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I follow it until I find a group of guys. I recognize a few of them from my Math and History classes, but the third looks like the go-to guy Maze told me about last week. The three guys watch me through narrowed eyes, trying to work out if I’m friend or foe, but I honestly couldn’t give a shit what they think I am.
“Are you Robbie McDowell?” I ask the guy.
His head raises. “Yeah?”
“Can you hook me up?”
He watches me for a long moment before letting out a sigh. “Yeah, what do you need? I’ve only got joints on me but I can get you something else after this,” he says, indicating to the joint in his hand.
“It’s cool. I just need a smoke.”
He nods. “It’ll cost you.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything else.” I laugh as I pull the bill out of my pocket that Shay had just given me to get myself something for lunch. I wonder what she’d think of me trading it for a joint? I hand it over and before I know it, I have the joint firmly between my fingers. “Can I have a light?”
Robbie rolls his eyes as though I’m some sort of novice trying to live on the wild side, but nonetheless, he holds out his lighter and an orange flame appears before my eyes. I lean into the fire and light up the joint, breathing it in deeply.
Seeing that I’m not about to break into a coughing fit, the irritation in Robbie’s eyes quickly morphs into dollar signs as he tries to work out exactly what he can make out of me, but I’ve got bad news for him, I’m not a frequent flyer.
“Where can I go to be alone?” I ask them.
Robbie lifts a shoulder in a shrug as the guy from my Math class points through the trees. “Head out that way and you’ll hit an old dirt road without being seen. No one ever uses that road anymore.”
I nod. “Thanks.”
The guys leave me to it and just as they had said, I follow the trees out onto the dirt road as I hear the bell in the distance, starting the school day.
I walk until I find a patch of grass that doesn’t look as though it’s about to cover me in dirt and plonk my ass down. I lean back onto my elbows while puffing away on my joint. It helps to relax me but my head isn’t really in the relaxing mode.
Shutting off seems impossible. I just want to go home, lock and deadbolt the fucking door, close my bedroom door with a chair under the handle and board up my windows, only then will I climb into bed and let myself forget about this day.
I sit for half an hour and am just about to get up and start walking home when my phone buzzes with a text. I let out a deep sigh knowing it’s Blake checking in on me. I grab my backpack and start rifling through until my fingers curl around the cool metal of my phone.
I pull it out but as I glance down at my phone, my heart begins to race. An unknown number stares back up at me. Please don’t tell me he’s got a hold of my new number. I hesitantly open the text and my nerves begin to calm as I read over it.
Unknown – Babe, it’s Roman from the Rangers. What are you doing? Wa Well, well. A smile spreads over my face, remembering the blinding grin he gave me during the game. Damn, he’s certainly hot. I could definitely have a little fun with him before asking him to drive me home. Skylah – Only if you bring coffee. I save his number to my phone as I wait for his response, though I don’t have to wait long. Roman – Done. Be there in twenty. Maybe my day is looking up after all. As promised, twenty minutes later, a silver sport car comes down the dirt road with a cloud of dust billowing up behind it. The car comes to a stop beside me and I get to my feet, dusting off my ass before stepping up to the car. The window is down and Roman grins at me through the window. “Your chariot awaits,” he says, leaning across and opening the door for me. “Though just so you know, you’re paying for my car to get washed after this. You said nothing about a dirt road.” I help myself in and drop down into his car. “You agreed to bring me coffee and my thought process went into meltdown mode.” “Fair enough,” he laughs, reaching into the center console and grabbing the coffee that sits in a takeaway cup. Roman hands it over as though he’s my savior and looks me up and down. “You look like shit.” Well, I can’t fault the guy for being honest. “Thanks, you would too if you hadn’t slept in three days.” “No shit?” he says, hitting the gas and taking off down the road. “Why not?” I shake my head. “It’s nothing.” He nods, clearly seeing this topic is forbidden territory and as he drives, I take a moment to look over him a little closer. He’s just as I remember from the game, though perhaps even better. I was a little distracted with Slade during the game but right now, he gets my full attention. He’s definitely the golden, rich boy type, but there’s a darkness in his eyes and I can’t work out if it’s there because he’s trouble or because he’s dangerous. Either way, I’m down for a little fun. My eyes travel down his arms that are toned with the most delicious muscle but it’s not quite doing it for me, not in the way that looking at Slade’s does. His gets me hot and bothered while Roman’s is just something nice to look at. Damn it. I don’t want to be attracted to Slade like that. I want to hate him. I need to hate him. “Like what you see, baby?” I glance up to his eyes to find them on my body. “I know you do.” He looks back up at me and grins. “You’re not wrong,” he says with a sly grin. “I caught what you did to Cruz at the game. That was a risky move.” I shrug my shoulders as I take a sip of my coffee and enjoy the heat on my tongue. “It was nothing he didn’t deserve.” “You’ve got balls,” he commends. “Have you got beef with him or something like that?” “Or something like that,” I tell him, not willing to go into the details with this complete stranger. “What about you? I saw the way you were going against him on the court. The both of you made it pretty damn clear. What’s your beef with him?” “The guy’s a fucking prick is all.” Yeah, right. It’s so much more than that. “Is that all?” “He may have also fucked over my sister.” “Really? I heard your sister has no issue fucking things over. She’s pretty close with her dean, isn’t she?” His eyes narrow as he looks across at me. “Wow. I’ve been asking about you and the people at your school told me you had a nasty bite, but I wasn’t quite expecting that.” “Oh, yeah?” I ask, starting to work out his game plan and not liking it one bit. “What else did they tell you about me?” “That you’re Cruz’s little project.” “Really, now?” “Mmhmm. I can take you away from that, you know? Just say the word and I’ll handle it.” I bark out a sharp laugh before telling him to take a right. “And what’s in it for you?” “You get me the information on Slade that I need and you’ll have my protection.” It’s just as I thought. “Pull up over here,” I ask, pointing toward the big tree outside Shay and Ben’s place, pissed off realizing that he’s trying to play me. His only goal is to destroy Slade and this prick wants to use me to do it. Well, that ain’t going to happen. I fight my own wars and this guy has done nothing to earn my loyalty. Besides, I want to take Slade down, no one else. He’s mine…or at least, I think so anyway. Why does the idea of someone else trying to destroy Cruz make me want to stand in front of him and protect him from whatever’s coming his way? Fuck, I’m so screwed up.