“I’ve got school there,” she replied. “But I think you should just drop me off at the gas station. I’m starting work tonight at the Moose, so I’m going to call in and let them know I can’t get into town today.”
“That gonna fuck things up for you?”
“It should be okay . . .” she said, her voice trailing off. I glanced over at her but she wouldn’t meet my eyes. God, that frustrated me. I bet she looked Collins in the eyes. Sure as hell wasn’t scared of Blake.
“I’ll give you a ride,” I decided. “Got shit to do in town, so I’ll bring you back out tonight, drop you at the Moose. You can catch a lift home afterward with your girl.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“I know I don’t need to do it,” I snapped, annoyed. Jesus, what was wrong with me? You’re jealous, dickwad . . . “But I’m going to, so just accept it and move on. You call Earl when we hit cell service. He’ll go out and pick up your car, tow it back to his shop. You need a ride tomorrow, I’ll take you where you need to go.”
Shit, at this rate, I’d be offering to run her out to Joe’s for a quickie after she got off shift. Silence fell as we drove, my fingers tapping on the steering wheel as she stared silently out the window. Ten minutes later we reached the Kingston junction and I pulled out onto the interstate.
“So how are you?” she finally asked, breaking the silence. “I haven’t seen you around for a while. Then yesterday I saw you twice.”
I heard her voice catch, and smiled cynically.
“Three times,” I reminded her.
“What?”
“You saw me three times. The diner, the bar, and through my window from the roof.”
She choked and I bit back a laugh. Thought she’d gotten away with that, did she?
“Okay, I saw you three times,” she admitted. “What were you doing in that apartment?”
“That seems a little obvious. Blow job,” I said, feeling a little better. Becca might be skittish, but she was still interested. Last night proved it. She coughed and I decided to show her some mercy. “I’m moving in. Got the keys yesterday—going to be back in town for a while, needed a place to stay. It’s cheap and convenient. That a problem for you?”
“No, of course not,” she said quickly. I glanced over at her, but she still wouldn’t look at me. Well, fuck . . . I needed to calm down, give the girl a break. She’d been the victim all those years ago, not me. Needed to start thinking with the big head.
“Seriously, if it’s going to be a problem, now’s the time to say something. Didn’t think too much of it—it’s a small town. Not a ton of places to rent and the price was right.”
“It’s not a problem.”
“Good.”
Silence. Five minutes later she was still staring out the window. Now I couldn’t tell what the hell was going on. “I do something to piss you off?”
Becca shook her head, then she finally raised her eyes to mine.
“No,” she said.
“Then why won’t you look at me or talk to me?”
“I’m talking to you right now.”
“Don’t give me that—you’ve been doing your best to ignore me on the whole ride. If we’ve got an issue, let’s get it out there.”
“You made me lose my job,” she replied suddenly.
“McDougal was flipping you shit. I don’t care how big Blake is, he couldn’t take on that whole crew by himself. You lost your job because your boss is a bitch who blames other people for her own mistakes, the first of which was allowing an asshole like that inside in the first place.”
“You seriously believe that?”
“Yeah, I seriously fucking believe that. You’re better off without her, and you’ll make more money at the Moose anyway.”
“That’s the other reason I’m mad at you.”
“What?”
“The Moose! I don’t want to work there.”
“Because you’ll make more money? Gee, that’s truly a fate worse than death.”
“Don’t be like this,” she replied, her voice almost a sigh. “Let’s not play games, okay? We have history and that makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want you throwing it in my face.”
“You’re the one who spied on me in my own apartment, not the other way around, Becs. Like I said, you got a problem with me living there, now’s the time to speak out. Otherwise I’m moving past this.”
“Don’t call me Becs.”
“Why not, Becs?”
She glared at me, practically vibrated with frustration. Fair enough, because I was pretty frustrated myself. Not just about our verbal sparring, either. Hearing her pissed-off little voice made my dick harder, which shouldn’t have surprised me because everything about her made my dick harder. Now instead of focusing on what the Reapers might need from me, my mind was torn between two images. One was her naked, spread wide and screaming in pleasure while I pounded her.
The second was that exact same picture, only this time it was Collins fucking her.
I squeezed the steering wheel tighter, then shot her another look. Her fingers tapped against her thigh, full of suppressed energy. Guess Joey-boy wasn’t man enough to tire her out. The deep breaths she took made her tits rise and fall underneath a T-shirt thin enough to show the outlines of her nipples.
Little Becca was all kinds of bothered.
Goddamn, but I wanted to fuck her.