Page 48 of No Saint
Bellamy laughed. Petey frowned while staring down at the pebbles poking through his shirt. “I’m sensitive about that, you dick.”
“How the hell are you sensitive? I thought gingers didn’t have souls?”
“Because I take the souls of others. One more comment about my nipples and I’ll put yours on the list.”
“You do that, and I’ll shave your eyebrows while you sleep.”
Bellamy snorted, thumbing at Petey. “He already looks like a naked mole rat. Don’t make it worse.”
“Doesn’t matter. I shaved my eyebrows two years ago for a hundred bucks. Got hit on twice as much. Turns out, women dig mysterious, eyebrow-less gingers.”
“The only mystery about you is whether your sour-cream colored ass will spontaneously combust in direct sunlight.”
Petey snatched his keys from the counter. “Come on. Let’s get out of here so we can get a seat by the stage.”
Dog followed them to the back door, huffing when it closed. I crammed a fry into my mouth and opened my textbook to the last lesson.
10 × 4 - 2 × (4² ÷ 4) ÷ 2 ÷ 1/2 + 9
-10 ÷ (20 ÷ 2² × 5 ÷ 5) × 8 - 2
Fucking bullshit. I put pencil to paper. Every problem I worked out was wrong. Who in the hell decided to make math so complicated? I would never, in my life, use this shit. Even if I didn’t get drafted. I was majoring in school counseling. That sure as hell didn’t involve math like that.
An hour and a half later, I had worked through five problems. When I checked my work against the answer key in the back, they were all wrong.
I dropped my head back with a groan, sick at the thought that some stupid arithmetic would keep me out of the NFL. I was still staring at the crack on the ceiling when Dog let out a high-pitched bark. The back door creaked open.
“I swear to God,” Cassie moaned. “My ass cheeks have actual burns.”
“I keep telling you to get bigger shorts.”
I straightened in the chair, glancing at Jade in that erection-inducing Roller Burger uniform. Those uniforms served one purpose, and one purpose only—to bring in customers. I hated the thought of guys ogling Jade while she skated around with their food. And they would be.
Jade dropped to a crouch beside Dog, and my gaze ate up the length of her bare thighs. “Hi, Squishy. Did you miss me?”
Like hell was she trying to rename my dog. “His name’s Dog.”
She looked at me. “Dog is not a name.”
Jesus…“Dogisa name.” I pointed at the little traitor, ears down, wiggling from the excitement of Jade’s arrival. “It’shisname.”
Lifting a brow, she pushed to her feet. “I’ll start calling you Human then.”
“Not his name,” I mumbled, going back to my homework and erasing the last answer I’d written down.
Cabinets opened and shut. One of the girls banged a pot on the stovetop, then Cassie went into a tirade about Rogue. I couldn’t concentrate worth a shit. I grabbed my books and went into the dining room, mumbling about them being loud on my way.
Three tries later, I still had the wrong answer. I chucked my pencil at the notebook. “Fuck this shit.”
“Sober enough to attempt algebra today?” Jade stood in the doorway of the dining room, holding a steaming bowl.
My jaw tensed at her judgmental comment. Maybe she didn’t want to get shitfaced on the weekend, but given my current situation, I sure as hell had. “Today’s Monday. We’re in college. People drink on the weekends.” Especially when someone had their ex living in their damn house…
“Some people.”
I placed my head in my hand and picked up my pencil, trying to keep my attention on that stupid book instead of her in those damn shorts. “I need to focus.”
“You’re doing it wrong.”
