“You texting him on our date? You want him, Cheyenne?”
“You really want to go down this road?” I eye his hands on my wrists and let my gaze travel to his strong arms and up to his thick neck. “Daniel sent me a text. I ignored it, which is the polite thing to do.”
“That it?” he asks with narrowed eyes. It’s the same look Dad gives me when we’re wrapping up a fight. But Jeremy and I most certainly are not wrapping up anything. He’s still an asshole, and this is so not settled.
“No,” I say and pull my wrists down slowly. He doesn’t let go. Instead, he just lets his arms drop. I bring my wrists back so he has no choice but to lean in close to my face. Now we’re closer to being the same height. I press my nose to his. My chest heaves in fury. “You disgust me. You want to get your dick sucked by a whore, that’s on you. Next time don’t do it in a room full of people, asshole.”
He flinches at my comment and lets go of my wrists. I shake my head, unable to take my eyes off him. His face pales as he sucks in a ragged breath. He practically whispers the words as he says, “You saw that?”
“Yeah, I did.” His shock and embarrassment only makes me that much more angry. Why does he get to feel bad about it? I don’t want him feeling bad. I want him to have never let it happen. “I didn’t stay, though. Turns out Daniel is the better man after all. Hell of a kisser, too.”
“Nothing I hate more than a bitch who doesn’t know her fucking place,” Jeremy says in a sneer and backs up. His eyes land on Tracie, and a wicked smile crosses his face. He licks his lips and nods his head at her. “You know your place, don’t you, T? You like your place on my dick?”
Tracie shakes her head slowly. Her eyes dart from his to mine as her face scrunches and tears pool in her eyes.
“I don’t understand,” I say quietly. I can’t really feel anything right now. It’s all happening around me, and I know I should feel something, but I just don’t. I know Jeremy’s had plenty of casual sex. I know Tracie’s hooked up with Diesel, but she never said if she’s been with anyone else from the club.
Earlier I had assumed she liked Jeremy because she’s been defending him for the last few weeks. But maybe it’s not that she likes him...
Maybe it’s because she’s a slut and he’s a whore.
And I’m an idiot.
I turn around and walk as quickly as I can, and once I hit the parking lot, I run straight to Diesel. He slides his phone into his pocket, abandoning the game I bet he was playing, and rushes toward me. I slam into his arms and cry into his chest.
Diesel’s deep voice reverberates in his chest as he says, “Baby Boy did this?”
I nod my head and don’t even care that Diesel could really hurt Jeremy. He deserves it.
But he’s not the only one.
“He slept with Tracie,” I say. Diesel stiffens and unhooks me from his cut and the shirt underneath.
“I’ll take care of it,” he says. “Follow me.”
He’s off and walking as quickly as he can in the direction I came from. I walk behind him at a slow pace, not giving a shit what he does to them. I’m barely absorbing all of it, but it’s enough to make me bitter and vengeful and want to watch Jeremy get his nose broken.
In the distance, I see Diesel walk up to Jeremy, and without missing a beat, he closes his hand into a fist and swings at Jeremy’s face. Jeremy ducks and weaves out of the way just in time, but Diesel’s screaming at him, and Jeremy finally screams back. Then he stands still while Diesel delivers a blow to his gut. Tracie screams off to the side, which sends Diesel in her direction. He grabs ahold of her by the back of her neck and is saying something to her that has her crying her stupid, lying ass off.
As the school security guard rushes up through the thinning crowd of students, who all are trying to pretend they’re not watching but don’t seem to be moving away from the chaos, I realize there’s too many witnesses. Everybody is watching, so many people are seeing this play out. I hope Diesel doesn’t get in trouble for this. Then up walks Holly from the crowd with her eyes on me. I hope I don’t get in trouble for this.
The security guard tries to get Diesel’s attention, but he ignores him and makes his way back to me. When we’re side by side and walking to his bike, Diesel says, “One of my bonus lives expired before I got to use it. I hate that shit.”
A laugh escapes me as we climb onto his bike. I strap on my pink helmet and hold on tight as we leave Fort Bragg High School for the last time.
“So you had a bad day, too, then?” I scream over the roar of the Harley beneath us.
“Nah,” he says with a smile in his voice. “Violence makes me feel better.”
I’m getting off the bike at my house when I say, “I’ll gift you my free life. I’m not going to use it. Best I can do to thank you for taking care of the trash.”
He smiles and points his finger at me as he backs his Harley out of the driveway.