8. Monroe

EIGHT

monroe

Balancing my coffee in one hand, I dialed the combination for my locker and tugged it open. I was running on three hours of sleep after working last night, and I'd debated ditching this morning, but that wasn't going to get me out of that strip club or this shit town. I grabbed my books and rounded the corner, stepping straight into the path of a fight. A jock shoved some guy right into me, knocking me over and sending my books and coffee flying across the hall.

Glaring at him, I rolled to my feet. "Thanks, dickhead."

Zepp was like a predator; all the little birds stopped tittering when he was near. Maybe that was why I felt him before the guy's gaze slid past me, and the color drained from his face.

"Give her, her fucking books." The low growl came over my shoulder.

The guy nearly dropped to his knees to scoop up my belongings, dusting off the covers before handing them to me. I didn't need Zepp's help. I could fight my own battles.

When I turned around to shout at Zepp, he was halfway down the hall with Hendrix and Wolf.

Ever since I'd made that deal with him, my life had been nothing but upheaval. I didn't like his attention, and I definitely didn't enjoy the way my body threatened to betray me anytime he got a little too close. I couldn't deal with going to the cafeteria and playing our twisted little game. So instead, I marched outside to the parking lot, sat on the hood of my crappy car, and texted Jade.

A few minutes later, she snuck around the side of the building, then sprinted across the parking lot and hopped up beside me. "You okay?"

A cloud rolled across the sun, stealing the warmth for a moment. "Yeah, I just needed to get away from all... that ." I waved a hand toward the school.

"You mean Zepp and Hendrix?" She laughed when I narrowed my eyes.

A few of the football players made their way out of the gymnasium, heading toward the football field, Chase in the middle. He glanced across the parking lot and shot me one of his charming smiles, then waved.

Jade leaned back against the windshield, a dreamy glaze to her eyes that almost made me embarrassed for her. "Chase is hot. Why haven't you ever dated him?"

I laughed. The idea of Chase and I being anything aside from strictly platonic was amusing. He might have been the popular guy now, but that boy had always been too nice for his own good. Football was the only thing that saved his ass from getting beaten.

"Chase isn't my type," I said.

"No one's your type."

That wasn't true. Zepp was exactly my type, and I evidently had horrible taste in men because Chase was far less of an asshole.

"You sure you aren't lesbian?" she asked on a snort.

I rolled my eyes. "If I turn, you'll be the first one to know."

The breeze kicked up, and the clouds rolled away, allowing sunlight back through.

"Look, you're hot, but I don't want you." Jade exhaled on a laugh. "I also don't want to get beaten up by Zepp."

That cut all humor. "I hate him."

"He looks at you like he wants to bend you over something and go to town."

My cheeks heated when I glared at her, and she had the nerve to smile.

Jade pushed off the hood of my car. "And you look at him like you'd let him."

"I do not! You're supposed to be on my side."

"I am. Which is why I think you should bang him."

The girl was unbelievable. "You're insane, Jade." I slid off the car and started after her.

"Just saying. It wouldn't be the worst experience in the world."

"I am not fucking Zepp!"

She threw me a look that said she absolutely did not believe me, then thankfully changed the topic of conversation to gossip about one of the teachers who was screwing around with a student.

We walked around the track until the bell rang to change class, then we went back inside before parting ways. I hooked a right down one of the corridors, my steps faltering when I saw Zepp in the middle of the hallway, forcing students to pour around him. Tattooed arms folded over his chest as his gaze zeroed in on me like he'd been waiting for my arrival. The way he looked at me as he approached made my cheeks heat and my pulse hiccup. He threw his arm around my shoulders, the distinct smell of male that oozed from him almost suffocating me.

"I'll pick you up tonight at eight." Zepp threaded a tendril of my hair around his finger, smirking like the bastard he was. "Wear that red-plaid skirt of yours. And a white crop top."

The words grated over my nerves like sandpaper. "Do I look like your personal Barbie?"

"And a red-lace bra," he continued, his eyes on my chest. "If you don't have one, I'm sure I could find one somewhere around the house." A sly grin spread across his lip. "What are you? 34D?"

I folded my arms in front of me. "You should probably ask Leah. She'd appreciate dressing up like a fuck doll."

That didn't even get a reaction. Talking to Zepp was like talking to a brick wall. "And, of course, the boots." He glanced at my feet and raked his teeth over his lip on a subtle groan.

I left him there. I wouldn't wear any of that shit on pure principle.

"Eight o'clock, Roe," he called after me.

Headlights of cars raced by on the highway, stirring the long grass that flanked the trailer-park entrance. The cool breeze whipped around me, making me shiver. The short shorts I had on were no better than the tiny skirt he'd demanded I wear, but for one, I wasn't bending to Zepp's whims, and two, at least my crotch was covered—and that could only be a good thing around him. I didn't trust him, but worse, I didn't know that I could fully trust myself.

A lone headlight appeared at the end of the road, barreling toward me before turning into the entrance. The bike rumbled to a stop beside me like an angry cat. Zepp glared through the visor of his helmet, making a blatant show of dragging his gaze over my bare legs when he pulled it off and handed it to me. "Forgot to wear the skirt?"

"Forgot. Sure. If that's what you need to tell yourself." I pulled on the helmet, then mounted the bike. The second my arms came around his waist, a disturbing sense of familiarity settled over me. He throttled the engine, and the bike shot off down the highway. My hold on his waist tightened, the hard muscle beneath my palm impossible to ignore. The heat of his body seeped through his jacket and into my chest. The smell that was all Zepp wrapping around me when he kicked up the speed.

We passed the abandoned oil factory and several blocks of project houses. Then he took a sharp left onto a dirt bike trail that led up the hill, through the trees, and over the rough ground. The trees gave way to a clearing at the edge of the dump. At least twenty pickup trucks had backed up in a loose circle around a large bonfire, their tailgates open with people sprawled out on them. Zepp parked his bike underneath one of the trees, and I hopped off when he killed the engine.

I removed the helmet and hung it on the handlebar of the bike, taking a quick survey of the shithole excuse of a party. "Why exactly are we here?"

He shoved a Ziploc bag in my hand. "Come back when that's gone."

I stared down at the bag of weed. Dealing drugs? That was why he'd brought me here? It wasn't like this was a bunch of goody-goodies, selling a little dope shouldn't be hard. So why did he need me? Headlights came through the tree line, busted subwoofers rattling before Wolf's truck sputtered to a stop beside us.

Hendrix climbed out, thumbing at his nose while Wolf and Bellamy rounded the back of the truck. "Showing your tits to get a sale is cheating."

God, he was an idiot.

"How much?" I asked Zepp.

"Ten a bag."

When I turned around, the kids closest to us were staring. Great, I officially looked like one of Zepp Hunt's minions.

It took less than an hour to get rid of the weed, and I managed to score a beer while doing it. I chucked the empty can into the fire, then headed through the crowd of Dayton outcasts. I rounded one of the pickups, stopping for a fleeting moment when I noticed Zepp on the rusted tailgate of a Chevy, a brunette in a short skirt straddling his lap. Her fingers combed through his dark, unruly hair while she rubbed her boobs against his chest. Something nasty jabbed at my gut, and I told myself I didn't give a shit.

God, he was so predictable. Here I was, earmarked like a leper because he had decided to stake a stupid claim on me. Yet there he was, carrying on like the whore he was.

Cutting back through the party, I beelined for the truck with the beer keg in the bed. A group of football players lingered at the back. Chase sat on one of the lawn chairs beside it, talking to a girl.

Dale Davison put a beer bottle to his lips and slowly took a swig before speaking. "You finally gonna suck my dick, Monroe?" A few of his friends laughed.

Comments like that were a daily occurrence, and I'd have thought, with the number of times I'd told Dale to fuck off, he would have given up trying.

Chase rose to his feet and gave Dale a hard shove. "Shut up, Davison." He grabbed a cup from beside the keg and glanced over his shoulder at me. "You want a beer, Moe?"

"Sure. Thanks."

The girl Chase had been talking to looked me up and down with a glare. Like I was competition. "Aren't you dating Zeppelin Hunt?" she asked, a bitter tone to her voice. She glanced from me to Chase, then back, a cunning smile to her lips, like she thought slipping that snippet of information would be enough to make him shun me.

"No, I'm not."

"Moe wouldn't date that prick." Chase came to my defense.

The girl turned and walked off in a huff.

"Sorry," I said.

Chase poured a beer, foam spilling over the top as he handed a cup to me. "Don't worry about it. Not my type."

We moved closer to the fire. Chase and I weren't super close these days, but we'd been friends since forever, and he was the only person I wanted to hang out with here.

"I never see you at these things," he said, nudging my shoulder with his.

"I never come to these things." Socializing wasn't on the top of my priority list, especially not with these people.

A small frown set on his face. "I let you braid my hair when we were six, and you won't come to a party with me. But Zepp Hunt…"

"It's not like that."

"So what? You're dealing weed for him now?"

I didn't like the accusation in his voice, but I chose not to answer. I couldn't exactly deny it, but I wasn't about to explain the deal I'd made either.

" Are you dating him?" His narrowed gaze drifted beyond the flames of the fire, and I followed it to where Zepp was still on the tailgate, a beer bottle in hand, and the same girl now shamelessly grinding on him. But his attention wasn't on her or her short skirt. It was pinging between Chase and me.

I sucked in an annoyed breath, my fingers tightening around the plastic cup in my hand. "I already said I'm not."

"Seemed like it in the bathroom the other day. And he's looking at you like you are."

"Well. I'm not," I said, shooting an angry middle finger at Zepp.

Chase's face said he didn't believe me, and it pissed me off. If one of the few people who actually knew me didn't realize that I had higher standards than to date that prick, I was pretty much screwed. I tipped back my beer, downing it in several gulps.

"Sorry I left you with him the other day. I wasn't sure…" Chase drifted off, guilt washing his features.

"It's fine, Chase. I told you to go. It's not like he's gonna hurt me." There wasn't much I was sure of, but I, at least, knew that.

"You should be careful with them, Moe." He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "They don't play."

"I know. It's fine." I glanced down into my empty cup, and Chase took it from my hand. He strode to the keg, fiddling with the pump.

A loud pop erupted from the bonfire, and I moved closer, loving the red-hot heat on my face. That's when I spotted Zepp walking toward me like a rolling storm. Each step angry and deliberate. A bottle of liquor swung at his side.

Tension wound through my gut, my muscles tensing. Chase appeared next to me, handing me my drink, seemingly unaware of the disaster heading our direction. I instantly downed the beer because Zepp was only a few steps away.

He looked at me like I was a running back that he was about to tackle to the ground.

"Don't you dare—"

Thick arms came around my waist, and Zepp tossed me over his shoulder. I dropped the cup and pounded my fists against his back, but it didn't make him stop. He continued across the dump to the tree line.

He set me down, pinning me against the rough trunk of a pine. His nose was inches from mine. "You're not here to flirt." He took a hefty swig from the bottle, his gaze laser-focused on me.

Rolling my eyes, I fished two hundred dollars out of my bra and slapped it in his hand. "There's your damn drug money."

He crammed it into his back pocket while invading every inch of my space. "You didn't wear what I told you to."

I thought we had already been over that. I leaned in until my lips were almost against his when I whispered, "I don't belong to you, Zepp. I'll wear whatever the hell I want."

The subsequent laugh that came from him pissed me off. Everything about him pissed me off—including the girl who was just in his lap. And the fact that it bothered me irritated me more than he ever could directly.

I pressed closer to him, my anger ready to bubble over. "And I'll tell you one thing," I said. "Keep this shit up, and I'm going to make your life really hard." I patted his cheek a little harder than necessary. "Baby." Before I could take another breath, he had me caged against the tree. His proximity made me weak in ways I would never admit.

The leather of his jacket creaked as he inched toward me. "You already do." With one swift movement, he grabbed my wrist and placed my hand against his hard crotch, then offered a full-on, bad-boy smirk. " Baby. "

Like an eclipsed sun, he blocked out everything that wasn't him until even my cold heart beat a little faster, pining for the very thing I hated. And that hate was always a tentative, fine line. The more he annoyed me, the more this thing between us crackled to life, whispering sordid promises into my ear.

In the dark, his eyes seemed like a bottomless abyss, one that I found myself tiptoeing the edge of.

"I'm trying to decide where I'll fuck you first." His whiskey-laced breath fanned across my lips, causing heat to unravel in my stomach. "On the hood of your boyfriend's shiny car or one I steal."

His words trickled over my senses like warm liquid. I should have pushed him off or walked away. Anything— anything but played his game. Yet, I craved this dangerous dance between us. And alcohol made me brave.

"You gonna steal something pretty just for me?" I snaked my hand over his hard chest, then lower. The whiskey in his hand dropped to the leaves with a muffled thud. When I tilted my chin back, Zepp looked at me like he was about to snap. "Because that Vette really does it for me," I whispered.

He fisted my hair, dragging my head to the side and placing his lips by my ear. "I bet he doesn't even make you come." The deep rasp of his voice pulled at something in me.

"What if he's better than you?"

An arrogant smirk crept across his face, before his hand skimmed up the back of my thigh, fingertips teasing the hem of my shorts. My breath caught as heat shot across my skin. Part of me wanted to know what it felt like to be desecrated by Zeppelin Hunt. But the bigger part refused to be another notch on his metaphorical bedpost—no matter how hot he was, or how much beer I'd drunk.

"I'm not Leah Anderson." I grabbed his wrist and tugged his hand away. "You'll have to work a little harder than that to get into my pants."

"I really don't think I will." His nose skimmed along the side of my throat, warm breath heating me in places I wish it didn't. The arrogant dick. "And I would be willing to bet, you go home tonight and play with yourself, thinking about my lips on your pussy."

I was fast being pushed out of my depth here. Zepp was well-practiced at this, and my body hadn't gotten the memo that I didn't like him.

Someone staggered to the tree line a few feet from us, choking and coughing before the scent of vomit reached me, causing me to gag. I was grateful for the interruption, though.

Zepp snatched the bottle from the ground, twisting off the top and taking a sip before he passed it to me. I didn't even like whiskey, but he had me so wound up, I didn't give it a second thought. I pressed the bottle to my lips and took a hefty swig while I let Zepp Hunt lead me from the shadows and back to the party like he owned me.

Fighting him was pointless. He always won because I'd sold my soul.

For three whole months.

For a shitty car.