Page 23 of Stay Dangerous

I flinched away when she got to me, and saw her eyes stretch at my face and ear. But she bit her lip, and didn’t ask the one question that really mattered to me.

“You don’t even care, do you?” My chuckle wasn’t funny. It was sad.

“Wyn–”

“Go back to Turkey’s house, Auty. It’s where you wanna be anyway.” I walked away from her, back to our house, and locked the door behind me.

The good whiskey was in the cabinet. A double shot of that, and I was warm all over. Another double shot, and I was calm enough to clean the mess Mom made.

Bandaging an ice pack to my face, I took a bath to wash the day off. It was red, and a little swollen, but I could play it off. Same with the cut on my ear. Auty didn’t ask, so I was sure Luney wouldn’t either.

By two minutes to nine, I was as clean as the house, and the remnants of the liquor kept me from being nervous.

I sat on the couch, looking out the window, waiting to see if he’d really come.

Then a green gangster car pulled up to the curb, and suddenly my cheeks hurt for a different reason.

Dressed in a hoodie, skinnies, and vans, I was ready for whatever the night brought me. Hopefully, at least, a distraction from the dumpster fire that was my life.

Besides, for all intents and purposes, I was probably leaving California, anyway. Surely, Dad would wanna leave Mom after being hit. He’d wake up in the hospital, leave her, and take us down South to be with Nana.

This was my last hurrah, with a cute boy who made me feel funny.

My smile was semi-permanent when I locked up the house and skipped to the car.

It smelled like weed and car freshener. The seats were a smooth and buttery black leather.

And Luney was gazing at me with mischief in his brown eyes, and plaits framing his pretty boy face.

“Wassup, Snow?” he asked, his voice multiplying the butterflies already in my middle.

“Buckle up.”

First Kiss

Rico

PlentyoftimeI’dhad bitches in the front seat of my car.

None of them ever felt like the first time Wynter Snow slid to my right.

I was sure the food we’d had earlier was finna come back up, I was so nervous.

And nervous wasn’t something you wanted to be when you were already driving without a license with an unregistered gun in the car.

But I kept my cool. She liked music, so I had one of the playlists I made on my ipod playing from this cassette thing that connected to it.

“So, how old are you?” she asked once we got out of Raleigh Park.

The corner of my mouth pulled. Shorty had no self-preservation. I noted it, knowing if we were gonna chill any more, that was something she’d have to build.

“How old do I look?”

“I’on know,” she shrugged. “You’re driving, so maybe sixteen?”

I chuckled, smoothly guiding us through the nighttime traffic toward Thunder Hills.

“You, what, thirteen? Ty-Ty genius ass skipped a grade.”