Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
I was one hundred percent being petty. Monroe and Wolf had been neighbors their whole lives, but surely she was violating some kind of girl code.
Monroe turned in the seat. One red brow lifted. “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Mature.” She faced the front again just as Cassie opened the door and slid behind the wheel.
Cassie’s gaze darted from me in the back seat to Monroe beside her. “Was that Wolf Brookes I just saw?”
“Yeah, he was just saying, ‘Hi,’” Monroe said.
Or coming to gloat. I was sure he’d heard about my attempted murder of Brent. If not, it was convenient timing.
When Wolf’s old silver Chevy pickup reversed out of a spot across the lot, I noticed Bellamy, one of Wolf’s friends from back home, sitting in the driver’s seat. They were probably up to some bullshit. Stealing or dealing, like they always had. I’d heard Wolf was back into that stuff.
“Well, he can fuck off.” Cassie cranked the engine. At least someone had my back.
I knew I was being unfair to Monroe, but seeing Wolf that day, of all days, had me feeling raw. In a weird way, though, it reminded me that I would be okay.
Brent had broken my heart, but I’d survived Wolf’s ripping it out. Granted, I’d cracked my own ribs and held my chest open for him.
Wolf’s truck pulled onto the street, leaving a cloud of dark exhaust. A niggling sadness washed over me as I watched him disappear. At one time, Wolf had been my home, my safe harbor, my everything. In my darkest hour, his tattooed arms had felt like the only thing holding me together. We had been bonded in ways I could barely explain.
I used to think we would always find our way back to each other. Back when I couldn’t have fathomed the amount of damage a person could do to another.
Closing my eyes, I fought the knot in my chest and focused on my breathing. “My mind is calm,” I whispered. “Pain is weakness leaving the body.”
That was a good one. Wolf had caused me plenty of pain, and he’d definitely been my weakness.
“You and those damn affirmations,” Monroe mumbled.
Those affirmations had become so habitual that I’d almost forgotten it was Wolf who’d introduced me to them in the first place. His mom had used them to help her accept that she was dying. So, when I had felt like I was breaking, he started giving them to me in little notes, thinking they might help. In a messed-up way, those stupid little quotes were all I had left of him.
“You know what’s better than hippy positivity?” Cassie said, ramming the car into gear. “Setting shit on fire.”
That was the truth. What I needed to do was leave all thoughts of Wolf Brookes there, at that gas station, focus on setting my ex-boyfriend’s car on fire, getting revenge, and feeling better about my crappy life.
A few minutes later, we turned onto Brent’s dead-end street, and Monroe looked over her shoulder. “You sure you want to do this?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“If we get caught, you might go to jail for arson. Your parents…”
In my anger, I hadn’t really considered all the ins and outs. With my dad sick, the only thing standing between my parents and homelessness was the small amount of money I managed to contribute each month. It was a constant weight on my shoulders, and one Brent had known all about. Yet, he’d still cheated…
“I’m burning that car.” This was for me. The first thing I’d done for myself in a long time. “If you guys want out, though, I understand.”
“No!” Cassie said. “I want to burn shit.”
“You know I’ve always got your back.” Monroe turned to the front again. “That’s why I’m double-checking.”
Cassie slowed to a stop across from Brent’s house, with its grime-covered windows and random couch on the overgrown lawn. “You have got to be kidding.” She pointed toward Brent’s drive, where his dark-green Challenger was parked.
It took me a second to process the sight of Wolf standing beside the driver’s door—the driver’s door with a smashed window. He popped the lock just like I’d seen him do a hundred times, to a hundred other cars.
“Oh, fuck no.” I threw open the door. Not that car. That car was mine.
Wolf slipped behind the wheel, which meant I only had seconds.
“What’s got you so pissy, Jade?” Bellamy’s voice drifted across the street.
I turned, annoyed at the sight of his smirking face leaning out of the driver’s side of Wolf’s truck. The engine was running, and I knew he’d be ready to flee the second Wolf got that car started.
Flipping him a bird, I stormed forward. I couldn’t even shout at the prick, or I might wake someone from their hangover and ruin my whole plan. Well, he was already ruining my whole plan.