Roughneck

"Tell me where he is," I shouted, my foot connecting with the man's ribs.All I could see was red. The sympathy I had for the man below us had vanished when he spit in my face. This guy knew where Denver was at all times, and I needed him to spit it out. I couldn't find my sister until I found Denver.He looked up at me from the concrete, his expensive clothes in shreds, and smiled a bloody smile. "I'll never tell."Dante reached down, grabbed his shirt, and lifted him up to the brick wall behind him. "We know you know where he is and you have ten seconds to tell me."Dante was in even more trouble for being there than me. It wasn't his mess, but he had my back. Dante was the only person I could trust. The man snarled and spit at his

The hot summer air did nothing for my mood.The butter I'd been asked to get from the store had already melted in the bag. I'd hoped Mom cooked something good with that butter. I'd lost my Call of Duty match online because of it.It'd been six blocks to the store since I was out of gas, and I didn't get paid at my after school grocery bagging job until Friday. I'd made it to the house with the German Shepard when I smelled the smoke.At first I thought someone was burning leaves. Then I heard all the screams, and my heart dropped into my stomach. I clutched the bag in my hand and ran. There wasn't any way of me knowing who it was, but I had a gut feeling that told me I was about to live my worst nightmare.

All the lights were off when we got home. When Aunt Shelly goes shopping, the woman goes shopping. Three bags hung from each of my closed fists, and she was totally right: clothes do take the edge off.Lucy laid in Dad's lap in the recliner. His head thrown backwards and his snores echoed throughout the silent house. Smiling, I covered them up and made my way toward my bedroom.The crickets sang from outside, and I listened while putting away my clothes. Then I heard someone yell. I dropped my bag, and my blood turned to ice in my veins.Again. Louder.I couldn't make out what the person said, but I knew where it came from. Before I thought better of it, I raced out the back door into the humid summer night and forced my way into the

There was nothing like a six a.m. run to get my blood pumping and potentially forget the awkward dinner from hell the night before. I couldn’t stop looking at my plate, even my dad’s eagerness to get the conversation going made me queasy. The guest house came into view and a low hum glided down to my toes. As badly as I wanted to dislike him, something so magnetic beckoned me nearer and it tittered onto my last nerve. Lucy bounded toward the porch of the guest house before looking over her shoulder at me. “We’re not going in there.”She whined but followed me to the house. I took time shaving my legs and fixing my hair, feeling like a sixteen-year-old girl getting ready for a date, but obviously, it wasn’t a date—not by a long shot. It wasn’t going to happen, anyway, he’d made it loud and clear.After I finished getting ready, I pulled on the tightest pair of colorful leggings, a white

You’ve got to be kidding me. I yanked my IPod from my ears, stared ahead, and watched as the side of his lip pulled into a grin. “Good morning.”How did he —Aunt Shelly. It’s always Aunt Shelly. Lifting my chin, I shut the back door, stepped off the stairs and faced him straight on. I didn’t know if I’d see him or not, but I was definitely wearing workout pants that hugged me like a second skin. And my bright purple sports bra fit me just right. The most delicious look was on his face, and it started a tsunami in my stomach that threatened to make my life miserable if I wasn’t underneath him soon. His shirt was off, showing me every reason I was bitter toward him. Showing me what I couldn’t have. Each ridge in his stomach was hard, his skin pulled tightly over every perfectly formed muscle.Damn him to hell!Instead of answering because that would be too matur