Page 45 of Roque

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“THAT GIRL HAS YOU ALL JACKED UP.”

Sweat dripped down my face but I ignored Johnny and lifted the rack of weights above my head, doing five more sets than he did.

“Are you seriously going to a Homecoming dance? At a high school?”

“You’re going with me.”

He shook his head, “Fuck, Roque. You are losing some serious street cred, pining over some steampunk girl.”

“She’s so much more than that.”

“Is She? Talk like this is going to get you in trouble, bro. Your primed to take it all. Game over. Your cousins got Chicago locked down. They took out the Chinese and the Russians. All you have to do after graduating is build that empire man. You and I are going to be unstoppable. I’d never put a hit on you, bro and I know you’ve got my back. Don’t let some voodoo pussy fuck with our plans.”

Brushing past him, I grabbed 75lb dumbbells and worked on some bicep curls. “She’s perfect for me, bro. She’d fit in our world.”

“Nobody fits in our world. Your deluding yourself. Love isn’t in the cards for us. Wake the fuck up, Roque. You already know that.”

I did. But I was a stubborn mother fucker. Too stubborn to listen despite my inner voice screaming I should.