Page 39 of No Romeo
“Where’s the room?”
“Dayton.”
I shifted to the edge of the mattress, the sweet smell of her pussy lifting from the sheets. “North or South?”
I caught the tell-tale sign that a lie was brewing—Lola’s pouty upper lip twitched like she’d had too much sugar. “South,” she said, then bent to tie her shoes, a curtain of blond hair hiding her lying face.
Like hell, she was living in Northside. That place made my neighborhood look like Bel Aire.
I sat up in bed, the sheets pooling around my naked hips. “I swear to God, Lola. If you even go look at a place in Northside…”
She straightened and put her hands on her hips. “Then what?”
“Do you really have to think about the ‘then what?”
She had known me her entire life. She knew there was no end to the crap I would pull, especially when it came to her. Set cars on fire. Blow things up. Hogtie a little shithead and leave him on the railroad tracks until he pissed himself. “Northside makes this place look like the damn Taj Mall Hall.” I knew I mispronounced it. And I knew it would piss her off.
“It’s the Taj Mahal!”
“That’s what I said. Taj Mallhall.”
“I can’t with you.” She dragged a hand down her face. “Look, I’ve been sleeping on Kyle’s couch for a month. I need a place. A cheap place.”
“I have a spare room I’m trying to rent out. As—you—know.”
“And we are the last people who should ever live together. As—you—know.”
My gaze dropped to her tits and the bedsheet tented. “Actually, Northside Buffalo Bill locking you in a cellar and telling you to lotion up your skin is the last person you should ever live with.” I stood up and crossed the room, aware Lola’s gaze tracked the bobbing hard-on I was sporting. “You wanna pay rent to some dickdribble who’s probably going to murder your short ass?”
Huffing out a breath, she lifted her gaze to the ceiling. “Can youpleaseput your dick away?”
“Get on the bed, and I will.” Word vomit I really couldn’t help came out of my mouth. I lived for the way her cheeks reddened when she was angry.
“Fuck this.” She grabbed her phone off the nightstand. “I’ll take my chances with Buffalo Bill.”
I caught her arm—dick still out—right before she slipped into the hall. “Seriously. It would help me out if you stayed here.” That wasn’t a lie. But even I knew it would be like putting two rattlesnakes in a cage together. If she tried to bring some guy home, I’d rip his jugular out and castrate him with it.
Her gaze searched mine for a few seconds, and I really struggled to focus on anything with the heat of her body so close to my bare dick.
Finally, she sighed and pulled out of my hold. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this.”
I waved a hand across the hall to the closed door with a torn Nirvana poster tacked to it. “Room’s right there. If it smells like Paris Hilton, blame Bellamy’s annoying girlfriend.”
“Fine. But only because I’m desperate.” She gave one last glance to my dick before she headed for the stairs. “I have to go get ready for work. I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Pick up some Taco Casa on your way home. Extra picante sauce.”
“I’m not getting you extra picante. It gives you gas.”
Chapter14
LOLA
It was hot as hell when I got off the bus in Barrington, and over the twenty-five-minute ride, I still couldn’t work out what the hell I had been thinking about sleeping with Hendrix, let alone agreeing to move in with him. But I was desperate, and I knew I’d be safe with him. Physically at least. My heart, not so much.
I walked past the restaurant, stopping at the pharmacy on the corner to pick up the morning-after pill before my shift.
The woman behind the counter swept a judgmental glare over me. I was tempted to flip her off when I chucked the fifty bucks I couldn’t afford on the counter.Pissed wasn’t even the word for how I felt about spending my hard-earned money for Hendrix Hunt to nut. Half my weekly rent. But what else was I supposed to do?
