Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (107 page)

"Night Carl." Tory gave him a little wave.

"Have a good one Tory." He didn’t look up from the game.  “Are you bringing back something to eat Tony?"

"Yeah.  If anyone else comes by, tell them I'll be back in half an hour or so."

"Right," Carl said, then returned his attention completely to the game.

When they got in the car, Tory had to push a bag full of discarded fast food wrappers onto the floor before she could sit down.

"You need to hire a maid." She wrinkled her nose at the aroma of stale French fries that hung in the air of the old car

She cranked her window down, leaning her head out to breath in the cool night air.  He turned the key, the car coming to life with a sputter.

"Why would I need a maid when I've got you?"

"Asshole," she said as he pulled out onto the road.

"You love it and you know it."  He was wearing a cocky grin.

"What would you do without me Tony, really?"

"Guess I'd just have to get laid somewhere else."

She reached over, smacking him in the leg.

"Light me a smoke will ya?" He had spotted a half empty pack in the mess at Tory's feet.  She was reaching to push the car's lighter in when he said "You know that thing doesn’t work.  I think there's a lighter in the console somewhere."

Shoving aside several balled up napkins and two empty cigarette packs, she finally came up with a cheap disposable lighter that looked like it was almost out of fluid.  She stuck a cigarette in her mouth, having to flick the lighter several times before it finally put out a flame.  After taking a deep drag, she handed the cigarette to Tony.

He pulled up in front of the shopping center which housed a grocery store, a dollar store, a movie rental store, and the pizza place several minutes later.  They both got out of the car.

"Why don't you go get the cigarettes while I get the pizza?" He motioned to the convenience store down the block.

She sighed.  "Because I'm only seventeen idiot."

He handed her a wrinkled twenty from his stuffed wallet.  "I'll get the cigarettes and you get the pizza.  I keep forgetting you aren't eighteen yet."

"Cradle robber."

"I know.” He went back to the car, too lazy to walk the half block down the street.  "I'll meet you in front of the pizza place."

It only took a few minutes at the pizza place.  She walked to the edge of the lot to wait for him as he hadn't yet returned from the convenience store.  As soon as he pulled in she opened the door, putting the warm pizza boxes on her lap as she slid in.  She wondered if she could distract him enough that he’d forget about the nine dollars in change left over from the pizza, as she was low on cash because her mother was late with her allowance yet again.

While she was away at school, it was up to Tory to care of buying whatever she needed.  She didn't care as long as she received her money on time.  She'd rather her mother not send her clothes.  Her mother's tastes somehow seemed to vary on the spectrum from old lady to downright whorish.

She pulled a slice of pizza out of the box, taking a small bite of the cheesy, greasy mess, trying not to wince at the over abundance of calories and fat the pizza must contain.  Granted she could eat pretty much whatever she wanted and keep up her figure with little exercise, but this was just too much she thought.

"You want a pack of smokes to take back with you?" Tony said.

"Nah, you never know when they're going to decide that it's time to search.  If they get an inkling that someone has something they shouldn't they search people's shit at random.  Besides, I'm not that addicted."

"But you are addicted to the glory that is the hot body of Tony."

"Sure.”  She finished the pizza and dug in the console for a napkin that wasn't already covered with grease from another trip for fast food, finally finding one that looked unused.  She brushed aside an empty condom wrapper.  "Do you ever throw anything away Tony?"

He grinned at the wrapper in her hand.  "I kept that for a souvenir to remind me of the time that you wanted me so bad you couldn't wait until we got to the house."

She felt heat rise to her cheeks at the mention of their hurried encounter on the side of the road in the backseat "I'm going to clean your car out one of these days when I have more time.  You're going to help me clean up your house, too."

"I like my house the way it is.”

"Shit Tony, a sewer rat wouldn't like living the way you do.  I'm surprised you're not overrun with bugs and rodents.  But maybe they're too disgusted by the whole mess to move in."

"Bitch." He pulled to the side of the road roughly a half mile from the school.

She tried to give him a quick kiss as she exited the car.  "I know.  See ya later Tony."

Having shoved his tongue into her mouth to make what was supposed to be a quick kiss into one that lasted nearly a minute; he pulled back and gave her a satisfied smile.  "Get that tight butt of yours home and into bed.  I expect you to be well rested when you come by this weekend."

"Don't sample too much of your own shit, or you won't make any money.”

She gave him a wave as she hurried down the road which was lit only by moonlight.  Reaching the school, she bypassed the area she knew would light up when the motion detectors were tripped, and went around to the door by the back stairs.  She knew that while it was supposed to remain closed and locked at night, someone had usually propped it open by this time; needing a quick way to get back in from whatever nocturnal activities they were partaking of that particular night.

The door was indeed open.  She slipped in quietly, resetting the dirty old shoe that was holding it open.  She slipped her shoes off in the stairwell because though she knew quite well where the halls creaked on the way to her second floor room, it was better not to tempt fate (or any of the crabby women that lived on every floor of the "dorms" who reveled in catching girls sneaking out or sneaking back in).

Shoes in hand, bag slung over her shoulder, she reached the door that led onto the second floor, opening it and wincing at the tiny creak that it offered that seemed to echo in the quiet hallway.  Standing still for a moment, still hidden partway by the door, she stood halfway in and halfway out of the hallway, listening for the telltale sounds of a door opening, signaling that she'd been caught.

There was nothing.  Taking a deep breath, she stepped out into the hallway, silently shutting the door behind her, and had to stop herself from running straight into Molli, the tall girl with unruly auburn curls who had stolen her boyfriend just after the beginning of the school year.

Molli held a finger up to her lips as she went to the door an "I won't tell if you won't" gesture.  Tory just nodded, though she was furious, knowing that Molli had to be sneaking out to meet Jude.

So what if she had been with Tony she thought?  Molli had no right to be sneaking out to meet the eighteen year old who had been the love of Tory's life for the last two years, since shortly after she'd come to the school at the beginning of Sophomore year.

She opened her door, and slipped into the room, wishing that she had taken Tony up on his offer of sending her with cigarettes because she really wanted one.  With a sigh, she shut her door silently behind her, flipping on the tiny clip on light that rested on her desk.

She set her shoes and bag aside on the floor, and reached into her desk for the picture of her and Jude that she kept there.  It had been taken at the spring dance at his school the year before.

She'd found herself falling in love with him almost as soon as she'd met him shopping in town for clothes on that day early in September because her mother had once again been too "busy" or more like too drunk when she was home she thought, which wasn't often as it was because she spent most of the summer away on vacation with Tory's stepfather.  What was he her fourth husband Tory thought?

Tory could hardly remember anymore.  They were all interchangeable in her head, all having been rich.  There had been a stock broker, and a high class defense attorney who'd defended celebrities and other rich; though not always famous people.  The other two had simply come from money like the present one, living off of ridiculously large inheritances that now dead parents had cultivated.

Tory's parents had never married.  She barely saw the father that had been replaced as soon as Tory's mother Lindsey had found out that while she came from just as middle class a background as Tory's father, with her flowing blonde locks, her icy blue eyes and her trim figure, she was good looking enough that she could turn the heads of men with actual money.  She had capitalized on it, snaring herself one rich man after another, some who were married.  Though it had been years since she'd done that, then it had mostly been in between husbands, husbands who had somehow all managed to be stupid enough not to draw up prenuptial agreements before marriage.

This last one though, had been smart enough to remember a prenup.  Tory figured that Lindsey might have to make sure this one lasted for a while so that she could continue to enjoy her high class lifestyle.  Tory had never been close to any of her stepfathers.  They had all been busy in one way or another and paid little attention to the smart, quiet girl who lived under their roof.  All in all, Tory found herself not caring.

She'd never been close to her mother either, having spent most of her time growing up being raised by various nannies and babysitters.  She’d spent most summers with her paternal grandparents before they had died months apart, shortly before her thirteenth birthday.  She hadn't spent much time with her father.  Though their times together had been good, since he paid attention to her, and acted like he loved her, he had been in a self-imposed sort of exile for the past two years, living in a cabin in some remote location by himself.  She thought maybe it was in Montana, but she hadn't seen him since then long before then.

He sent her letters though, and an occasional care package.  He sent her mostly costume jewelry and junk food, unlike her mother who sent hideous clothes that Tory never wore, sometimes leaving them in the commons area for other girls, sometimes simply throwing them away when they were too laughable to give to anyone.

She looked at the picture for a minute and then shoved it back into her desk drawer.

Tory moved to her dresser, digging out the oversized t-shirt that she always slept in, one that had belonged to her father.  She'd snitched it the last summer she'd spent time with him, wanting to have something of his to make it feel like he wasn't so far away.  It was pathetic that her only parent that really loved her happened to be the one she never saw she thought.

Sighing, she turned off the light of her desk lamp and snuggled into bed.

Chapter 2

She awoke the next morning at six thirty, rolling over and hitting the snooze button with a groan.  She wasn't hungry and dreaded going down to the cafeteria, because she usually found herself sitting alone.  She'd had few close friends at the school, had been pretty much a loner since she was a child, finding most people her age to be hopelessly simple minded.

There were girls at the school whose parents weren't rich but they were mostly a minority.  While Tory felt closer to them than she could possibly feel to any of the rich bitches that flaunted themselves shamelessly, she had had only one close friend the whole time she'd been at Crestview.

Her name was Rebecca.  She was a slight, quiet, beautiful Hispanic girl who had had to leave school when her parents could no longer afford to pay for it.  Her father had lost the well-paying job he'd had for several years as graveyard shift supervisor at a titanium steel factory.  The savings that had been put away to pay for their daughter's private school and college education had gone to keep the large family afloat until he could find work elsewhere.

Turning the alarm off with a sigh, she swung her feet over the edge of the bed, glad that her room had a bathroom.  She'd heard that some of the rooms on the first floor didn't being part of the original floor plan before the school had been expanded. 

She used the toilet and went to the sink, washing her hands and face and brushing her teeth.  Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she noticed that there was a hickey on her neck.  "Yuck.”

"Jerk," she muttered, thinking of Tony.

He'd probably think it was hilarious, since she'd been known to bite him, though it was usually more playful than it had been the night before and she usually didn't leave marks.  Wishing for makeup for the first time in years, possibly ever, she went back to her room, staring at the clothes in her closet.

The school's uniform consisted of a short or long sleeved white button down blouse, and a choice of a pleated navy skirt, navy shorts if the weather permitted or navy slacks.  Could she get away with wearing a turtleneck she thought?

When the weather was cool and the school's heating system was on the blink, which it seemed to be quite frequently; the girls were permitted to wear sweaters over their shirts though they had to be purchased from the school and of the same unimaginative navy blue shade.

It wasn't that cold out yet.  They hadn't been running the heaters but Tory figured maybe she could get away with it.  If she stayed quiet in class like usual she thought, her teachers shouldn't give her trouble unless one of the stuck up bitches whom she seemed to share every class with at least a few of, decided to speak up just so the attention would be on her instead of them while they passed notes to their stupid friends or sent text messages rapid fire on their cell phones.

Figuring she had no choice, as there was probably no one who would loan her the use of their makeup if she were to ask; she slipped the shirt over her head, smoothed it down and quickly pulled her long hair back into a ponytail.

Wishing for her computer, she dug a paperback novel out of her backpack and decided to read until it was time to go to class.

At a few minutes before eight she ventured out into the hall, knowing that she had to make a trip to her locker before her first class to retrieve the books that she needed.  As she walked down the halls she heard a few whispers behind her.

She'd caught snatches many times before, things like "She's so weird" and lately "I heard she doesn't shower" but she never let them bother her.

She got all the books she needed for her morning classes and put them in her backpack so she wouldn't have to return to her locker until just before lunch to get rid of her bag.  Her first class passed without problems.  She was starting to relax, having almost forgotten the reason that she was wearing the turtleneck as she breezed through her history test.

She felt eyes on her and glanced up to see Molli standing beside the desk of their overbearing bitch of a history teacher Ms.  Belmont.

Shit Tory thought.

"Tory." Ms.  Belmont said loudly.  Heads all over the room turned her way.  "May I ask why you're wearing a sweater?"

"I'm cold," Tory muttered, looking down at her desk.

"No one else seems to feel that it's cold enough in here to warrant an extra shirt.  Remove the sweater please."

Stupid bitch, stupid Molli she thought.  The only reason that bitch was listening to Molli's bullshit was because she probably wanted to go down on her.

Feeling herself blushing already, she rose from her chair, pulling the shirt over her head.

"Thank you Ms.  Collins.  Now, if you'd all be so kind as to return your attention to your tests."

"Ooh Tory's got a hickey," she heard the girl across the aisle from her whisper.

How juvenile could you possibly get Tory thought, gripping her pencil so tight that she felt it start to bend in her hands?  Having finished her test, she went to the front of the room, dropping her paper into the basket on the desk.

As she sat back down, noticing that she was the first to finish as usual she heard another girl whisper "slut."  Tory rolled her eyes.  Who was she to talk she thought?  She was the one that dropped her pants for anybody that asked.

Tory noticed that Molli gave her a triumphant smile as the girls started to file out of the room when the bell rang and renewed her vow to get back at Molli.

The rest of the day passed without a hitch.  None of her other teachers bothered her about the sweater.  Tory went back to her room, glad that it was Friday because she'd be able to see Tony the next day.

She thought briefly about going to see him that night but figured it would probably be better if she didn't, thinking that it wouldn't be good to look too desperate.  Tony amused her.  Sometimes she didn't know how he made any money at all.  He was said to give hefty discounts for a good blow job, and he had a habit all his own.  She tried not to think about the other women Tony had
been with, because the whole idea that when you sleep with someone in a way you're sleeping with everyone they've ever been with turned her stomach.

She had been to a couple of his parties while dating Jude.  That's how she'd ended up at his house that night, not quite knowing exactly what it was she was looking for.

He'd been more than happy to let her join the loud party that was going on at his house, and he'd remembered her name.  It had blown Tory's mind since she hadn't remembered being formally introduced to him.  Then he'd gotten her so drunk that she'd had a hell of a hangover the next morning and seduced her.

She settled onto her bed with the paperback that she'd been reading that morning.  She thought she could get away with staying in her room the rest of the night.  She'd eaten a big lunch so she wasn't really hungry, and she figured that she could shower at Tony's the next day.

She yawned, and set the book aside when she had finished it.  She'd always loved to read; finding an escape from her dreary life in the pages of books.  And she'd always loved to learn.  She’d had intelligent enough conversations with Tony that she'd secretly decided that he should have gone to college.

She'd wanted to ask him why he had chosen the life he had, but figured that he might resent the question or blow it off and come off with something sexual so that they'd end up in bed together like usual.

Once she had finished her homework, Tory turned off her light and crawled into bed.  She planned on making a trip to the woods the next morning with her camera.  It was digital.  She liked being able to view the pictures and see how good they were before she saved them, but she liked having the actual prints in her hands.

She'd been lucky that she'd been able to bribe Mr.  Johnson, the teacher who ran the school newspaper; into letting her use the school’s supplies to upload the pictures and print them out.  As long as she left enough money to pay for the paper she used, she could print pictures as often as she wanted, since she’d convinced Mr.  Johnson that she planned a career in photography.

He'd asked to see some of her pictures.  He'd been so earnest she'd had to take several shots of the school and the woods to get him to shut up.  There was a shot she'd taken of the lonely old shack that she thought was quite good.  He’d told her so, too.  She’d caught a look in his eyes then, leading her to believe that Johnson just might have a crush on her.  It was kind of exciting really Tory thought.

He was relatively young.  She knew for a fact that he wasn't thirty yet at least, and he was good looking-tall with slightly shaggy dark brown hair that curled over his shirt collar.  He had nice eyes.  They were a clear blue behind his glasses.  She could tell he had a nice body because he wore jeans and t shirts while he was helping out with the school paper.  She could tell his arms were well defined.  The shirts were just tight enough that they clung slightly to his flat stomach.

She had found herself fantasizing about him several times, wondering what he looked like naked and thinking of how hot it would be to screw a teacher.  But he'd probably get fired.  The person who took over the newspaper probably wouldn't let her use the darkroom that wasn't really a dark room.  It was really nothing more than a converted closet that housed the supplies that they used to sometimes print out the photos that they wanted to add to some archive of pictures that Tory had never seen but had been told about by Mr.  Johnson.

Funny that she didn't know his first name she thought.  Yawning, she turned her face into her pillow, willing her brain to shut down.