It’s like I’ve waited all fucking year to complain to someone, and the words pour from my mouth. “I’m going insane. One minute, we’re screwing around, and everything is great, and I think she’s finally into me. Then the next, she’s not responding to my messages.”
“When did you last hear from her?”
“Three hours.”
Cash tries not to laugh but fails miserably. “Fuck, man, give her some space to breathe.”
I scoff, not liking the sound of that at all. Last time I let her out of my sight, a guy tried his luck and kissed her.
Ah, fuck. Now I want to punch something.
Or someone.
The only reason he’s not six feet under already is that Jessica wouldn’t appreciate it if I made him disappear.
I shake my head as tires squeal, hard enough to skip, smoke curling low across the asphalt.
Why did no one tell me that a girl from the Falls, of all places, would waltz into my life, hook her claws into me, and shake me up like a snow globe?
“I don’t know what the fuck to do.”
Cash watches the sleek cars slide through the dense crowd to take their positions at the starting line, the ground trembling with each rev. “You’re in love with her.”
In love? That’s a bit of a stretch. I like her. We have fun together. But love?
“Don’t give me that look,” Cash says, chuckling. “Anyone can see it, even if you’re not ready to admit it yet.”
“I’m not in love with her,” I mutter, adjusting the Rolex on my wrist for something to do. The scent of warm exhaust, spilled alcohol, and burnt clutch hangs heavy in the air.
“I’m not making fun.” He jerks his chin toward someone in greeting, then adds, “I think she’s good for you.”
My brows knit. “Why?”
I can’t see why he’d think that. Our father would never accept us. He has his own plan for my future, one that doesn’t include a feisty blonde from the wrong side of the tracks.
A muscle twitches in Cash’s cheek before he shrugs. “You know why.”
We sit in contemplative silence. An engine backfires like a gunshot after a few growly revs.
“You’re smiling again,” he adds after a while. “Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I saw you smile. Sure, you’re a grumpy dick anyway, but she makes you happy.”
I say nothing.
Because there’s nothing to add.
He’s right.
“Our world is dangerous, Kane.”
A small pulse flickers at the hinge of his jaw again as he watches a leggy woman in a miniskirt and fishnets walk between the cars, her hand raised.
“If our father finds out?—”
“He already knows about her,” I admit.
The hand drops, and tires scream against the pavement.
“Shit.” Cash exhales, long and slow. “Then you have to make him think it’s not serious.”
