“Well, you only have one more year,” I tell Carter.

“I don’t have time for it,” he answers me as he bounces the old tennis ball against the worn brick of the building.

“You don’t have time for school?” I ask him in a tone that’s as filled with disbelief as my expression is. “Remind me again, where is it that you make your money?”

Carter’s being a dipshit. “You don’t need to start working for Romano. You need to graduate, and you can make that extra cash from the schoolyard.”

He’s a dealer at Crescent Hills High, only pot but he makes some good cash since he’s the only one with good shit in this area. The only other dealers are past Walnut Street and the highway that runs behind it, but those are claimed territories, one of them being Romano’s.

“Romano’s never going to hire you anyway since you’re Irish.”

I feel like a prick reminding him that he’ll never be trusted, but it’s for his own damn good. He should be focused on finishing school and then he can figure out a way to go down south and make some good cash at the fishery on the docks or some other shit. Something better than this.

“You don’t get it.” His voice is tight and his teeth are clenched. “We have bills.”

He throws the ball harder at the wall and catches it after it ricochets with a force that sounds like it hurt. “You forget there’s more than one person I have to look after.”

It fucking hurts every time he brings it up. To me, he’s my kid brother. To him, he’s the older brother taking care of his family. A family I’m not a part of.

“It’s good money,” I remind him. “Both the fishery and the pot. Romano’s not going to pay you shit.”

I’m still shaking my head when he looks back at me. “Because I’m fucking Irish?”

“Because he doesn’t have a need for you.” I’m blunt and harsh and my stomach twists. There’s no room for him in Romano’s territory, but even if there was, I’d lie. He doesn’t have the stomach for this shit. He should be better than me. He is better than me. I get paid to fuck up people who owe money to the wrong guys, assholes who think they can steal from establishments who pay for protection. I get paid to be a villain, a thug, and a version of myself I hate. It used to help with the anger; it made me feel like there was a purpose to it all. But that’s bullshit. I fucking hate who I am, and I don’t want this life for him. I don’t want it for anyone.

It’s quiet other than the thud of the ball hitting the brick as he considers everything.

“It’s just one more year, Carter.”

“A lot can change in a year.” His voice is muted, low and defeated. I know he wants a change because of his mom, but I can’t help him there. I can’t keep her from dying. The rubble beneath my feet kicks up as I walk to the cement steps and face the parking lot.

“Is that Chloe?” Carter asks me, and I have to get up to look down the street.

Just the sight of her pulls my lips up into an asymmetric grin. “Yeah, that’s her.”

“So much for picking her up,” he tells me with a glint in his eyes. I check my watch and see she’s early, then peek back up at her.

With her jeans hugging her curves, I watch as she walks up the street, not taking my eyes off her.

“Real quick,” Carter tries to get my attention, so I give him a short hum of an answer to let him know I heard him, but I refuse to look away from her as she walks to me.

“Can you come with me to give my dad that money?” His question is enough to break the stare I have on her. He adds, “Tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, of course,” I answer him with a shrug like it’s no big deal. His mom’s bills are adding up, so I’m loaning him some cash to keep them afloat. But the last time I did that, Carter’s dad laid into him, thinking he stole it and wanting to know from where.

It’s not really a loan, as I never want to be paid back, but Carter insists I call it that. For only being sixteen with not much to be proud of, he’s a proud kid.

“How is she doing with everything?” Carter asks to change the subject. I know that’s why he did it. “Is she still freaking out?”

My gaze is brought back to her as he asks. Nice timing on his part, as she’s just walking up the parking lot.

“She slept at my place last night,” I tell him. She slept easily and deep like she hadn’t slept in years, waking up with a yawn and a stretch that was so relaxed and at ease. Although the second she saw me, she blushed violently and tried to hide under the covers. “Good morning,” were the first words she greeted me with as she covered her mouth and hid under the sheets.

Carter’s chuckle cuts off any thoughts of sharing particulars. “So that’s how you deal with it,” he says and nods his head in approval with a wide grin.

If I had that ball in my hands, I’d throw it at him. But damn if the pride in my chest won’t go away at him thinking I fucked her worries away.

“Hey.” Chloe gives a hello while she’s still a good ten feet away, walking through the parking lot and to the back behind the shop where we’re standing.

Thump, Carter tosses the ball at the wall, but I don’t break my gaze from her. She’s already blushing. Her skin is so beautiful like that, with that rosy tinge creeping up her cheeks and growing hotter every second I keep my eyes on her.

“I don’t get a hello?” Carter asks jokingly, and for the first time since she’s walked up here, her attention goes to him.

“What makes you think I wasn’t waiting for you to say hello first?” she asks him, quipping back without missing a beat and with the trace of a friendly smile on her lips. I can see she’s a little tense; it’s the way she is around people. Tense at first, quiet too, but if she wants, Chloe opens up easily and what’s inside is raw and beautiful.

Carter grins back at her as he says, “Hello.” He pronounces the word carefully, enunciating each syllable and it makes her laugh although that shyness is still there.

“Are you working here too?” she asks him and the hair raise on the back of my neck. Everyone here works for Romano, but Carter needs something better than this. I keep my thoughts to myself and wait for him to reply.

“Still in school,” he answers and she’s quick to add, “I always forget you’re younger than us.”

It’s odd how she says it. Like she knows him or maybe she’s just paired us together like other people have.

“Were your ears burning?” Carter asks her with his brow raised. “We were just talking about you.”

Chloe hums a small laugh with her lips closed tight although she can’t hide her smile. “I hope good things,” she adds after a moment of the two of us staring at her and waiting for her reply.

“Mostly,” Carter jokes with her, but I can tell he makes her nervous by the way her smile slips.

“Yeah,” she says honestly. “I kind of figured you might be…” her voice trails off and she offers me a small smile although I can see how nervous she is. She picks at the hem of her shirt while she talks. “I might have been talking about you too,” she tells me, biting down on her lip after and looking me up and down.

“Is that right?” I ask her and she’s quick to shake her head. “No, I’m just playing.”

Carter barks out a laugh while I stand there looking like an asshole.

“I didn’t give you anything good to talk about?” I joke with her, but she just clears her throat, slowly letting those walls come back up.

She didn’t talk about me because she has no one to talk to. I feel like a prick when the realization hits me.

“I’ll make that up to you tonight then,” I add before she has to say anything. Her cheeks must be on fire to be that red.

I let my hand travel to the small of her back to lead her away and I nod a goodbye to Carter. He’s waiting for the bus to go to the hospital, but it’ll be here in minutes. It’s almost 5:15.

“See you later, Carter,” Chloe says sweetly, giving him a small wave as I walk her to my car.

I open the door for her, but before she can slip in, I wrap my hand around her hip and bring her closer to me. I have one hand on the door, with the other on her hip and her stance mirrors mine. It’s as if she’s waiting for what my next move will be, so she can determine hers.

Her lips are parted and her eyes dart between my gaze and where Carter’s standing behind me.

All I wanted was to give her a small kiss. So, I do, just a short one on her lips. Pressing my mouth to hers and making sure to run the tip of my nose over hers. The cops already know; people are already talking. Might as well give them a show.

That shy smile I love plays on her lips and she can barely look me in the eyes.

“You nervous?” I whisper against her cheek before pulling away. Her wide eyes stay on mine as she settles into the seat and answers honestly in a single breath, “Yeah.”