So Trashy (Bad Boy Next Door Book 2) (8 page)

I can’t win for fucking losing with her.

Lou backs away, throwing her hands in the air as she turns.
“Whatever. Look, I’ve got to get off this ankle so it will be good to go by
tomorrow. I start my new job and I need to be ready. And I sure as hell need
the money more than I need to stand here talking to you, because
that
doesn’t
pay.”

She stalks away, leaving me with my dick in the dirt again.

Fuck.

I head back toward home.

When I step out of the trees onto our side of the property
line, Thug Two waits, arms crossed, frown firmly in place.

“Fuck, man. I hired
you
—why is it I that feel like a
kid who just got caught sneaking out?”

He shrugs.

Thug One appears out of the dark. “Hey, Boss. It would
really help if you’d let us know where you’re going.”

I wave him off as I trudge toward the house.

Thug One jogs to catch up. “Sir. You should know, I just
warned the paparazzi to keep their distance. I caught one with a telephoto lens
slinking along the fence at the road.”

The first couple of times you catch paparazzi taking photos,
it’s a little exciting, flattering even. The eightieth time you find them
lurking around, willing to cross all socially acceptable lines, trying their
damnedest to get a shot of your cock hanging out when you take a leak at the corner
of the house, or a picture of your bare ass on a private beach that you paid
huge amounts of money to rent just so you
could
run around naked
if
you
want to—not so flattering, not so exciting.

Now it just pisses me off when they follow me. Find me. Stalk
me.

I thought I knew the price of fame—no one gets it until they
are
famous, but by then it’s too late.

* * *

I let myself in through the backdoor, holding my breath,
hoping Tuffy doesn’t start barking his fool head off. As I creep through the
kitchen, only the ancient clock on the wall acknowledges my presence with its
tick-tick-tick keeping time with each step I take.

Tuffy’s getting old. Must be going deaf, poor boy.

I round the corner and a shock of white shining in the pitch
darkness of the hallway pulls me up short.

“Tuff, what’re you doing?” I kneel to take his fluffy head
in my hands, scratching him behind his velveteen ears the way he always liked.

He sits, his back leg scratching at my hand as he grunts and
groans, pushing his ear against my palm. He rolls to the floor, presenting his
belly for a scratch. His soft fur is about as well-kept as Nan’s silvered hair—of
course, considering they both visit their respective hairdressers every other
week, it’s not surprising.

He lets out a whine and a little yodel.

“Shush. You’ll wake Pops and Nan.” I drop to my ass and pull
Tuffy’s head into my lap. “At least you smell better than the day we found you.”

Lou and I walked along Silo Road, picking up cans. She
needed—what was it? Oh, a new backpack for school. Nan tried to give her one of
my old ones, but her momma wouldn’t have it. Said she wasn’t taking charity
from snotty bitches who look down their noses on her. As far as I could tell, Nan
never did any such thing, but that was Lou’s mom.

Lou and I figured if we earned the money by recycling
aluminum cans, that wasn’t charity.

We dragged our half-full garbage bags of cans through the
grass as we trudged along the side of the road, the sun beating down on us. A
whimper is followed by laughter.

Lou didn’t hesitate. She plunged off through the trees,
following the sound.

We dropped our bags a few yards into the woods, jumping
over brambles and brush as we went deeper. I almost ran Lou over when she
stopped. I grabbed her shoulders, and we stumbled to the edge of the line of
trees.

Lonnie Fisher laughed as he pitched a rock at a
sad-looking lump of fur huddled on the creek bank, half in and half out of the
water. The pup yelped when the stone struck its back leg. Its eyes darted from
Lonnie to Darren Bledsoe standing on the far side of it, then at the creek rushing
behind it.

Lonnie, a sophomore, was a year older and still bigger
than me. He was a helluva lot bigger than Lou. But that didn’t slow her one
bit. Before I could get hold of her, she thrashed through the last clump of
weeds, rushing Lonnie. He never saw her coming.

With both hands, she shoved him into the creek. “You big
bully!”

Darren pointed at Lonnie, laughing like an idiot.

I pushed Lou behind me. “Get the dog, Lou. Let’s go.”

Lou ran to the pup. “I got you. It’s gonna be okay.”

Darren stepped into the water, like he was going to stop
her from taking the puppy. She waded to him and jumped a bit like she was going
to head butt him, faking him out. He fell on his ass with a splash.

She nodded. “Good. Stay there.”

Lonnie dragged himself to the bank, muddy to his elbows,
his eyes hard as stones. “You can’t leave with that dog. He’s mine.”

Lou turned her body, as though shielding the sopping pup
from Lonnie. “No, he’s not. You don’t deserve him.”

Lonnie climbed from the creek, dripping and red in the
face. “You little bitch whore—just like your momma.”

My fist balled and my gut hardened.

“Lou, run.” I glared at Lonnie. “Don’t talk to her that
way.”

He laughed. “Oh, and what are you gonna do about it? Her momma’s
a whore and Loula Mae’s gonna be the same thing. Everybody knows it. Maybe
someday I’ll make her
my
whore.”

I jumped at Lonnie, taking my best shot at his face.

He grabbed my shoulders and tried to throw me aside. I
dug in my heels, gripping his arms and wrestling him to the ground. But he
managed to flip me over and punched me in the eye. Pain flared through my brain.

I managed to get him off me and stand. We exchanged a few
more punches before he got in another headshot, knocking my scrawny ass to the
ground. Lonnie and Darren ran after Lou.

I staggered up and darted into the woods after them. I
ran and ran until my side hurt and my lungs burned. But I couldn’t find Lou
anywhere.

I eventually sat on a stump, head in my hands.

God, please don’t let Lonnie find her.

A few minutes after I gave up, a whisper floated to me on
the breeze. “Buck. Buck. Look.”

I turned this way and that, trying to find her, but still
I couldn’t see her. A little branch bounced off my leg. I twisted to see where
it came from. There she was, up a tree, grinning like a possum eatin’ peaches.
She waved at me with the puppy’s paw.

I stood.

She tucked the pup under one arm and worked her way down
the limbs.

She dropped the last few feet, rolling into the leaves,
puppy sprawling over her belly. When it licked her chin, she giggled and
reached for my hand, pulling me down to join them.

I edge out from under Tuffy.

He lets out a small whine, his tail thumping the hardwood
floor.

I step over him and head to my room. Too bad Lou’s never
half as happy to see me as she is to see Tuffy.

A throat clearing behind me pulls me up short. “Buck?”

“Yeah, Pops?” I reach around the door frame and switch on
the light.

Pops holds out a handful of yellow sticky notes. “Someone
named Adrianne keeps calling.”

I clench my teeth. “You mean Arianne.”

“Adrianne—Arianne, whichever. She really wants to talk to
you. Must’ve called here at least thirty times today.”

“Fuck.”

“Who is she?” Pops scratches his forehead.

“Arianne is…lesson one-oh-one in
don’t mess around with
the producer’s daughter
.”

If I’d known when I met her that she’d be so clingy, I’d
have skipped that pussy. Problem is, I didn’t know, and now I’m stuck between
my dick and a hard place because she doesn’t want to retract her claws and let
me loose. No matter what I tell her.

“So, someone you shouldn’t have taken out?”

“Met her on set, the movie before last. Didn’t really know
who she was when we first…”—fucked—“went out. But it didn’t take long to figure
out she was the producer’s daughter. He’d brought her along because she’d never
been to Italy.”

“And you two didn’t hit it off?” He quirks an eyebrow.

“
She
thinks we did. Now, I’m fucked, because there’s
a leading role I’m trying to land with Razor Wire Productions, who her daddy
now works for—correction, her daddy now runs. Hazards of working in a small
industry.”

He tucks the stack of messages into my hand, folding my
fingers over them. “Well, good luck with that, Son.”

I nod. “Thanks, Pops.”

Good luck. I need more than luck to get rid of this particular
boil on my ass.

The phone vibrates in the seat next to me. I pull into the
parking space and pick it up.

I slide my finger across the screen. “Stephens. What the
hell are you up to?”

“Hiya, Fontaine. I haven’t heard from you since you left. Thought
I’d see what my favorite Marine’s been up to.”

“Shit. I was never your favorite, just the one you never
bagged.”

He chuckles. “All right, you got me. But I always liked you,
even though you never sucked my cock.”

“You have to have a cock to get sucked, Stephens.”

“Man! Still busting balls.” I can hear his grin through the
phone.

“Some things will never change. Hey, I’ve got to go. What
did you need?”

“Well, my buddy Russell and I are taking a road trip. We
both took two weeks leave, and we’re going to Florida. You’re in Louisiana,
right?”

“You stopping in to see me?”      

“Fuck yeah, we are!”

“Text me the deets. I’ll try to make sure I’m off work for a
day or two.”

“So, you don’t mind my friend crashing at your place too?”

“I’ll have to check with my Aunt. It’s really her place, but
I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Oohrah. Let me know if there’s any problem. Otherwise, I’ll
see you then.”

“Sounds good.” I hang up, smiling.

It’ll be good to hang with Stephens again, and this Russell
guy—I don’t know him, but he’s a Marine. Marines are my people. I’ve missed my
people.

Why the fuck did I get out? Maybe I should re-enlist.

Doesn’t matter right this second though. That’s a decision
for another time. Today, I have to do what needs to be done to help Aunt
Delores right now. No matter how much I hate the thought.

I suck in a deep breath, knowing this is stepping backward,
right into the role that everyone I grew up around expected me to play all
along. My stomach turns inside out.

Well, fuck them. They can just kiss my ass. I’ll take care
of those I love, no matter what.
That’s
the thing that separates me from
my mother.