Page 97 of No Saint
“That he’s your man.”
I knew how she felt about Wolf and the possibility of my dating him. Cassie would think I was turning to the enemy.
“That’s because…he is.” I took a breath, prepared for a barrage of shit. “We decided to try again.”
“Um, do I need to remind you about that itty-bitty blackmail?”
“Be mad all you like, but you’re the one who got me in a house with him.” And I was grateful for it.
“Yeah, well…” Cassie let out a whistle when we turned onto Omega Dicksolon’s street. “Okay, maybe I see why you’re all about that.”
I followed her gaze to Wolf’s Silverado parked on the street, where a shirtless Wolf hoisted a wheel out of the bed. I swear, the late afternoon sun shimmered over his muscles like he was a mirage in the desert. The saying “water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink” popped into my head. But I had drunk from that tall glass. I could drink more…
Cassie parked, and I got out, walking to the drive where Wolf was crouched, heaving the wheel onto my car. Of course he was replacing my tires. Wolf had always taken care of stuff for me.
“You know you didn’t have to do this,” I said.
He looked up at me, squinting against the sun. “I know.”
“How much were new tires?” I could tell they weren’t new-new, but even scrap-new cost money. And four of them…fucking Megan.
“About a hundred bucks.” Damn. It was a bargain, but still a hundred more dollars I had to find. Not that I had much choice. I could limp along without a car for a while, but I needed it to get to work, class, home…
He grabbed the tire iron and tightened the bolts. “I know a guy.” A drop of sweat rolled between the muscles of his back. Jesus, there were lines and bulges everywhere.
“I’ll pay you back,” I blurted, my face getting warm.
I took a seat on the curb to watch him work, the same way I had a hundred times before. He and the guys sometimes had to fix up the cars they stole before taking them wherever it was they took them. They were all good with cars, but I loved watchingthe little line of concentration sink between Wolf’s brows, his smile when an engine started or ran smoother. There had been an innocent simplicity to it that was so rarely found in Dayton.
That shine of innocence had long since dulled from both of us, but sitting here like this reminded me of those simpler times. The fact that he was always shirtless was an added benefit for my one-track teenage mind. Evidently, I hadn’t grown out of that.
I focused back on the conversation. Paying him back… Not that either of us should have been paying for tires in the first place.
“I know who slashed my tires.”
He glanced over his tattooed shoulder. “Who?”
“Well, notmyex.” I tried not to be snippy with him. It wasn’t his fault— No, it kind of was his fault that he had terrible taste in psychos. “I met Megan earlier.”
He stopped tightening the lug nut, like he was afraid to move.
“Evidently, if I don’t stay away from you, she’ll—and I quote—slash more than my tires.”
His jaw clenched. “I’m going to fucking kill her.” No shock that it was her.
That confirmed my suspicion that he’d probably done more than just screw her. Before me, Wolf had been a man-whore of the worst kind. No way he’d have remembered a girl’s name unless she was a repeat. Or he actually liked her… That thought was a punch in the gut. Maybe Cassie was right. Setting fire to her car wasn’t just about the slashed tires.
“I already handled it?—”
“What do you mean,youhandled it?”
“Seriously, how can guys not see when a girl has psycho stamped on her forehead?”
“Jade,” he said slowly, staring at me like I was the crazy one. “What did you do?”
“Why do you care what I did?” I narrowed my eyes and studied his reaction. “Are you worried about Megan?”
“No. I’m worried about you going to jail. I know how you ‘handle’ shit, Jade.”
