His face immediately falls, and I feel like a dick. Was it a low blow? Sure, but what am I supposed to do right now? He’s talking about taking something to the next level that could very easily get us thrown in prison—or worse.
He grips the back of his neck, gritting his teeth together. “That’s bullshit, man.”
I throw my arms out to my sides and whisper back harshly, “It’s the truth.”
He laces his hands on top of his head and walks a few steps away from me. We’re both quiet for a moment, until he turns around. “I’m not trying to make this worse, I’m trying to make it better. For all the hours I put in at the tattoo parlor working for Mike, I barely have shit. This is my chance to make enough money to buy my own building and set me and Tess up for a good life.”
“It’s dirty money. She won’t be okay with that.”
“How the fuck do you know?” he says, suddenly angry. He takes another step toward me. “Do you think you know her better than I do?”
The accusation in his eyes catches me off guard. “No, I don’t think that at all…”
He pokes me in the chest, cutting me off. “That’s how it looks to me. You’re always speaking for her like you know what she needs. She’s my girl, not yours.”
Before I can respond, Tess comes out of the back door and down the stairs of the porch. Her eyes widen when she sees the obvious discord between us. She shoves her hands into the pocket of her hoodie, coming to a stop beside me.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
I force a quick smile. “Nothing.” I nudge Walker. “He was just being a little bitch because my game is better.”
Walker smiles back at her, but it’s very fake as well. “So he thinks.” He nudges me back, but it’s a bit more aggressive. I sway to the side and grit my teeth. He does not want to throw down with me. I’ve been fighting with Sloan all week on top of everything else and I’m in no mood for these games. Best friend or not, we’re talking about doing something that could impact all of our lives—and not in a good way.
Tess gives a skeptical look between us, but keeps her thoughts to herself. Instead, she changes the subject. “Okay. Where are we going for dinner? I’m starving.”
“I gotta go deal with Sloan. She’s been on my ass all week,” I say. Faking the irritation in my tone is easy. I actually have to go deal with business, but I can’t exactly say that.
Tess groans. “Tell her to come with us.”
I hug her to my side and plant a kiss to the top of her head. “You know how she is. You guys have fun and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Reluctantly, she nods and starts walking toward Walker’s jeep. He opens the door for her and then jogs over to my car. He leans in the window as I get in, his hands gripping the frame of the door.
“Perry, I know you’re against this and I get it, but will you please just go with me to meet him later?” I let out a frustrated growl, and he ignores it. “One meeting and if it feels wrong, we’ll leave. I’ll leave it up to you.”
Great. Just pile everything on my shoulders. With a sigh, I reach in my center console for my cigarettes. “Fine,” I say roughly, lighting it. I take a drag and point my finger at him. “Wipe that smile off your face. I didn’t agree to anything yet. We’ll see what’s up.”
Walker continues to grin. “You won’t regret this. Everything will be golden.”
I grind my teeth once more. I distinctly remember someone else saying that—and look where we are now.
Tess has an eleven o-clock curfew on weekdays, so it doesn’t surprise me when Walker pulls into my driveway fifteen minutes after that. Sloan is asleep next to me on my couch down in the game room. We were watching some stupid girl movie and she passed out within minutes. If I wake her up, I’ll have to tell her where I’m going and that is never a fun conversation. It’s like being interrogated by the police—only worse. Not that I would know or anything.
I decide to cover her with a blanket instead. After placing a kiss to her forehead, I grab my hoodie and meet Walker outside. He leaves the jeep running, so I hop inside quickly before anyone sees him.
I cross my arms and glare at him as he takes off down the road. “Who is this guy anyway?”
Walker shrugs. “Nobody really knows. They call him Sugar.”
“Sugar?” I laugh bitterly. “I bet he ain’t too sweet either.”
Walker laughs, but he’s more amused than anything. “Probably not, but at least he’s willing to meet with us.” He glances over at me. “It’s a good sign.”
I scoff. “Or it’s a sign he’s willing to kill us.”
Walker frowns. “Don’t be so negative.”
I turn in my seat toward him. “Oh, I’m sorry Scarface. I didn’t realize you were a drug kingpin now.” He grins and I shake my head. “Do you have any idea the bad things that could happen to us by walking into this blind?”
He ignores my statement and pulls off onto a secluded road. I raise an eyebrow because this neighborhood is fairly elite. All the houses are spaced a couple acres apart, with manicured lawns, and a few are even gated. Plenty of space to securely hide bodies.
I keep chain smoking as he slows to a stop in front of the house at the end of the road. It’s the last driveway and it’s long enough that you can’t really see the house from here.
“This it?” I ask.
Walker glances at his phone and back to the mailbox. “So it seems.” He turns to me. “You ready?”
With a sigh, I toss my cigarette out the window. “As I’ll ever be.”
We walk side by side up the driveway. When we reach the door, he stops and looks at me. At first I’m confused, but then it clicks what he wants. I roll my eyes and knock once. It goes a while, so I knock again. My heart is pounding so hard I’m half afraid it will burst out of my chest.
Very slowly, the door pulls back and a little old lady smiles. “Look at you two handsome boys. Come on in, I’ve been expecting you.”
Walker and I exchange a look, but comply. She leads us through a grand foyer with two-story windows down a hallway. She takes a turn into a gourmet kitchen, only it appears instead of baking, granny has been cooking meth. Panic alarms are going off inside of me the further into the house we get. This is fucked.
I look back at Walker and he still doesn’t say anything. I guess I have to do all of the talking too.
“So, you know Robby?”
The wrinkles in her face scrunch up when I say his name. “That little shit. He doesn’t listen very well, I’ll tell you that.” The harshness in her tone surprises me. “I’m hoping you boys were taught a little more respect.”
Sweat starts to trickle down the back of my neck. I’m not sure why I’m so nervous right now. This lady is at least eighty years old, and my guess is about ninety pounds soaking wet. I could take her.
“Yes, ma’am,” I say, folding my hands together in front of me. I look around and see bricks of pot stacked in the corner. “I should mention we’re only here for weed. We don’t mess with the other shit.”