Page 20 of No Saint
I eyed the closed door. “We won’t be there for a month. But that five hundred bought me some time. I don’t need to worry for a couple of weeks.” That was a lie. I always worried. Was always trying to get ahead on the debt my dad’s illness had landed my parents in. With people relying on me, I could never afford to come up short or be complacent.
“Okay.” She turned for the door.
“Cass,” I said, and she stopped. “Thank you. For trying to help me.”
“I’m sorry I got you into this mess.” The moment the latch clicked behind her, I collapsed onto the bed and let my shoulders slump.
Even if we found a smoking gun fast, this was going to be horrendous. I imagined all the ways Wolf could hurt me. All the parties, the girls I’d have to watch him flirt with… I inhaled several deep breaths.I grow calmer with each breath I take.
I knew I was going to suffer. What I had to make sure of was that Wolf wouldn’t get the satisfaction of seeing it.
Six
Wolf
Rogue and I got out of his car and waited in the frat’s drive for Jade and Cassie to pull up. A soft breeze rustled the trees and lifted the flowery scent of Jade’s body spray from my shirt. There was a sense of security in that smell, mixed with crippling loss, but still, I breathed it in. Like a fucking pussy.
Rogue chucked an empty water bottle into the bed of my truck. “Why the hell did she sell that shit to Tommy?”
“Because she wanted you to find out.” And because Cassie was grade-A, batshit crazy.
Jade’s Jeep sputtered onto our street, followed by Cassie’s Honda. Brakes screeched when Jade came to a stop. They had to be worn down to the pad—which wasn’t safe. Not my problem, I told myself. Cassie parked behind her, got out, stormed straight to Jade’s door, and opened it.
I was sure they were both dreading the pending shitshow about as much as I was. Having those two in the house would be nothing short of a nightmare. That, I was certain of. But what else were Rogue and I supposed to do? Just let them get off scot-free? No way in hell. And since we couldn’t resolve the entire ordeal with a good old-fashioned ass whooping, we weren’t leftwith much choice. At least that was what I’d told myself… “You realize this next month is going to be hell.”
“It won’t be that bad.”
I snorted. “You and Cassie haven’t made it more than twenty-four hours without death threats. You think you’ll survive a month?”
“That’s just foreplay. I’ll fuck her into submission.”
Maybe he could, but that was one thing I wouldn’t be doing with Jade. The image of her naked, pinned beneath me in the bed of my truck, flashed through my mind like a neon sign. Screw memories for being able to make me hard.
The two girls whispered between themselves, every once in a while, glancing in our direction.
Rogue leaned against the dented tailgate. “What are they doing?”
“Probably planning our deaths.”
Jade may have been nice, but she was still Dayton. She was no stranger to revenge, usually by way of fire. Add Cassie to the equation, and I had a sick sense that we had just kicked a hornet’s nest.
“You’re such a pessimist.” Rogue motioned for the girls to come over, which they took their sweet-ass time doing. “See. They listen.” Like they were dogs.
“If you think this is going to be a walk in the park, you’ve got something else coming.”
“They’re girls, Wolf. Simple creatures.”
About as simple as nuclear physics. “Maybe all those socialites and girls with daddy’s money are simple. Those girls?” I thumbed behind me as we walked up the sagging porch steps. “Complicated as fuck.”
Dog shot out the second Rogue opened the door, hightailing it to his favorite bush and taking a piss before he sprinted up to the girls and let out one high-pitched bark.
Cassie, used to his banshee impressions, ignored him. Jade, of course, kneeled on a patch of weeds to pet him. She’d always had a soft spot for animals. Well, animals below knee height. Anything bigger and she was running from it.
Rogue stopped in the entranceway. “Holy mother of shit!”
The second I crossed the threshold, I gagged from the smell. A toxic mixture of beer, tuna, and God only knew what else seeped up from the piles of garbage strewn across the living room. After Rogue had found that video footage, he’d called Petey and Bellamy, instructing them to make the place a mess, but this was overkill.
“What the hell did they do?” My attention went to the gnats buzzing around a tower of grease-stained pizza boxes on the coffee table. “Drag half the dump in here?”
