Page 16 of Malice and Surrender
“What?”
“Is this a dress-up or get-bloody type of party?”
“I don’t know. I guess dress-up. I don’t expect anyone to get bloody, but with this girl, anything is possible,” Roach grumbled as he stomped down my stairs.
Nothing like being woken up by the Tasmanian Devil. The guy was aptly nicknamed cause he was as annoying as any insect I’d ever come across. Holding up the jeans, I glared at them and wondered how Roach knew I liked these. It was creepy that he knew me that well. I couldn’t have gone into his room and picked out an outfit that fast.
Yanking the jeans and socks on, I gave myself a once-over in the mirror. Then I strapped on my stylish leather cuffs, dropped my silver chain around my neck, and ran a hand through my hair. Guess that was about as dressed up as I got. The bathroom was next, and the fucker was just gonna have to wait.
Five minutes later, I wandered into my kitchen and watched Roach pace the floor.
“Shit, man, that took long enough.” He spun around and looked at me. “Meh, you look okay, I guess. I can always bribe the bouncers.”
“Break into my home, wake me up, and insult me. Keep it up. You’re on a roll.” I snatched the coffee off the kitchen table and popped the lid. It smelled like burnt tires. “Where the hell did you get this?”
“The gas station down the street,” Roach said, pulling a piece of pizza from the box and stuffing his face with it. He was chewing so fast I would’ve guessed he was in a food-eating contest. Walking to the sink, I poured the coffee down the drain. “Hey, I got that for you.”
“Yeah, you’re trying to fucking poison me is what you’re trying to do. I don’t drink that shit. If you want me to go anywhere with you, then two things need to happen. The first is we hit a coffee shop of my choice on the way, cause I need the caffeine. Second, you tell me what the hell is going on.”
He was jittery, like he’d taken something, but that wasn’t Roach. He smoked and drank but steered clear of drugs, so I knew this was all him.
“Can we get going first?” he said and held out the box of pizza. One look at the black olives with four different meats and extra cheese had my stomach turning.
I held up my hand. “No thanks.”
“What, you watching your figure?” he mumbled around the mouthful of food.
“Do you want me to come with you or not? Cause I’m very tempted to tell you to go fuck yourself and go back to bed.”
He licked his fingers and dug around in his jacket, pulling out his truck keys. “Fine, coffee and tell you what’s what. I got it. Now let’s go. We’re taking my truck.”
I grabbed my clean leather jacket, locking the door on my way out, while he jogged to the shiny black vehicle. As always, I glanced over at the amusement park between my house and the club property. I didn’t like the idea of living there with everyone. Maybe it was cause for ten years I had to live with too many fucking people I didn’t want to. Living here, on this old farm with a couple hundred acres to myself, was nice.
Besides, I had a great view of Wilder’s crazy-ass antics, and that made me smile. There was no sign of him tonight, but that didn’t mean anything. He was one of those types who could be standing right in front of you, and you wouldn’t see him unless he wanted you to.
“Are you coming, Grandpa?” Roach called out, and I cracked my knuckles.
“I’d kill him if he wasn’t such a good friend.” Stomping down to the truck, I hopped into the passenger side and stole one of his cigarettes from the pack on the dash. Lighting up, I took a pull and blew it out the open window as we drove down my long driveway to the road.
“All right, out with it. What are we doing and why?”
“I need to keep an eye on Lane,” Roach said, and I cocked an eyebrow at him. “She’s going to this bar tonight. She got word from the other sorority sisters that some famous band would be there singing, and she decided to go. So we need to go. No group of horny band guys is getting their hands on Lane.”
“Are we talking about Lane as in Hollywood’s sister?” I was trying to keep up with his train of thought.
“Yes, who else would I be talking about? I only know one Lane,” Roach said.
“You know, I really want to stab you right now,” I grumbled, and took another pull on the cigarette before tossing the rest out the window. This cutting-back thing sucked ass.
“Why exactly are we stalking Hollywood’s sister now? He asked you to look out for her, not turn into her personal bodyguard. Next thing you know, you’ll be singing Whitney Houston songs about love,” I said, and batted my eyes at Roach.
“Fuck you. It’s not like that. I’m just taking my role seriously. Would you want to be in charge of a college girl while her brother trusts you to keep her safe? Especially after what Hollywood has already been through?”
“I guess not.” I yawned and wished we were doing anything but going to some bar, club, or whatever this place was. “So, where are we going?”
“Do you listen to anything I say?” Roach looked over like I was a four-year-old who hadn’t done my chores.
“I try really hard not to.”
