Page 91 of A Perfect World
I snickered as he finished the joint and flopped down beside me.
“To be fair, I’d be intimidated by your expertise, Mr. Kilgalon,”
He slapped my chest, inciting a cough attack. I groaned, rolling away.
“I don’t know about that, the nail marks from Tiny Dancer’s hand necklace say otherwise,” he teased.
The memory of my girl forcing me to beg had my dick stiffening.
“I don’t judge you, don’t judge me.” I grinned.
“Alright, you got me, I like it too every now and then.” He laughed and picked up the guitar from where it rested beside him. The melody tangled with the fuzzy high and warm breeze, lulling me towards a nap.
I barely got an hour straight of sleep anymore. Dreams of belts across my back transformed to blood on a drenched road that shifted to the cigarette burnt motel carpet and the dimly lit hallways of a frat house. My dark deeds stacked taller, but the room in my mind remained the same.
I dug my knuckles into my eye sockets.
“What’s that asshat doing over there?” Jack demanded.
I propped up on an elbow, muscles tensing.
“Who?” I scanned the tree line but didn’t see anyone in the thick underbrush.
Jack squinted, shaking his head. “He’s gone now, but I could’ve sworn I saw Tyler.”
“Now who’s acting paranoid?” I teased. But his admission sank in, stirring awake a host of anxious thoughts. Tyler in the preserve- the same place a man attacked Courtney and watched her blow me behind the theater.
Three times is not the charm.
“You’re sure it was Tyler?”
Jack nodded, navy eyes narrowed slits. “I’d know that glorified bodyguard anywhere.”
The gears in my overactive, sleep-deprived brain whirled. Tyler wasn’t the driver of the SUV. Gerald Bennington, died on impact according to the article Serina found; the coworker in his car hadn’t been named. She was working on cross referencing any hospital admissions for car accident patients, but with three emergency rooms active in a college town, it was a long list to sort through. She didn’t find much on Gerald either, aside from the fact that he worked on campus in the custodial department. I couldn't shake the idea of Merit’s involvement. Tyler might not have been in the vehicle, but that didn't eliminate him from stalking us and reporting our locations to someone in the program. Someone who could have sent an SUV after us.
“Do you think Tyler was the one who spied on us and attacked Courtney?” I asked.
Jack rubbed his stubbled cheek. “Why would he do it alone?”
“To catch her off guard, I assume.”
He looped the strap of his guitar over his shoulder, poking his plastic guitar pick in the center of my chest. “You’re reaching. She was late from practice, meaning if he was waiting to ambush her, his timing would’ve been off.”
“He could’ve just waited longer,” I protested.
Jack sighed, wiping his palm over his face.
“I don’t know, man. Maybe? Maybe not. Unless she points him out in a line-up, then we’ll continue arguing in circles.”
Irritated with his logic, I glared at him.
“Have I told you how much I hate it when you make sense?”
He snickered as he brushed off his jeans and stood.
“And have I told you how much I hate it when you fall into one of your paranoid black holes?”
I groaned. I hadn’t wanted honesty, I wanted my crazy thoughts validated. Too bad my best friend knew I needed him to be rational on occasion and call out my bullshit.
