Dante had cash in hand, switching it for the baggie from Ruben. A pounding on the door interrupted whatever Ruben had been about to say. Dante got back to his feet when a deep voiced someone began shouting threats through the door.
Great, probably some junkie with no money.
Ruben ran a hand over his mouth, his eyes darkening with apprehension. "f.u.c.k."
"Who is it?" I asked, beginning to sense it was more than a junkie desperate for his next hit.
Ruben paced the small living room. Through the door a new voice yelled, "Open the f.u.c.kin" door, Ruben, or we"ll break it down!"
The girl from earlier came out of the bedroom, her eyes now more alert. "Is it Sammy?"
"I gotta open it," he said, his hand on the deadbolt.
Dante s.n.a.t.c.hed my arm and I let him yank me further from the door. The door flew open the moment Ruben turned the deadbolt. Four scary motherf.u.c.kers barged in, one of them immediately pushing Ruben against the wall with a gun under his chin. "I want my money, s.h.i.thead."
Another of the intruders grabbed a hold of the druggie chick, making her yelp as he pushed her onto the couch and towered over her.
The eyes of the other two guys zeroed in on me and Dante. One of them pointed a gun at us, sneering. "Who the h.e.l.l are you two?"
I felt Dante bristle next to me. Before he could shoot off his mouth, I answered for us. "Just customers of Ruben"s. Happy to mind our own business and leave."
The gun waved at us while he spoke. "You"ll just keep your punk a.s.ses in the corner while we deal with this f.u.c.ker."
We were forced to stand there while two of the guys beat the c.r.a.p out of Ruben and another one slapped the girl a few times. The fourth guy kept his gun on us as if we were inclined to play heroes for the drug dealer and his addict girlfriend.
One thug began rummaging through the apartment, disappearing into the bedroom for a long while. He came back looking less hostile, a wad of cash in his hand. "Found three Gs, Sammy."
Sammy punched Ruben in the cheek. "Where"s the rest?"
"That"s all I got!" Ruben whined through swollen lips, blood dripping from his newest wound.
The guy slapped the chick again while his friend looked on, laughing. I spoke up, hating to see a woman hit, even one like her. "Hey! Does she look like she has any money?"
The one holding the gun on us, who"d mostly ignored our presence up to this point, stalked closer. "You wanna take the hits for her, kid?"
"He didn"t mean anything!" Dante defended, holding up his hands.
Didn"t matter. The barrel of the gun pressed against my forehead, mingling with the sweat there. The a.s.shole got in my face. "How about you two? Hand over whatever you got."
Threatened with a gun and robbed? Never again were we buying from Ruben. h.e.l.l, after this I"d make Dante swear off smoking for life. Dante grabbed my wallet from my back pocket, shakily handing it over along with his own.
The d.i.c.khead backed up, s.n.a.t.c.hing our money and carelessly dropping the wallets onto the carpet. His grin showed off a gold tooth. "Two hundred bucks. Thanks, this"ll buy me some p.u.s.s.y."
I barely resisted making a smart a.s.s remark. With an ugly mug like that the guy probably had to tip extra.
Ruben and his attackers were still negotiating when he"d pay the money he owed them. The girl on the couch continued crying, her heavy makeup running black down her cheeks.
Sammy and his thugs finally left, giving Ruben one more week to pay the five thousand dollars he still owed. His girlfriend ran to where he slumped to the floor as soon as the door shut behind them.
Dante tossed his bag of weed onto the coffee table as we got the h.e.l.l out of there.
CHAPTER TEN.
"He is not a lover who does not love forever."
-Euripides CALEB.
I threw the basketball from half court, watching as it bounced off the backboard, missing the hoop completely.
Dante and Taye laughed at my miss as I went to fetch the basketball. My phone beeped and I pulled it out of the pocket of my shorts.
I need the rest of my money. When are we gonna do this?
Hailey was eager to spread her legs for Gage. I was equally eager to show Gianna what a douchebag he was.
I"ll figure it out and let you know soon.
No way was I paying her the rest until she"d at least attempted to seduce Gage. We"d have to wait for the right opportunity, a time when Gianna wasn"t around. Some people might think it was wrong to ruin her relationship with Gage, but when it came to Gianna the only wrong I knew was us not being together. Right was her being my girl "Throw the dang ball, Caleb!" Taye called out, prompting me to fling it at him, aiming for his head. We"d teamed up two on two with a younger kid who"d been shooting hoops by himself. Dante and the kid were kicking my and Taye"s a.s.ses.
"Hold up!" Dante yelled, his phone in hand.
I strolled over to where he stood with a sick look on his face. "What"s up?"
His eyes met mine. "Cece. She wants to know where I am so we can meet and talk." He ran a hand over his sweaty face. "Aw, f.u.c.k. She"s gonna break up with me."
"You tell her where you"re at?"
Dante picked up his t-shirt, using it to wipe off his perspiration. "Yeah. She"ll be here soon."
I had a towel in my car I"d use later. My own t-shirt I flung over my shoulder. I"d driven us here, where we"d met Taye, so I"d stick around to see if Dante needed a ride. Or moral support. Taye and the kid, Carlos, had dissolved into playing one on one.
We waited by my car, leaning against it and talking about anything other than the s.h.i.tty situations with our girls. I"d like to a.s.sure Dante he wasn"t about to be sc.r.a.ped off by Cece, but with her joining the ballet academy I wasn"t sure. Maybe she"d realized her new hectic schedule wouldn"t allow time for a boyfriend, even one she loved. I hadn"t witnessed the past eight months of their relationship, but I a.s.sumed she was as crazy about him as he was her.
But who was I to judge? I"d thought Gianna loved me.
It wasn"t Cece"s car that pulled into the parking lot, but a white Jeep. My heart began to beat like a hammer. I"d finally get the opportunity to talk face to face with my girl. Good thing her pipsqueak boyfriend wasn"t with them or I would have reenacted Friday night.
Through the window, I saw as Cece said something to Gianna and she responded by hugging her. Dante was totally getting dumped.
Cece got out, her smile trembling as she approached her boyfriend.
"Hey," he greeted gruffly.
Her eyes darted to me. "Can we take a walk?"
"Sure," he answered, holding out his hand in a move to test her feelings.
When she slipped her small hand into his, I felt his hope. I watched them for a long moment as they headed down a walkway. Then I turned my attention to my own love life.
Gianna still hadn"t looked my way, probably praying I wouldn"t bother her. Instead of knocking on her window, I circled around her vehicle and hopped into the recently vacated pa.s.senger seat.
I would"ve found her yelp cute if my emotions weren"t experiencing such turmoil. She recovered quickly. "Get out."
"No. We need to talk." Did she have to look so f.u.c.king beautiful all the time? I wanted to both shake her and drag her into the backseat.
"Jeez, Caleb. Not right now," she huffed. Her face held a stubborn expression, but I saw her eyes briefly shift down to my bare chest. I"d gotten bigger in juvie, working out with Ian when he"d made it into a compet.i.tion.
My girl had just noticed. If she was still attracted to me, maybe I could use that to my advantage. "You broke my heart."
Her face fell and I spotted real regret. Regret for what, exactly? She opened her soft lips to say something, then her face went hard. "But not your d.i.c.k."
Was she jealous of the drunk s.l.u.t from the other night? Maybe I could use that, also. "You"re the one who cheated on me."
"I didn"t cheat on you!" she shouted in the small s.p.a.ce.
I tsked in disapproval. "Two boyfriends at once, Gianna. Shame on you."
Her mouth snapped shut, her eyes working in thought. "We weren"t really together, Caleb."
"You and Gage?" I pushed.
"Me and you," she corrected.
"Could"ve fooled me," I said. "With all the I love yous."
"Caleb-"
"But those were phony, right? Because you don"t love me anymore."
She turned her face to the windshield, her bottom lip quivering. "I still care about you a lot."
"Be still my broken f.u.c.king heart. She cares about me," I muttered darkly.
"You"ll get over it. From the sound on your end of that phone call the other night, you"re well on your way."
"I wanted to be with you!" I hissed. It would be easy to tell her it had only been a drunken fumble, a half-hearted attempt to forget her that had epically failed.
But I wouldn"t give her the satisfaction.
Her expression changed, becoming something I couldn"t name. "It can"t be me."
"Why Gage and not me?" I asked.
She sighed, making me want to catch it with my own lips even though I was angry with her. "He"s just..." she trailed off.
"Does he live for you?"
"Caleb-"
"Would he die for you?"
"Does it need to be that intense?" she asked, moving a strand of hair behind her ear.
It should be that f.u.c.king intense. She deserved nothing less and if he couldn"t give it to her, stealing her back would be no problem.
I wouldn"t only live and die for her, I"d fight.
Not giving her the chance to stop me, I dragged her onto my lap. "Don"t, Caleb!"
The feel of her body under my hands felt like paradise. One hand traveled up to her jaw, holding her in place for my mouth. f.u.c.king heaven. "Does he make you burn for him?"
She was panting, her face scrunched up. "He doesn"t force anything on me."
I released my hold on her immediately, allowing her to escape back to her seat. The reminder of what she"d been through made me ache to make it better, at the same time it made me wary of causing her more pain. "I would never hurt you."
Her door opened and she stepped out without a word. Leaning forward, I rubbed my forehead roughly before following her.
Always following her.
Probably always would.
Her blue eyes were focused on where Cece and Dante sat on a bench, with Cece in Dante"s arms. As much as I craved touching her more, I held back. "So she isn"t breaking up with him."
Gianna"s gaze moved to me. "Is that what he thought?"
Tilting my head, I stared down at her, searching her shocked expression. "She"s been ignoring him and she just got into that ballet academy."
She bit her lip, hesitating before speaking. "It"s probably okay to tell you now that Dante knows."
"What?" At this point, I was braced for anything.
"She"s pregnant."
"What?" I had not expected that at all.
"Yeah, I know. Surprise!" Her tone was sarcastic but her expression worried.
"Holy c.r.a.p. She"s gonna have it?" I asked.
Gianna spun, facing me. "Do you think she shouldn"t?"