locked up because someone wanted to see you hang.
The room was just as I remembered it being, although there was a bit more stuff thrown around it. It was more lived in, I guess you could say.
As I dropped my bag onto the floor, Dante hurriedly stuffed the clothes strewn about on the bed into the dresser, shoving it shut. “Sorry about the mess,” he said, giving me a grin. “I know you’re used to the high lifestyle now, but some of us still like roughing it.”
I laughed. This was roughing it? To me, roughing it was camping in the woods or something. No toilet paper, hardly any cell phone reception, and no chargers anywhere to be seen. This might not be the lap of luxury, but it was still a roof over his head and four walls around him. He could’ve done worse.
