Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 289(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 193(@300wpm)
“Hey, I could be a party girl.”
“It’s really a party.”
“See, I’m cool. I go to parties and stuff.”
“All right.” He shakes his head. “I’m going to shower and eat.” I give him another hug. “Anything happens to her...”
“I’d throw myself off a bridge.” Ahh, Bam can’t live without me.
“Don’t rob me of that.”
“Fair.” Bam nods.
“You kids be careful,” he says before disappearing down the hallway and into his own room. Bam closes the door.
“That went great.” I give him a thumbs-up.
“Holy shit.” He lets out an audible breath before reaching out to pull me into him. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Keep me?” I suggest, making him smirk.
“Oh, I’m more than keeping you, rebel.”
I more than love the sound of that.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
BAM
The rave is everything I don’t like: flashing lights, lots of noise, crowds of people, and dancing. Next to me, Niki wears the same irritated expression I know I’m sporting. I glance over my shoulder. The girls, on the other hand, look like they’re having a ball. They are giggling and laughing despite being in a dark corner. Niki and I almost got into three fights making sure no one put hands on them while the two were dancing. After the third confrontation, the two girls took their short shorts into this small space at the edge of the dance floor and let Niki and me stand guard.
Niki’s palm suddenly meets the side of my head, and not in a friendly manner.
I glare at him. “What was that for?”
“Just because you’re my friend doesn’t mean you can look at Andy like that.” He glares back.
“Why would I be looking at Andy when Josie’s right there? Andy could be a box for all I know.”
“Don’t talk about my girlfriend like that. She’s hot.” Niki’s eyes grow narrow, a sign that he’s spoiling for a fight.
My own hands ball at my sides. “You just told me not to look at her, which I’m not. I hope you know how dumb you sound right now.”
Niki’s eyes fall to my fists, and he backs off, looking a little embarrassed. We’re both on edge.
“Did you see the guy yet?” he asks.
“Not the guy, but there’s a Pipefitter on the second floor.” I tip my head slightly toward the balcony railing across from us. When the strobe light passes by, Niki catches a glimpse of the Pipefitter tattoo of some tank top-wearing meathead with a drink in his hand. “We might as well go check it out.”
“The girls though?” Niki casts an anxious look toward Andy and Josie. Josie looks edible, and I hate that everyone else can see her like this—sweaty, happy, half-dressed.
“We can’t leave them here.” Our pregame thinking was that they would be safe together, but instead, they’re tasty prey for all the wolves in this joint.
“They’re going to have to come with us.” Niki motions for the girls to come over.
Josie stops dancing immediately, drops her arms, and hurries over. “Are we ready to go interrogate the gang member? I’m so tired of dancing.”
“You were supposed to stay safely away from them while Niki and I did the questioning.”
“Boo. Thumbs down.” Josie and Andy both make the motion with their hands.
“Josie’s the investigative reporter. She should be the one doing the questioning,” Andy adds.
“I think it was a mistake to introduce them,” I say.
“Introduce us? We were friends before we even knew the two of you existed.” Andy threads her arm through Josie’s, and the two take off toward the stairs. Josie looks back and gestures for us to catch up.
Niki and I hurry over to join them. “How’d you know where to go?”
“The guy with the tattoo was practically begging for attention,” Josie answers.
“I didn’t realize you noticed.” Thankfully, Josie moves on instead of commenting on my stupidity.
Josie’s got one foot on the stairs when there’s a commotion at the top. People start screaming as our Pipefitter mark runs down the stairs, pushing people out of the way. I swing Josie behind me while Niki curls over Andy’s body. The Pipefitter speeds past us without a glance.
“Stick together,” I shout at Josie, pushing her toward Andy. Niki and I take off after the Pipefitter, dodging cups of booze and other partiers. The Pipefitter speeds out of the warehouse and down the street. No one but the two of us are after him, which means he got an SOS from a brother.
We catch him at the end of the block and drag him down into an alley away from the street.
“The fuck?” he spits at us. Niki pushes him toward the concrete wall.
“We want to know about this guy. He was placing bets with the Pipes, and now he’s gone missing.” I shove the phone screen in front of the guy’s face.
He stares blankly at it and then spits again, this time on the ground. “Fuck if I know. I don’t handle any money.”