by Lane Hart
Maddie scoffs and rolls her eyes. “I don’t need a bodyguard. The people around here know me because this is where I grew up, just like them. You, though, are not one of us and you never will be, so you should watch your back. Men have died for shit less valuable than the designer shoes on your feet.”
“Whatever. I’m out,” I tell her before I march over to the door and start walking to the trailer park.
Only this time I actually take in the houses and businesses around me, unlike on the way when I was too busy hauling two heavy bags and dealing with Maddie’s mouth.
Most windows are boarded up with wood or shattered. There are beer cans and…ew, used condoms decorating the sidewalks. Vulgar words are spray-painted over the sides of brick buildings, speed limit signs, and every other surface. This neighborhood where Maddie lives has been thoroughly trashed while the worst that ever happens on our street is when someone puts up a blow-up Christmas decoration in their front yard that isn’t homeowner association approved.
And if I were a gentleman, I would turn around, go back to the laundromat, and offer to carry Maddie’s laundry bags back to her trailer.
But I don’t. Why the fuck should I be nice to her when she now has the potential to make my life hell?
Chapter 7
Maddie
“You want to crash Sophie’s party with me tomorrow night?” Hannah asks me Friday while we are eating lunch.
“Ah, no thanks,” I reply since that’s just asking for trouble that I don’t need. “I actually have a date, if I could just find a babysitter.”
“No shit? A date with whom?” she asks. “Someone we go to school with?”
“God, no. His name is Sean, and we went to school together at Central High my freshman year. He was a senior.”
“Wow,” Hannah says. “An older man. Is he hot?”
“Oh yeah. He’s got a sleeve of tats and black hair that’s long and wavy, sort of like Aric’s…”
“Whoa. That’s a strange comparison to make,” she points out at my slip.
“No, I didn’t mean to compare them,” I rush to say. “I just meant that their hair is sort of the same length and style or whatever, that’s all. He’s hot. Sean, I mean. Not Aric. He’s a total douche.”
“Douche or not, you’re crazy if you don’t think Aric is hot, especially on the football field in his uniform…”
“If you say so,” I reply. “I’ve never been to any sporting events since I’ve been going to school here.”
“Then you are missing out. We should go to the first home game next Friday.”
“Again, I have a brother and sister to take care of. If I don’t find a sitter, then my hot date is cancelled Friday and there are no football games in my future.”
“Oh, I’m sure you could find someone who owes you a favor or needs to earn a few extra bucks.”
She’s right. There is someone who owes me a favor. Lots of them.
I glance over my shoulder at the jerk’s table at the same time his gaze lands on me, at least I think it does. We’re on opposite sides of the enormous cafeteria, but I’m pretty sure he’s looking this way. Is it just a coincidence, or is he staring at me?
I wiggle my fingers at him to find out, and he not so subtly rubs the side of his nose with his middle finger, making me smirk before I look back to Hannah. Her eyes are wide, and the strawberry clutched between her fingers is frozen in mid-air.
“What?” I ask.
“Were you flirting with Aric?”
“Flirting? Ah, no. He flipped me off!” I explain.
“Aric Prince rarely expends any energy looking, speaking or talking to anyone but Royal, Blake and the other football players. Haven’t you ever noticed that he doesn’t talk to any girls in this school?”
“Yeah, because he prefers older women,” I mutter.
“What?” Hannah asks.
“He talks to Sophie,” I point out to cover my slip.
“Yeah, but he doesn’t even smile at her, and he gave you a gesture.”
“You’re making a big deal out of nothing, Han.”
“Look!” she exclaims. “Now everyone is looking back here, trying to figure out who he was flipping off!”
“Why do they care?”
“Because he’s Aric Prince! All the boys want to be his friend, and all the girls want to rip his clothes off and lick him.”
“Rip his clothes off and lick him?” I echo. “Did you really just say that? Who says that or thinks that?”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never thought about what he would look like without a shirt on.”
“Nope,” I answer because I don’t have to think about it since I have seen it and taken photos.
“Or how big his dick is.”
“Why would I be thinking about how big it is? It could be the size of a baseball bat, for all I care.”
“I think the lady doth protest too much,” Hannah says with an awful British accent.
“I have more important things to worry about than Aric fucking Prince’s conceited ass.”
“His ass is really nice. So firm,” she says, resting her chin on her fist and sighing heavily.
Shaking my head in denial, I pull out my phone and fire up a quick text to Dickhead, as he’s listed in my contacts: Be at my place Saturday at six.
His response is surprisingly almost instantaneous. Why?
Me: Because I said so and you’re my bitch.
Aric: You better not have my name programed in your phone where someone could see we’re talking.
Me: Of course not. If anyone looked over my shoulder, they would see that I’m talking to Dickhead.
He sends me the middle finger emoji in response to that.
Me: What’s my name in your phone?
Aric: Coniving Cunt
I bark out a laugh before I type back: Good one, except you spelled your insult wrong which takes the sting out of it. Should be c-o-n-n-i-v-i-n-g.
He then sends me three middle fingers before asking on a new line: How long will the shit Saturday night take? There’s a party at Sophie’s I can’t miss, or it’ll raise questions I can’t answer.
Me: Less than three hours I reply since I’ll need to be back online by nine. Besides, there’s no reason to have any temptation to sleep with Sean.
Aric: That’ll work.
Me: You say that like you have a choice.
“What are you smiling about?” Hannah asks.
I quickly put my phone away to meet her eyes. “Nothing.”
“Talking to your date hottie?”
“Yeah,” I lie. “I think I figured out the babysitter situation.”
“Good for you,” she replies. “At least one of us is getting some action.”
Chapter 8
Aric
“Have fun this weekend, just don’t do any drugs,” my mom says as she kisses my cheek before my dad and her leave to go visit Caroline overnight at Hawthorne.
“Drugs would show up on a test, so no, I won’t be doing any until we win the state championship.”
“Aric!” my mom exclaims in outrage.
“Kidding,” I tell them truthfully, only because I don’t consider weed a drug and I smoke a lot of it in the off-season.
“Well, we don’t want you home by yourself or having girls over,” Dad tells me. “Collette said she would love to have you stay over with Blake until we get back tomorrow night.”
I bet she would.
“Fine,” I agree, because refusing would just be suspicious at this point. Besides, I need to warn her that we’ve been seen together.
After my parents are gone, I send a quick text to Blake and Royal, letting them know that I’ll meet them at Sophie’s around nine, and then I head to Maddie’s wondering what the fuck she’s going to have me do for her today.
“You want me to fucking babysit?” I exclaim after Maddie lets me inside the trailer for the first time after breaking the news. Tonight, she’s wearing a sleeveless black dress that’s
so tight and short it can’t be ruled out as a stripper outfit.
Not that she looks bad in it. Or even slutty.
She just looks…fucking edible.
“I know, I know,” she says when she runs her fingers through her full, red hair to fluff it up, only to flatten it with her palms again like she’s nervous. “I debated whether having you watch over my little brother and sister was idiotic or not and finally decided that if anything happens to either of them, I’ll just take it out ten times over on your sister.”
“What? Caroline is away at college.”
“I know people who would make the commute to rough her up,” Maddie says through narrowed eyes, and I’m not entirely sure if she’s serious or not.
“Whatever,” I tell her. “Why do you need a sitter anyway? Where the hell are your parents?”
“Ah, they work nights, not that it’s any of your business. No bitching or complaining, remember?”
“Fine,” I huff. “So where are you going? You got a date or something?” I ask while eyeing her mostly bare legs.
“Yes, I do.”
“You do?” I say in disbelief. “I thought you said you didn’t date!”
“No,” she says while shaking her head and sweeping her hair over her shoulder. “I said I don’t date rich boys.”
“Oh, so you’re going out with a poor boy tonight. Where to? The thrift store and then dinner from a dollar menu? I think you may be a tad overdressed.”
“I happen to enjoy vintage clothes and greasy burgers and fries, thank you very much,” Maddie replies with her chin raised, and I think she’s actually telling the truth about that. Have I ever seen a girl in my social circle eat a fast food burger? No, I don’t believe so. If it’s not green or low in calories, then it doesn’t make it on to their plate.
“So, here are the rules,” Maddie starts, ticking them off one by one on her fingers. “Don’t touch anything. Don’t be a dick to my brother or sister. Until I get back, neither they nor you are allowed to leave this trailer unless it’s on fire or there’s a tornado. They can eat and drink whatever they want until eight as long as it’s not junk food, then nothing else after eight. I’ll put them to bed when I get home. Any questions?”
“Ah, yeah,” I say as I glance around the room, seeing the kitchen in the corner, a ratty sofa facing a bookshelf, and a leather recliner with tears on the cushions. “Where’s your television?”
“We don’t have one.”
I blink at her as if she’s speaking in a foreign language. “You don’t have a television anywhere in the trailer? Is this like some type of joke? There’s a college football game on, so did you hide it in the closet just to make me sit and stare at the wall while you’re gone?”
“No, we don’t have a television because we don’t need one. Matt and Mandy take turns sharing my old laptop for playing Minecraft or watching Netflix whenever they’re not reading. And if I’m in the mood for wasting time, which is hardly ever, then I stream from my laptop.”
“That’s like the saddest shit I’ve ever heard,” I tell her, and she rolls her eyes again.
“You’re just spoiled, rich boy. It wouldn’t hurt you to pick up a book once in a while.”
“I didn’t realize people still picked up actual books,” I tell her while I read the spines of the old tomes on her shelves. It’s a bunch of classics, some with library tags on them. “I thought everything was put on e-books nowadays.”
“Like you read those either,” she mutters, just as a knock sounds on the door. “Ah, okay, um, call me if you need me but only if there’s an emergency.” Maddie spins in a circle, like she’s looking for something before she finally starts toward the door.
“You said to call you, but you don’t have your phone on you,” I point out.
“Yes, I do. It’s right here,” she says, pointing down in her cleavage, which is sexy as hell.
Curious to see the type of guy she’s into, I follow behind her.
“What are you doing?” she hisses over her shoulder.
“I should probably get a look at the guy in case you never come back. I’ll need to give the police his description.”
“Fine, but do not make any asshole comments,” she warns with her hand on the doorknob.
Maddie jerks open the door, revealing a grown ass man with a black, full beard telling me something I didn’t know about her. Apparently, the feisty redhead likes bad boys. Who would’ve thought?
The guy has holes all in his face and ears, including a lip and eyebrow ring, and tats down his arms, looking like a reject from a biker club in his plain white tee and ripped jeans. His dark eyes eat up Maddie in her tiny dress while the tip of his tongue flicks his lip ring back and forth as if he’s dead set on eating something of hers tonight.
“Hey, babe. You ready?” he asks with his voice all raspy, trying to sound cool. The dude is a total loser. What does she see in him?
“Um, yeah. Let’s go,” she says, placing her hand on his chest to push him back out the door. “Where are we going?” Maddie asks him before turning back to me and glaring her warning that says her siblings better be alive and uninjured when she gets back.
I hear the douche tell her he’s taking her to play pool before the door closes in my face. Which is sort of…genius.
There’s no way Maddie can bend over a pool table in that dress without giving him a good long look at her panties.
Then I can’t help but wonder which ones she’s wearing. The red ones I saw the first day of school or maybe the black thong…
Hold up. Is she going to fuck him tonight?
She better use two rubbers, because he looks like he’s got Hepatitis A through Z.
And why do I even care if Maddie screws some loser?
I don’t. Or at least I didn’t until she left with him.
Now I find myself pulling the curtain on the front window back to watch them together a little longer because this is a whole new side of Maddie I’ve never seen before and I’m beginning to become just as infatuated by her as Blake.
Chapter 9
Maddie
My first date is nothing like I thought it would be.
I thought Sean and I would talk and to get to know each other, play a little pool, maybe have some food…
We made it to the passenger side of his mustang parked next to the trailer before he flattened the front of my body against it and his mouth chomped down on my neck while his hands grabbed my hips.
“Damn, babe,” he whispers. “You’re looking so good I’m gonna have to have you now and then at least one more time before the night’s over.”
“H-have me?” I ask with my palms braced on the roof of his car, wondering if he means what I think he means. Then, Sean’s hiking up the bottom of my dress until it’s around my waist and slipping his hand between my thighs, confirming my suspicions.
“What did you expect when you come out here, dressed like that?” he asks and then his tongue ring is flicking over my earlobe. His palm shoves down the front of my thong panties, making me gasp from the discomfort when his fingertips delve into me possessively without any teasing or finesse. Instead of being turned on, my first thought is I wonder if his hands are clean?
“You want to go back into your place to fuck in your bed, or do you want to just ride me in the front seat of my car?” he asks as he presses his hard bulge against my bottom.
“Ah, neither,” I say as I tug on his hand to pull it out of my panties and then jerk my dress back down over my ass. “I’m a virgin.”
“A virgin?” Sean says as if it’s a foreign word he’s never heard before. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope.” I spin around to face him, hoping he’ll put a little more room between our bodies. Instead, he grinds himself into my stomach and tugs the top of my dress down, sending my phone tumbling to the ground and revealing my bare breasts to the night air. He reaches up to pinch both of my nipples at the same time.
“You look like a vir
gin who is trying her best to get fucked tonight. Let me pop your sweet cherry for you. It won’t hurt but a second.”
“No, thanks,” I say as I kneel down to find my phone and make sure it didn’t get cracked.
Sean apparently thinks I’m kneeling for something else entirely.
“Oh yeah, babe. This works for me too,” he tells me while unzipping his jeans with one hand and grasping my chin in the other to hold it in place.
God, men are so…infuriating! Everything is always about sex. But it never dawns on them to ever give pleasure, only to receive it. I’m so sick of selfish fucking bastards!
“Open wide,” Sean tells me. He doesn’t ask if I want to suck his dick, but he tells me to do it instead. “You’re so hot I’m not gonna last long.”
“That’s disappointing,” a man says from somewhere behind Sean. “If she was ugly, I’m sure you could go all night, right?”
“Do you mind, asshole? We’re sort of in the middle of something here,” Sean says over his shoulder, which gives me time to find my phone on the ground and stand up again.
“Maddie?” the interloper asks, waiting for my answer to whether or not he should go. I finally realize it’s Aric even though his voice is a few octaves lower than normal.
I tug the top of my dress back over my boobs and make sure that I’m all covered up before I step out from in front of Sean. “I’m not feeling well, so I think I better stay home,” I say while taking a sidestep around my date and finally coming face to face with Aric. He looks bigger in the dark, broader, and the look on his face is angrier than I’ve ever seen it, which is really saying something.
That’s why I shouldn’t have been all that surprised when Sean grabs my arm and Aric throws his around the older man’s neck and applies pressure. So much pressure that Sean lets go of me to try and pry Aric’s arm from the front of his throat.
“Maddie, get back inside,” Aric growls.
