Page 173 of Zero Chance

The longest debate took place over whose house we should hit.It definitely had to be another person in the seven.Damien was ruled out first since he actually lived with three members in the Jeep.Hudson and Faith stayed above a shop located along a strip mall and had no trees around them to decorate.Neither did Foster and Raina, who rented a room in an apartment complex.Thane had trees in his small front yard, but he had a shit ton of neighbors who might call the cops on us.Parker, however, lived in a more secluded neighborhood with plenty of trees and tons of distance between him and the next house over.So he was chosen by default.

A code was needed to gain entrance into his gated community, but both Alec and Keene knew what it was.The problem was Parker also had cameras set up all over his property.

So we were caught about four minutes into throwing our allotted roll.

“What the fuck do you idiots think you’re doing?”Parker’s irritated and dry drawl cut through the dark about ten feet from me, making me squeak out a quick scream of surprise and drop my toilet paper in the dark after only getting in a single throw.

A light came on, aiming directly at me, and Keene appeared at my side immediately.

Lifting his hand to shade our eyes from the blaring brightness, he said, “Come on, man.Waverly’s never toilet papered a house before.”

“So you pickedmine?”Parker growled, not amused.

“Well…yeah.”Keene made it sound as if there could be no other alternative.

“Jesus, Dugger.”I could make out the outline of his head shaking sadly in the dark.“Real nice Valentine’s treat you’re giving your lady, there.”

“What?”Keene cried in self-defense.“She’s having fun.Just look at her.”

The light veered back to me, and I squinted, waving at it and unable to stop grinning.“Best night of my life,” I announced before hiccupping and leaning heavily into Keene.

“Fuck,” Parker muttered.“You got her drunktoo?That’s just great.I’m sure her strict-as-hell parents are just going to eat that shit up.”

When Keene mumbled, “She’d never drank before either.”Parker only scoffed.

“That is not a damn reason for doing something, Duggie.Jesus.Her mother’s going to kill you.You know that, right?”

“Well…” Keene shuffled his feet indecisively while, behind us, Xander made a sound of surprise.

“Oh!Ouch,” she added.“I think I ran into something.Alec!My shirt’s snagged on a bush.Help…”

“Wait.Who the fuck isthat?”Parker demanded, veering his light away from Keene and me.“How the hell many drunk people are wandering around my yard right now?

“Only Waverly’s drunk.And that’s just Xander,” Keene said with a harassed sigh.“She and Alec are with us.”

“Oh, so Foster’s going to kill you,too,for corrupting his cousin?You boys aren’t going to survive the week if you keep this up, you know.”

“I’m sorry for toilet-papering your yard,” I finally said, feeling sober enough to realize this hadn’t been the brightest idea.Parker had literally saved my life.He’d personally gotten my rapist put behind bars.And this was how I repaid him?What waswrongwith me?“They said this was how they showed their love.”

He snorted at that but answered, “Darlin’, if it makes you smile like this, you can TP my damn yard every night of the year.It’s no skin off my nose, since Curly and Moe here are going to be the morons who come back tomorrow and clean it up.Right, boys?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Keene spoke up, lifting his hands.“Don’t you have a groundskeeper you pay to take care of shit like that?”

Parker snorted.“I’m not making Bill deal with this.You and Younger are coming backtomorrowand picking up every last square yourselves.You hear me?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Keene mumbled.“We hear you.”

“Loud and clear,” Alec added, appearing from the dark with Xander in tow.“Hey, say hi to Hope for me.”

“Will do,” Parker answered with a smirk.“Now, you four better get on.Doesn’t Waverly have some kind of curfew?”

“Yeah, but it’s not until…” Keene checked his watch.“Shit.We gotta go.”Snagging my hand, he started jogging off, even as he called to Xander and Alec, “Hurry.”Then he waved over his shoulder.“Later, Ohrley.Thanks for letting us borrow your trees.”

Parker’s chuckle was amused.“Good night, guys.”

* * *

If only mymother had been so amused when we reached my house.

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