Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 113837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
“Your girl?” Jackson laughed. “You want your ass beat over that bitch, West?” Jackson said.
Bellamy’s jaw set. Blind rage blanketed his face. Jackson took a swing. Bellamy didn’t even flinch, simply ducked, then popped up and socked Jackson square in the temple.
Jackson’s head snapped to the side before he fell to a heap on the tile floor.
“Now, who's the bitch?” Bellamy spat on him, and all hell broke loose.
The rest of the guys went at each other, everyone throwing jabs. Hendrix screamed “cocksuckers” at the top of his lungs before literally leaping into the fray. I couldn’t tear my eyes from Bellamy, the way he moved so effortlessly, all coiled muscles with an air of calm that contradicted the violence. I liked to think I was above such things. Turned out, I really wasn’t. The way he moved made me crave his scarred hands at my throat, his body over mine, dominating me—sick, twisted, addiction.
Olivia pulled her phone from her purse, swiping her fingers over the screen before placing it to her ear. “Yes. I need to report a fight…”
Shit. I grabbed Nora’s arm and dragged her out of the booth, ducking around fallen Barrington guys and swinging fists before I hauled her out the door into the humid Alabama air.
Nora followed me out onto the highway, making it past the pawnshop before she stopped and sighed. “We can’t walk home.”
“It’s fine.” I tapped over my phone as we walked down the litter-strewn shoulder. “I’m getting an Uber.” Correction, there were none because it was Dayton! Cars rushed by us, and a truck beeped its horn, kicking up a gust of wind. We kept walking, and my mind whirled at a hundred miles an hour. Bellamy, Jackson, Max...Nora turned up with Max. The idea that she might date a guy like that left a horrible sick feeling in my gut.
“You know, I really don’t think Max is a good guy, Nora.”
“Drew...”
“I spoke to a girl today who was date raped by him. Call it gut instinct, but I believe her.”
She huffed and folded her arms over her chest. “Can we not talk about this right now?”
I glanced at her, with her chin dropped to her chest, traipsing along beside me. She looked defeated, and I had a feeling she did, in fact, believe it; she just didn’t want to. She wanted the guy to actually like her, and that was understandable. I felt bad for her. “Okay.”
We made it halfway down the shittiest block I’d ever walked in my life before a car slowed beside us. The passenger window lowered, and Bellamy leaned around Hendrix. “Get in the car, Drew.”
Hendrix glared at me from the passenger seat like I’d stolen his favorite toy.
Nora crossed her arms over her chest. “So what? We can get hauled off to jail when they report your tag, Bellamy. No thanks. We’ll walk.”
I took one look at the hookers loitering outside the pawnshop across the street. The car idling at the corner with what was one hundred percent a drug deal going down.
Hendrix leaned over the lowered window, grinning. “Aw, Snora Nora is all pissy wissy because her Barrington turd bucket got his ass handed to him. Again.”
“I don’t give a shit if you wanna get in Nora. But Drew...You get the fuck in.” Bellamy’s voice was authoritative and deep, and it sent white-hot heat crawling into my cheeks.
Hendrix slumped in the seat, rolling his eyes while he mocked Bellamy.
I turned to Nora. “Just get in. It’s like five minutes or a half-hour walk through...this shit.” For all of Bellamy’s shit, I knew he wouldn’t actually leave her here.
“Whatever,” she said before moving toward the car.
Hendrix climbed out of the front, throwing himself into the back and patting his thigh. “Time to get all cozy, Nora Bora.”
The scent that was all Bellamy greeted me the second I sank into the passenger seat. His hand landed on the stick shift, and my attention went to his grazed knuckles before moving to the split in his lip. I told myself that the heat churning in my gut was just a reaction to the violence, but I knew it was more than that. Bellamy was a brand of awful that I wasn’t even sure I wanted to escape anymore.
He floored the engine, fishtailing back onto the highway before running a red light. When we reached the interstate, Hendrix popped between the seats.
“You two gonna fuck like stray cats and dogs tonight or what?” He whacked Bellamy on the back of the head. “Meow-fucking-meow.” He flopped onto the backseat on a cackle.
“No. I hate him,” I said, turning around to face the back of the car.
“Like that means shit. I hate Hora Nora, but I’d still let her sit on my dick and take a spin. Don’t worry, stumpy legs, no one will judge your judgment if you take a ride on my Whorey-Go-Round.” He pinched Nora’s side, and she slapped him in the face. I gaped for a moment because everyone knew Hendrix was crazy.