She sighs and shakes her head in resignation. “Tuesday.”

“Good.” I put the phone away and pull her to me. “Now, come here.”

She lays her head on my chest and her hand on my stomach, taking a deep breath. My soul settles. This is just what I needed.

“I missed you,” she whispers.

“Were you trying to make me miss you?”

“Did you?”

“I missed you in my bed.”

“That’s not what I asked you.”

She runs her fingers along the patches on my cut. Another first. No woman has ever been allowed to touch my cut. The mere fact that I can allow and do all these things with her without even thinking about it confuses me a little. I’m in unchartered territory here. This whole thing is going to be a challenge but not one I’m going to back away from.

“Yeah, doll. I missed you.”

***

A tap on my shoulder wakes me up and I open my eyes to Ellen’s confounded ones. She jerks her head toward the kitchen and storms off. I carefully untangle myself from Raven and settle her into the couch, then head to the next room to face my sister.

“What the fuck are you doing?” She whisper-shouts.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? She’s seventeen years old!”

“I know that.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“We were watching TV…fell asleep. That’s all.”

“Don’t feed me that bullshit.”

I take a deep breath and pull her to the breakfast table. “Sit,” I say as I take the chair next to her. “You’re gonna find out soon anyways, so I guess you should hear it from me.”

“Oh, God.”

“I swear nothing’s happened. But in a few weeks, she’ll be eighteen, and we’re going to start seeing each other.”

“Seeing each other?” She raises her brows in curiosity.

“Dating…if that’s what you wanna call it.”

She leans back and regards me carefully. I can see the wheels turning in her head and puzzle pieces clicking into place. Finally, she smirks.

“You’re falling for her.”

“What? No. I like her, I’ll admit, but that’s it.”

“Mmhmm.” She’s not convinced and frankly, neither am I. “How much longer?”

“A month.”

“Be careful, Gage. I don’t want to see you in prison over this.”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Don’t worry. And don’t say anything to anyone.”

“Goes without saying.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m going to check on Mikey.” She looks down at the watch on her wrist. “Take her home. And pay her…sixty dollars.”

“Okay.”

She’s still asleep on the couch. I kneel in front of her, then trail my fingers down her cheek and whisper her name. Her eyes flutter open, and she smiles up at me.

“Wake up, doll.”

“Shit. I can’t believe I fell asleep,” she says while sitting up.

“Come on. I’m taking you home.”

“Ellen’s back?”

“She’s upstairs with Mikey.”

I pull her up and she staggers, grabbing my arm. “You good?”

“Yeah…just still waking up.”

“Here.”

I hand her the money and she shoves it into her pocket then sags against me. “I got the bike so you gotta wake up, doll.”

She grumbles incoherently, and I realize that I’ll either have to carry her or we walk to her house. I tuck her under my arm and we make our way outside and up the street. By the time we get to her door, she’s fully awake. She buries her face in my chest and groans. Her hands slide under my cut and up my back, then she drags her nails over my T-shirt.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ugh. What’s not wrong? I’m horny and frustrated and I want you and I’m on my period. Pick one.”

“We’re on the home stretch now, babe. Not much longer.”

“God, I love how you smell. I just wanna eat you up.”

She reaches for my crotch and I pull away, taking a few steps back. “Whoa.”

“You should let me.”

“Let you what?”

She moves toward me, biting into her bottom lip. Jesus. Why does she have to be so tempting?

“Eat you up.”

“Fuck, Raven. Don’t talk like that.”

“Why not? It’s not like I haven’t done it before.”

Rage overtakes me. Just thinking about it makes me want to kill someone. “The fuck, Raven? Who the fuck had their dick in your mouth? Was it the boy?”

“No, it wasn’t Chris. My ex back home.”

“That’s what you meant when you said you’ve done things? Did he touch you?”

“No. It was a compromise. He was ready for sex, I wasn’t. He got tired of hand jobs.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

He’s dead. That motherfucker better start picking out caskets. Never mind caskets; there won’t be anything left of him to bury when I’m done with him.

She pats my chest then takes the sides of my cut in her hands.

“You don’t talk like that.”

“Why not? I’m serious.”

“That’s just it. Coming from anyone else, it might sound like an empty threat…but not you.”

“What do you expect? I have to live with the thought of you sucking some other dude’s dick.”

“Forget about it. I have. I can’t even remember what it looks like…just that he was nowhere near your size.”

Her eyes twinkle with mischief and just like that, she levels me out. “Not many men are,” I say.

“I’ll take your word for it, monster dick.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

“I liked it, you know…seeing his face while I was doing it. I can’t wait to see yours.”

She leans into me, and I have to take deep breaths to calm my body. All I can see is her on her knees with her lips wrapped around my dick.

“You gonna come in my mouth, Gage? You want me to swallow?” She asks in a low, gravelly voice.

Jesus Christ. I think I can hear my balls turning blue. “Raven –”

She winks, stands on her toes, and gives me a quick peck on the lips.

“I’m going to get some sleep. Call me tomorrow?”

“Yeah, babe.”

“Dream about me.”

“You dream about me,” I tell her.

“Always.”

CHAPTER 9

***Raven***

I see him before he walks into the diner. Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself to face him. It’s time to put three years of drama club to use. I square my shoulders but go back to wiping down the counter. The chimes on the door jingle, and I smile up at him.

“Hi. Welcome to Millie’s. Just sit where you like, and I’ll be right with you,” I issue my standard greeting.

He removes his hat and takes the stool in front of me. He looks tired. The kind of tired that comes from having a stressful job. He’s probably in his thirties but looks much older. His eyes are a beautiful shade of brown, but are heavy with years of seeing too much shit. His brown hair is parted to the side and neatly combed. I can tell he works out a lot because his arms fill out his shirt very nicely.

“Okay…counter it is. What can I get you?”

“Coffee.”

“Regular or decaf?”

“Regular.”

“Coming right up.”

As I’m pouring his coffee, he introduces himself. “Sheriff Adrian Renley. I’d like to ask you some questions, Miss Alvarez.”

“Um…okay.”

I need to play it cool. I have to find a balance between not knowing anything and knowing too much. He’s here, which means he thinks I know something.

“Are you acquainted with Mr. Gage Hunter?”

“I know him. Why?”

“How do you know him?”

“I met him through my sister. Again…why?”

“There was an incident on September thirteenth. Witnesses reported a car being chased and shot at by two men on motorcycles.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. Have you caught those guys?”

“Working on it. Witnesses from Chiquita’s say the two of you had a heated argument that night.”

“I wouldn’t call it that.”

“What would you call it?”

“A conversation.”

Millie walks up and places her arm around my shoulder protectively. “Sheriff, what’s going on here?”

“Just asking some questions.”