CHAPTER TEN

   Blake

   “Would you assholes hurry the fuck up?” On the other side of the counter, Josh bounced on his toes. I decided to sweep extra slow, just to piss him off. “You’re a dick,” he spat, and then looked to the doorway of the prep area. “Seriously, Not Abby! Let’s go.”

   I laughed. “What’s with you?”

   His eyes narrowed. “Fire truck you. I get one night a month and you—” He raised his voice. “You guys are being slow on purpo—” He broke off, giving me enough reason to stop sweeping and face him. His mouth hung open. Then a smirk developed and a low whistle came from him. “Holy shit, Chloe, you clean up good.”

   I spun around quickly. Too quickly.

   We hadn’t spoken much since yesterday’s shift. Once she’d brought up Hannah, the mood had shifted. Even though she had every right to mention her, I was still pissed.

   “I wasn’t sure what your plans were, so I didn’t know how to dress.” She chewed her lip and looked down at the floor. Her dress was loose but short. Too short. She cleared her throat.

   My eyes snapped up. I’d been staring at her legs. “You look nice,” I told her.

   “Thank you.”

   “Can we go now?” Josh whined from behind me.

   “Yeah,” Chloe and I said in unison, but our eyes remained locked, refusing to budge.

   “You guys are fucking ridiculous. I’ll wait by your car, Chloe,” Josh said as his footsteps faded.

   I waited until I thought he was far enough away before speaking. “You look nice.”

   “You already said that.”

   “I did?”

   She nodded.

   “Maybe you deserve to be told more than once.”

   Her breath caught. “I’ll wait at my car.”

   Chloe

   They directed me out to an abandoned basketball court in the middle of nowhere. Apparently, that was their way of letting loose.

   “There’s no fucking room in this backseat,” Josh complained. He sat sideways with his knees up and skateboards on either side of him. He and Blake must have planned ahead and skated to work.

   Blake and I both turned around and laughed at the sight of him. “I didn’t really plan on anyone ever sitting there.” The squeal of the hand brake when I lifted it echoed through our surroundings.

   “You should probably get that looked at,” Blake said, holding on to the top of the windshield. The nights were getting warmer, and I was able to drive with the top down more often.

   “I plan to.”

   Josh jumped out of the car, not bothering to wait for us. I only had a two door. I’d never needed room for anything more. “You know what I plan to do, Chloe?” He pointed his finger at me. I slumped farther into my seat. Blake’s deep chuckle reverberated in my ears. “I plan on getting fucked up!”

   After the third beer in ten minutes, he pulled out a Ziploc bag. I knew what it was without looking.

   “He doesn’t do this often,” Blake explained. He sat back on his outstretched arms, next to me. We were on the hood of my car, watching Josh. “I’m not judging,” I said quietly, turning to face him. “So he doesn’t hear from Tommy’s mom?”

   “Never.”

   “Sucks.”

   “Yeah.”

   “And school? Does he ever plan on finishing?”

   “Don’t know.” He dropped back and leaned on one elbow so he could face me. “He says it’s hard to make plans when your future is so uncertain.”

   “Huh.” Turned out Josh and I had more in common than I’d thought. I watched him mumbling to himself as he paced back and forth, only a few feet ahead of us.

   Taking a drag of the joint and holding it, he pointed his finger between us. He didn’t speak, not until he’d exhaled the smoke and taken a few steps toward us. “You know what I miss?” He handed Blake the joint and clasped us both on the shoulders. “Pussy.”

   Blake chuckled.

   “I. Miss. Pussy.” He directed his glare at Blake. “And you, dickface. You get pussy whenever you want. It’s as if she’s an open door, and you can just walk in freely. Here, Hannah,” he mocked. “Here’s my cock.”

   “Oh my God!” I couldn’t contain the laugh that escaped.

   Blake took a drag, then offered it to me. I declined. If I smoked, I did it to lose myself, and I didn’t want to do that tonight. Only certain nights, like the night I met Blake. “It gets worse.” His words were weak as he tried to hold the smoke in his lungs.

   “And you, Chloe,” Josh continued. “Chloe. Pshh. Dumb name. I’m calling you Chlo. No. Dumb name, too. C-Lo!” He laughed to himself, but for only a second before his eyebrows furrowed. “C-Lo, I bet you’re the same. You can probably get all the cock in all the world.” He threw his arms out to his sides and spun around dramatically. “But not Joshua. Joshua gets no pussy.” He looked back at Blake. “Hunter. Dickface. Free pussy.”

   “Dude, random words are not sentences.”

   “Fuck you, Free-Pussy Hunter.” He paused. “Hunter? It doesn’t even suit you. You don’t hunt for pussy. It’s like they scream for you!” His voice changed to match that of a whiney girl. “Take me, Hunter. Take me now!”

   Blake’s embarrassed laugh made his head fall forward and onto my arm.

   Josh took the joint from his hand and walked away. “I’m Hunter,” he announced, grabbing on to his junk. “What’s that, tree? Oh, you want my dick? Sure! I’m Blake-fucking-Hunter. Take all the dick you want.”

   “Quit it!” Blake yelled. “You’re making me sound like an asshole in front of Chloe. You’re breaking bro code. Not cool, dude!”

   Josh ignored him. Opting, instead, to start humping the tree.

   “Oh my God,” I laughed.

   Blake looked up at me with embarrassment. “Kid’s lost it.”

   “He’s allowed.”

   “Yeah,” he said sadly. We watched as he moved away from the tree and started pacing again. “So what about you, C-Lo? What are your plans after high school?”

   I looked down at him. His eyebrows were raised and his head tilted lazily . . . but his eyes . . . his eyes held a depth in them that knocked all sense out of me. For a second I wanted to tell him everything. The truth about me and my future. “The Road.”