Page 38 of Pocketful of Us

I was so mad I could taste it.

Hopping, in fact.

Oh yes, I was Bugs Bunny inSpace Jamkind of hopping.

Except instead of chasing a basketball around a court, I was chasing a mob king's baby spawn across three states.

Oh lord.

How Sketch could be so freaking naïve was truly beyond me. Sure, I wanted to get under Seth Dillon and jump his bones like a horny cat in heat, but I trusted him about as far as I could throw him.

And with all of that tightly packed muscle, I could only assume that throw would benot far.

Maybe I was being far too cynical and wary here, and he was a genuinely good guy, but I'd rather be wrong than foolish.

With the pedal to the metal of my rental car, I sat back as the sweet motor ate up the miles back to Pocketful, Louisiana. Population 4,879.

4,878 if I didn’t hurry my ass up.

My phone vibrated from its perch on the passenger seat and I picked it up and swiped accept without checking. It was a mistake. Noah's furious voice came down the line. "I don’t know if I should congratulate you on your balls finally dropping or tell you to find a very good hiding place because if I hunt you down and find a mark on my Lexus, you're a dead man."

"I'll have you know that I am the poster boy for safe and sensible driving, Mr. Messina," I replied, pulling at the collar of my shirt. "And well, for the want of a better word; YOLO."

"Yolo?" he growled. "The fuck isyolo?"

"YOLO, dude. It's an acronym. You know, foryou only live once," I explained, rolling my eyes. "And don’t worry. I'll return it in perfect condition with a full tank of gas."

"Not the point," he grumbled. "You didn’t ask before you took. That's a big fucking no-no in my book, kid."

"Well, Lucky'swoman,as he – sonottwenty-first century – refers to her, is ovulating, and I can't wait around for a week while he inseminates her. This is my friend's life we're talking about, Noah!"

"Then why didn’t you stealhiswheels?" he growled.

I shrugged. "Hey, I'm spontaneous, not suicidal."

"You think he's more dangerous than I am?"

"Yes, but I think you're hotter, if that's any consolation?"

"Does Lucky know you're gone?"

"Nope," I replied. "Last I heard from good ole' Luck, he was giving it to his woman at full throttle. I'm talking some seriously impressive, not to mentionloudas hell, headboard banging kind of giving. Big house, but the walls are thin. Kids are probably scarred for life."

"That's my niece you're talking about."

"Uh-huh, and your thoroughly fucked niece, by the sound of it."

"Jesus Christ…"

"T.M.I?" I asked. "Oh, that's an acronym for two much information –"

"I know what it means," Noah snapped. "Alright, you've got three days," he grunted, thankfully relenting. "I want my damn car back in my garage in seventy-two hours. You got that, kid?"

"I've got it," I replied cheerfully.

"So, are you nearly there?"

"Yup. The lights of my hometown are coming into view as we speak."

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