Toxic: Logan's Story

by K. A. Robinson

  “Don’t worry about it, Junie. I’ll be fine. I just need you to promise me that this doesn’t leave the two of us. I don’t want anyone to know what’s going on with me. It’s embarrassing.”

  “Claire…” She bit her lip.

  “Junie, please,” I begged.

  “Fine. I won’t say anything. I just wish I could help you somehow.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just focus on taking caring of your kiddos. They need you more than I do.”

  She gave me a weak smile before walking over to a family that had just walked in. I watched as she led them to a table and handed them menus. I smiled as I watched the mom pick her baby up out of the portable car seat and cradle the baby in her arms. A wave of sadness swept over me as I thought of all the things I’d missed out on with my own mother. I just hoped that this baby would have a better life than I had.

  The rest of the morning went by quickly. By the end of my shift, I was dragging. Once my last table was cleared, I walked into the back room and grabbed my purse. I headed out to the front and waved at Sarah, the waitress taking over my tables. She waved back before turning her attention to the two guys she was waiting on.

  Rob came barreling out of his office and headed straight for me. “Claire, I need a favor,” he said when he stopped in front of me.

  “Sure. What’s up?” I asked.

  “I hate to ask you this, but Stacey just called off. Can you work the evening shift, too? I’d ask Junie, but I know she has to pick up her boys from the sitter.”

  My feet screamed at me to run away, but I couldn’t do that to Rob. Plus, I needed the extra money.

  “Of course I’ll stay.” I smiled at him.

  “Thank you. I owe you one, Claire. Don’t think that I haven’t noticed how hard you’ve been working lately.”

  I nodded. “I try. I’d better go put my purse away and head back out onto the floor before Sarah gets overrun.”

  He nodded before turning and walking back into his office. I hurried to the back room, and I shoved my purse in my locker. After making a quick stop in the restroom, I walked out onto the floor. Sarah was running back and forth, trying to take care of her tables as well as mine. I gave her an apologetic smile before heading to my side.

  By the time my second shift was over, I could barely walk. It was a Friday night, and we’d been especially busy. The diner didn’t serve alcohol, which I knew kept away several potential customers, but we were constantly busy with families. Most of them had tipped well, and I ended the day with almost one-hundred dollars in tips. I smiled when I realized I would be eating something besides artery-clogging hamburgers when I left. I might even splurge on a salad.

  “I’m beat,” Sarah said as we wiped down all the tables. “I don’t know how you’re still standing. You’ve been here since we opened.”

  “Sheer will and determination. Plus, I made a ton of tips today.”

  She high-fived me as she walked by. “Nice. Go buy yourself something pretty.”

  I laughed and smacked her on the butt with my towel.

  The tables were clean, the condiments and shakers were filled up, and the floor was mopped, so I walked to the back room and grabbed my purse. After shoving my cash inside, I told everyone good night and headed out to my car.

  I drove across town to Denny’s and ordered the salad I’d been desperately craving. I even ordered a Coke instead of water. I was a splurging fool tonight.

  When I glanced up from my salad, I noticed two guys watching me from a few tables over. Both of them were good-looking from what I could tell. They were around my age, so they were probably students at West Virginia University. Morgantown was a college town through and through, and the streets were crawling with kids. I assumed that these two were local since most of the students had packed up and headed home for summer vacation.

  One of them noticed me staring, and he gave me a smile that sent my heart racing into overdrive. Suddenly embarrassed by my gawking, I looked away and used my blonde hair as a shield between them and me. I’d had a few dates in high school, but they had been nothing to get excited over. I wasn’t a virgin. I’d lost that to Scott Marks my junior year, but I definitely wasn’t skilled when it came to the opposite sex.

  I ate my food quickly and paid my bill without looking over at the guys’ table again. My life was a disaster as it was. Adding a guy would only complicate things more. I walked out to my car and quickly unlocked the door before climbing inside. Once the doors were locked, I started the engine and pulled away from the lot.

  I couldn’t help but grin as I remembered the guy’s smile. He’d been cute from what I could tell. His dark brown hair had been shaggy, but it hadn’t been so long that it looked messy. His arms had looked toned, probably from playing football or basketball. Those were the only two sports, especially football, that people really cared about around here. Once football season hit, that was what everyone would talk about. I wasn’t a big fan of sports, but even I cheered for the Mountaineers.

  I drove back to the restaurant and parked, trying not to think about the cute guy or his smile. I yawned and reclined my seat. Yeah, there was no way in hell I could think about boys right now.

  Excerpt for

  Chapter One

  I groaned and rolled over to escape the sun shining through the window of Joel’s bedroom. My body tensed as I realized for there to be sunlight, then it must be day. My eyes opened, and I grabbed my cell phone from the table beside the bed to check the time. Shit. It was almost three o’clock in the afternoon, and I had a ton of voice mails and missed calls. I couldn’t believe that I’d slept this late. I was so fucked.

  I sat up and pulled the blanket up to cover my naked body. I had snuck out of my parents’ house last night after they grounded me for fighting in school again. I’d thought I could sneak back in this morning before they woke up, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen now.

  My eyes traveled to Joel as he snored lightly beside me. The sun was directly on his back, showing off the skull and crossbones tattoo that covered most of the area. His normally guarded expression was gone while he slept. Joel looked like the typical badass, but he was so much more. His body was covered in tattoos—and when I say covered, I mean, covered. There was barely an inch of him that didn’t have ink with the exception of his face. His hair was a dark brown color, and he kept it just a bit shaggy. His eyes were a startling green color that made people stop and look twice. His cheekbones and overall face structure would make any male model jealous.

  I smiled dreamily as I thought about our night together. At twenty-two, he was five years older than me, but our age gap never seemed to bother him. We’d been together for almost a year now, and I couldn’t be happier. I’d met him at my cousin’s graduation party two years ago, and I’d instantly developed a crush on him. He hadn’t paid any attention to me, but when I’d started hanging out with some of his younger friends who were in high school with me, I’d finally gotten him to notice me.

  I’d been drunk at a party one night and braver than usual. Girls much older than me had surrounded him, but I had shoved through them when I saw him and walked straight up to him. He’d raised an eyebrow when I stopped in front of him, but I’d simply hopped on his lap and kissed him until I couldn’t breathe. After I had finished, I’d stood up and walked away.

  We’d been together ever since that night.

  My parents weren’t happy that I was dating someone who was so much older and more experienced. The fact that he was covered in tattoos from head to toe hadn't helped my case any either, but I’d sworn to them over and over that Joel and I weren’t having sex. Obviously, that was a lie, considering where I’d woken up just now, but they didn’t need to know that.

  Joel was trouble. I’d known that before I got with him, but I’d still taken a chance, and I was glad that I had. Everyone knew he was the son of the town drunk, and it showed. Joel had one hell of a mean streak. Even when he had been in high school, everyone had
been terrified of him. He had been kicked out for fighting more times than I could count. On top of that, everyone knew he was the go-to guy if someone needed a fix. He’d later explained to me that he’d started selling drugs to help pay the bills that his dad never worried about. Joel was good at dealing though, and he’d stuck with it even when he could have left this town and started fresh.

  He had already been living on his own by the time we met, and I was glad. I wasn’t sure how I would have handled seeing the man who had abused Joel for years. I wanted to cause Joel’s father as much pain as he had done to Joel. I knew it had been years since Joel had talked to his father, but it still bothered me.

  “Joel, wake up. I need to leave,” I said as I nudged his shoulder.

  He groaned in his sleep and rolled over, but he refused to open his eyes. I sighed as I hit his shoulder harder. His eyes finally opened when I started smacking him on the stomach. He shielded his eyes as he rolled over to look at me.

  “What?” he grumbled.

  “I need to go home, like, right now. We slept in.” I stood up and started looking for my clothes.

  “You’re already in trouble. Why hurry home to be yelled at?” he asked as he sat up.

  He didn’t bother to cover himself, and I couldn’t bring myself to look away from his naked body. I loved the trail of dark hair leading down his stomach…to other places. His nose was a bit crooked from being broken more than once, but it didn’t take away from his appearance. If anything, it made him look sexier and dangerous. His eyes were his best feature by far though. They held a vulnerability in them that made me want to crawl into his arms and try to make everything better.

  He was in great shape. I guessed he had to be when he dealt with strangers who were high and desperate for their next fix on a daily basis. The muscles in his arms were well-defined, and his chest was as hard as a rock. I loved curling up in his arms. I always felt like he could protect me from anything.

  “I don’t want to make it worse,” I said as I located my clothes.

  They were next to the door, making it obvious as to how they had come off. We’d barely made it to his room before he started stripping me.

  “Your parents suck. Why do they care so much about you fighting? At least they know their kid can defend herself. Personally, I’d be proud,” he said as he stretched.

  “They’re sick of me getting kicked out of school. They said something about college and doing something with my life.”

  “I fought, and look at me. I’m living the high life.” He grinned at me.

  I rolled my eyes even though I knew he had a point. He used drugs occasionally, but he sold more than anything, and he’d made quite a lot of money doing it.

  “I’m sure they’d be so proud of me if I decided dealing drugs was going to be my career choice in life. I might even get the Daughter of the Year award.”

  I still couldn’t find my underwear, so I decided to skip them. He grinned as he watched me pull on my shorts.

  “Looking for these?” he asked as he held up my underwear.

  I walked over to the bed and held out my hand. “Come on, I need to hurry. Give them to me.”

  “Make me,” he taunted.

  I grumbled as I went to grab them, but he held them just out of my reach.

  “Damn it, Joel.”

  He reached up and pulled me back onto the bed. “Maybe I don’t want you to go home. Maybe I should hold your underwear for ransom, so you’ll stay.”

  “Keep them. I’ll get them another time.”

  I tried to sit up, but he kept me pinned against him.

  “Stay for a little while longer. We can light up and have some fun.”

  “I can’t go home stoned. That’s just asking for trouble.”

  “But you could go home thoroughly fucked,” he said as he ran his fingers down my back.

  I shivered. “I could, but I need to leave.”

  “I’ll make it quick.” He started pulling my shorts down my legs.

  “Joel…”

  “Shh…you know you want to.”

  Of course I wanted to, but I was already in so much trouble.

  He silenced my protests as he rolled me onto my back. His naked body was tight against mine, and I could feel just how much he wanted me. He tweaked both of my nipples with his fingers, making me moan.

  Fuck it. Going home will have to wait.

  “Oh fuck,” I said as he nudged my opening with his dick.

  He leaned down and ran his tongue across my throat and then across my breasts. I arched my back, trying to get as close to him as possible. His hand traveled down my body to my core, and he started rubbing my clit. His dick was still teasing me at my entrance. I tried to adjust my body, so he would enter.

  “I thought you had to go home,” he taunted.

  “I do, but I thought you said you wanted to fuck me.”

  “Oh, I do. Grab the bedposts.”

  I did as he’d said, preparing myself for his entry. He didn’t disappoint. He slammed into me hard enough that I had to hold on to the bedposts to keep myself from moving up the bed. I gasped out his name as he pulled out and ran his thumb along my clit.

  God, I’m going to kill him for torturing me.

  “Again,” I said as I shifted, trying to force him to enter me.

  “You like it rough, don’t you, baby?” he teased.

  “You know I do,” I groaned.

  He ran his hands over my body before grabbing my hips and thrusting into me again. Over and over, he slammed into me until I was gasping for breath. He wasn’t gentle, and I hadn’t expected him to be. It was just the way we were. He liked rough sex, and I was happy to oblige.

  I wrapped my legs around his waist to allow him to go deeper as I met him thrust for thrust. His grip on me tightened as he came closer to his release. I couldn’t hold out much longer either. I was so close. He continued to pound into me as he reached between us. He flicked my clit and sent me screaming into my orgasm. My legs clamped tighter around him as I came. His thrusts became harder and more erratic as he came with me.

  My body went limp. Once my orgasm left me, I could see again. Joel was panting above me with his forehead resting against mine. After his breathing returned to normal, he slipped out and rolled over to his side.

  “I told you I’d make it quick,” he said as he grinned over at me.

  “Yay for you.” I stuck my tongue out at him.

  He continued to grin as he leaned over, and then he kissed me. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

  We both dressed quickly, trying to hurry. Now that I wasn’t staring at Joel’s naked body, the need to get home was strong. I knew I was in trouble, but I just couldn't bring myself to care at the moment. I was tired of spending all my time trying to figure out ways to get around my parents’ rules.

  I knew fighting didn’t solve anything, but it sure as hell made me feel better. Since Joel and I had become a couple, I’d made quite a few enemies, especially from the female population, but I didn’t really give a fuck. He was mine, and if people tried to come between us, I’d take care of them.

  I wasn’t the sweet and innocent girl I’d been before I met Joel. He’d changed me—but for the better. Before him, I’d rarely partied, and I’d never gotten into trouble. Now, I did what I wanted, and I didn’t care what anyone thought of me. I had no friends of my own. I only hung out with his. It didn’t bother me though. I hated girls. My solitude and bad attitude usually led to rumors that I was on drugs or helping him sell them. And both rumors were true, so they didn’t bother me either because it made most people leave me alone.

  But there was always some dumb skank who thought she could talk about me or try to push me around. I knew how to take care of myself. The girls who tried to start fights with me always ended up with blood dripping down their faces as they cowered on the floor.

  Joel had taught me how to fight since he would bring me along to deals. He would even send me out to do them on my own if
he was busy. Most people who were aware of the fact that I was helping Joel deal thought I was nuts, but I considered it a normal part of our relationship. Besides, he never sent me out on deals that were dangerous. He always handled those on his own. I would try to help him as much as possible. I knew that if I got caught, I wouldn’t end up in as bad of a situation as he would since I was under eighteen.

  I didn’t use drugs often —with the exception of weed. While I had no problem dealing, I didn’t want to end up like one of the addicts who I supplied. They were gross and pathetic. Joel smoked weed a lot, but as far as I knew, that was the only thing he did. We both knew that if he started using, his profits would disappear.

  We walked down the steps from his house to where his Harley was parked outside. He was the only guy I knew who was confident enough in his badass reputation to leave his bike out on the street all night. I grabbed my helmet and put it on before climbing on the bike behind him. I wrapped my arms around him as it came to life, and we tore down the street.

  I loved being on his bike more than anything else. I’d made him promise me that we would go on a road trip the summer I turned eighteen. I wanted out of this town and away from my parents. I just wanted to be free.

  The ride was short but exhilarating. We arrived in front of my house faster than I would have liked. While I had been in a hurry to get home, I hadn’t taken the time to mentally prepare myself for the fight that was sure to ensue. Sure enough, the front door flew open as soon as Joel parked and shut off his motorcycle. My mother stomped down the sidewalk to where we were sitting before I even had the chance to take off my helmet.

  “Get. Inside. Right. Now!” she shouted.

  I sighed as I pulled off my helmet. This should be fun. “I can explain—” I started.

  She held up her hand to stop me. “I don’t want to hear it. Inside the house—now.”

  I kissed Joel’s helmet and hopped off the bike. He started it back up and left, leaving me to deal with my mother alone.