Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Margot squirms and wriggles out of my hold.
Why am I still babbling about Bonnie? Margot’s probably pissed.
Margot
That Bonnie girl thought she was clever, but I saw right through her not-so-subtle hints. If that’s the worst I have to deal with tonight, I’ll be fine.
“I don’t suppose there are bathrooms around here?” I dart a nervous glance into the woods.
“We’re surrounded by nature.” Jigsaw sweeps his hands in front of him, then winces at the horrified expression on my face. “Most of us just grab a tree.”
I wrinkle my nose and stare at the tree we’re currently sitting under.
“Not here.” He jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “Out there.”
“Come on, Margot.” Shelby grabs my shoulder and uses me for leverage to pull herself out of Rooster’s lap. “I ain’t copping a squat in the woods, either. I’ll walk back to the clubhouse with ya.”
Embarrassed she’d overheard us, I open my mouth and shake my head. “I’m okay.”
“Wait a second,” Rooster protests. “We’ll go with you.” He stretches out his leg and kicks his booted foot against Jigsaw’s thigh.
“We’ll be fine,” Shelby insists, holding out her hand to me. “We can’t get lost. Path’s lit all the way to the parking lot.”
I take her hand and stumble away from the blanket. “I think my butt fell asleep.”
“See, it’s time to stretch our legs,” Shelby says.
We walk past different couples getting…carried away in the woods. I avert my gaze and follow Shelby’s steps. At the clubhouse, a bunch of girls, including Bonnie, are sitting on the front steps vaping and laughing. The air around them reeks of sickly sweet apples.
“Hey, Lala,” Shelby says, ignoring the other two girls.
Bonnie and the other one glare at me but I follow Shelby’s lead and don’t say anything.
Inside the house, Shelby marches straight to the bathroom, throwing a wave at a few brothers who say hi to her. “Lala’s one of the girls who usually hangs out downstate,” Shelby explains. “She’s nice. The other two, meh.” She shrugs and pushes her way inside the bathroom.
Now that we’re here, I suddenly have to pee really bad. I all but knock Shelby down to get to one of the stalls.
The sound of the door opening and closing again reaches me. A gut feeling says it’s one of those girls. I wait until I hear Shelby finish, then join her at the sinks.
I’m right. The girl pretending to fix her lipstick had been sitting next to Bonnie outside. She has short black, choppy, cropped hair that drags to her shoulders in sad little wisps, and freckles dotted along her nose. She’d be cute, except for the dumbest haircut I’ve ever seen on a woman. I wash my hands and don’t bother saying anything.
As Shelby’s finishing at the sink, the girl tries to step around her.
“Don’t start trouble, Dee-Dee,” Shelby warns.
I turn off the water and grab a paper towel, watching their interaction in the mirror.
“What?” The girl widens her eyes to a comically innocent degree. “I just wanted to say hi. I’m trying to be friendly. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Margaret, yet.”
The little smirk at the corner of her mouth suggests getting my name wrong was intentional, so I don’t bother to correct her.
“You can sprinkle all the sugar you want on that bullshit, Dee-Dee,” Shelby wiggles her fingers in the air like she’s decorating a bunch of pastries, “but you ain’t gonna convince me it’s an apple turnover.”
I burst into laughter, then clap my hand over my mouth.
Dee-Dee frowns in confusion. “What?”
“Don’t mess with my friend,” Shelby warns.
“It’s just so unusual for Jigsaw to bring a lady friend to a clubhouse party.” Her voice drips with syrupy sweetness. “He usually has more than he can handle.” The veneer of politeness drops from Dee-Dee’s face. “That man has a large and voracious appetite. And he likes it rough, something you don’t look like you’d be good at.”
Vomit crawls up the back of my throat and suddenly I wish I hadn’t eaten so much chili at dinner.
If Jigsaw hadn’t warned me and I hadn’t already practiced my fuck-off face on Bonnie, I’d probably burst into tears.
Instead, I adopt Shelby’s disinterested posture and turn back to the mirror, pretending to check the makeup I’m not even wearing.
“Jigsaw almost had you banned from Downstate for tryin’ to fill my ears with tales about Rooster,” Shelby warns. No wonder she doesn’t like this woman. “Whaddya think he’s gonna do when he hears you talking trash to his ol’ lady?”
“Don’t the guys have a saying, Shelby,” Dee-Dee teases in a slow, cruel tone. “Snitches get stitches?”
“Yeah?” Shelby squares her shoulders. “Well, I got my own saying—bitches get stitches too.”
Enough of this. I whip around and pull the pocketknife Jigsaw gave me earlier free. I hook my nail in the notch, trying to casually flick it open and failing miserably. It had been so easy in the truck when my hands weren’t shaking.