Page 5 of Rent a Bad Boy

“It’s complicated.”

“I’ve got time.”

She starts chewing on her lip. I can practically hear her fighting with herself. Wondering whether she should tell a complete stranger any more of her secrets. Whether this is a smart move.

Spoiler: it’s not a smart move.

But something about her, standing there, half blind and stubborn in the middle of a field full of people who almost trampled her to death, makes me want to hear the answer. That’s not a thing that usually happens to me. I don’t get curious about people. They’re usually predictable and mostly disappointing.

“Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to get in my truck and let me drive you home, and I’ll find him for you. Promise.”

Her laugh sounds exhausted. Like she doesn’t really buy it, but doesn’t have the energy to argue either. She finally gives up and lets me walk her the rest of the way to the players’ lot with one small hand hooked loosely around my forearm so she doesn’t trip over anything she can’t see. She’s got a careful way of walking, testing the ground. Like trust isn’t something that comes easy to her. For some reason, the detail sticks with me the whole way to the truck.

Once we’re inside, she gives me the address. “Promise you’re going to take me straight home?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know... I don’t know you. I don’t know who you are. You don’t owe me anything.”

She’s right about all of that. But what she can’t know, because she doesn’t know who I am—even if she did, we don’t know each other personally—is I don’t normally do nice things for people. I’m not even sure why I’m doing this. I haven’t even taken a shower yet, for fuck’s sake, but here I am, still in my gear, driving this girl home.

“You’re safe with me,” I settle for telling her. “Though you owe me something now.”

She goes stiff. “What?” she whispers.

“An explanation. Why are you looking for him?”

A soft laugh bursts out of her. “Oh. Right. Well, I might need him to... do a little bit of intimidating for me.”

Okay. Now I’m interested. “Who would he be intimidating?”

“Her name is Christine Jones, and she’s the head of the homeowners association, and she’s trying to make me get rid of my chickens.”

Not what I was expecting. I could’ve spent all night and never come up with that. “Chickens. Like actual chickens?”

“No, like fake chickens. The rubber ones that squeak when you squeeze them.” Normally, anybody who made a crack like that while sitting in my truck and having a favor done for them would get kicked out on their ass at the next corner.

For some reason, though, her response makes me laugh. “Okay. Chickens.”

“She’s been sending threats for years now. Over five chickens and one rooster. I mean, come on. They’re not hurting her or anybody else.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard horror stories about homeowners associations. They act like they own the whole world and won’t let people get away with shit.”

“Exactly.” There’s this fierce little edge to her voice that makes my chest go dangerously warm.

“But you’re trying to pay somebody to scare the head of your HOA... over chickens?”

“Well, when you say it like that, it sounds ridiculous.”

“No offense, but it is a little ridiculous.”

“They’re not just chickens. They’re my chickens.” She folds her arms and juts her chin out. “Mine.”

I can’t help it. I sort of respect her for standing her ground. “Well, if you’re looking for an intimidating guy, Everett Stone is pretty much the best you’re going to find around here.”

“That’s what I thought, too, from what I’ve read about him.” She tucks her hair behind her ear and goes back to chewing her lip. “But now I don’t know. I’m starting to doubt myself. He’ll probably think the whole thing is just as ridiculous as you do. But I do have money, and I can pay him to, you know, look menacing. Send a message. That’s all I need.”

She needs a hell of a lot more than that. She needs new glasses, for one thing. She also needs somebody to keep her safe. She’s got, like, zero self-preservation instinct. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have tried to find me on that field. She can’t be more than five feet tall and might weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet, if that. She didn’t stand a chance.