Page 220 of Small Town Firsts

Be that as it may, the jackass has been my best friend for as long as I can remember.

He shrugs, unfazed by the truth in my words. “Little bitch is trying to ruin me,” he growls. “How do you think I’m doing?”

I spin on my stool to face him fully. “What are you going to do?”

“Simple.” His lips curl up in a devious smile, and he tosses back the remaining whiskey in his glass. “I’m going to ruin her right back.”

“Isn’t Em—sheleaving for college?” I almost slip up and say her name. I guess I do coddle him a little, but this is out of self-preservation, because Rob goes apeshit at the mere mention of her name.

“Actually” —he pins me with a cold stare— “I need your help.”

“How can I help?” I regret asking no sooner than the words pass my lips. The calculating gleam in his eye all but promises I’m not going to like what he says next.

“Dad says she’s going to Central Valley.”

An uneasy feeling settles in my gut. Is it merely a coincidence for her to end up at the same school I’m doing my apprenticeship at?

It doesn’t feel like one.

No, it feels like a carefully planned step in Rob’s revenge plot.

This is his battle to wage, but something tells me I’m about to be drafted as an unwilling soldier.

Helping a friend wronged is one thing, being nothing more than a means to an end is quite another.

“What’s with the look?” my best friend asks, his voice infused with steel. His temper is hair-trigger, and I know from experience that I do not want to be in the line of fire when it goes off.

“Nothing, man. There’s no look.”

“You think it’s okay for that little bitch to get off scot-free after what she did to me?” His chest heaves as he struggles not to go full-on Hulk. “You think it’s no big deal she told everyone with a set of fucking ears that I raped her?” His volume increases with each unfounded accusation. He lunges at me from his stool, and I’ve had enough. “Maybe you fucking think?—”

“What I think”—I bite out the words, fisting his shirt with both hands while holding him at arm’s length—“is you need tofucking chill. I’ve got your back, Rob. Always. I just need to make sure it’s in a way that doesn’t compromise my future.”

Rob slumps back down into his seat and hangs his head. “She compromised mine,” he mumbles under his breath.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him that being told you have to wait for the media shitstorm to blow over before being promoted isn’t quite the same as losing your job. But I digress.

“She’ll get hers,” I say, trying to reassure him.

He swings his gaze back up to mine, his face a blank mask, void of any and all emotion. “Even if it fucking kills me.”

His vow sends an arctic chill down my spine. I try to shake it off as Rob being Rob. As long as I’ve known him, he’s been a surly fucker with an attitude problem unlike any other.

Unfortunately, the older we get, the worse he gets. And at some point, I fear he’ll cross the line he’s been toeing and dive head-first into the darkness.

In the blink of an eye, he’s settled and calm, with his cool mask in place. “Will you make it to Levi’s party tonight?”

I bring my glass to my lips, sipping at my drink to buy myself some time. The way Rob can seamlessly move between personas is… unnerving, to say the least. “Unfortunately, no. I need to get on the road before the sun rises if I want to make good time.”

Rob cocks his head to the side, studying me, looking for the lie. Luckily, my words are as true as they are not, which is probably my saving grace.

“Right. It’s a long drive.”

Exhaling out a relieved breath, I nod. “Got a lot to do before the academic year starts.”

“I’m counting on you,” Rob growls, his dead eyes hard on mine. “Don’t fuck this up.”

“I’ve got your back, man.”

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