“No. I promised Eva I was done with Milo and that’s it.”
“Bull.” He shoves at my shoulder. “Fuck, man, I knew you were pussy-whipped, but did she take your balls too?”
“Ike, fuck off,” I growl, baring my teeth. It isn’t all Eva. I don’t want this life either.
“Come on, J. This is easy money. Two, three hours tops. Just think about it. You’d be set in one night for what you’ll make your whole fucking summer.”
“I said no.”
“What’s your problem?” He runs a hand over his scalp. “I understand the attraction. Eva sure is sweet in every way.” He licks his lips and I want to pull his tongue out. “I’d be tapping that but—”
In a flash, my arm shoots through the open window, fingers grabbing at his collar. “Do not fucking speak about her like that.”
“Easy. All right.” He holds up his hands in surrender and offers a weak, apologetic smile.
I release my grip, heaving him backward in disgust. Pent-up irritation burns my blood like acid in my veins, and my hands wrap around the wheel. If I could, I might rip the steering wheel from the car.
“J, what’s going on? We have a plan, and you’re fucking it up.”
My gut roils. I haven’t been honest with him. I haven’t had the balls to tell him my plans have changed. Yeah, we had a plan to live together once I was out of the system. Since Eva, everything has changed. We no longer want the same things. I just haven’t told him like it is.
“I’ll always be your friend, and I’ll always have your back.” My anxious stare snags on the frown knitting his brow. “But Eva and I have plans. I’m not going down the same path you are.”
His eyebrows rise to his hairline. He shouldn’t be all that surprised. My feelings for Eva aren’t a secret, and he’s smart. He must have figured out my intentions by now.
“Oh, so now you think you’re fuckin’ better than me? Is that what you’re trying to say? Fuck you, man.” He bounces on his toes, arms and hands gesturing in the air. He won’t look me in the eye. Crap, why does this have to be difficult?
“No, that isn’t it at all.”
Waving a hand at me dismissively, he stabs me with a hard glare before trotting to his car. His legs are devouring the space between the two cars.
“Ike.” I jump from the Jeep, jogging after him.
He slams the car door with such force I feel the vibrations in my legs like Jell-O, and he peels off, leaving me to suck down the noxious exhaust fumes. My hands grab at my head and I curse, stomping back to the Jeep.
I could go after him and try to talk some sense into him. He’s headed to Milo’s garage. It wouldn’t be hard to find him. But if I set one foot in that place, I’m as good as on the job tonight.
Milo doesn’t accept no to anything he tells you to do. He’d force me or if I took off, which is a possibility, I’d be looking over my shoulder for months wondering if I’d live to graduate high school.
I’ll call him later, much later, and fix things between us. More and more we’ve been arguing about stupid things like this.
We’re headed in different directions, and there’s no way he hasn’t seen it too. We want different things.
He’s my best friend, and we’ve been through a lot together. I couldn’t have made it without him, and I’ll never turn my back on him. But I can’t follow him down this road.
Too early for the park, I head to Romano’s. My boss mentioned earlier tonight he could use an extra driver, and I could use the cash.
It’s a little after eleven when I park the car next door to Eva’s house and get out. My phone rings, and the number on the screen is familiar and surprising. It’s Milo.
Shit. Is he calling to punish or threaten me for something I refused to do? Frowning, I hesitate, unease stirring in my gut. “Hey, Milo.”
“Jared?”
“Yeah. What’s up?” My heart races.
“No simple way to tell you this, kid. Ike’s dead.” He delivers the news like a sledgehammer to my knees. “Can’t talk on the phone, but you want answers, come see me.”
A strange ringing reverberates in my ear, and I grip the car to stay upright. “What?”
The line goes dead. What did he just say? Ike’s…dead? No way.
I don’t know what to do with what he just said. I couldn’t have heard right. Should I call him back, demand to know more? He won’t answer.
Ike’s dead.
Everything hurts. A hand punches through my chest and squeezes.
My heart.
My lungs.
I can’t get air into my lungs.
Ike…I talked to him only hours ago. No, we didn’t talk. We fought.
Eva.
Stumbling from the car, I race for her house, fist banging on the door until Mr. Ramirez stands in front of me. A scowl etches the deep sun-weathered lines across his face.
“What do you want?” His face twists like he smells something rotten.
“Eva.”
“Go home, boy.” He pushes me from the step, inching the door closed when Eva slips past him like a ninja, coming to stand between us.
“Papi, stop. What happened?” Her brow puckers and fingers press into my cheek.
Her touch undoes me. A river of confusion, loss, and overwhelming sadness rushes through me and I crumple around her.
My arms swallow her whole, needing her inside me, needing her to fix this horrendous pain. To patch me back together. I never want to let her go.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
“Let her go.” Her father sounds like he’s talking from inside a tunnel. “Eva, he isn’t coming into this house.”
“Then I’m leaving.” She twists in my arms to square off with him. “It’s your choice, Papi.”
He says something I can’t make out and then she is carefully leading me into the house, murmuring soft words of concern. Her father is right behind us.
She pulls me onto the sofa, cupping my face in her hands. “Please tell me what’s wrong?”
“Ike…Ike.” I shake my head, burying it into the crook of her neck.
Eva. The smell of her, sunshine and a tropical paradise, is immediate shelter to the chaos within.
“Shhh. It’s okay.” A small hand rubs slow comforting circles on my back. “Tell me what happened to Ike.”
Her soothing tone reaches me where I’m hiding, in the deepest, darkest depths of my soul.
“Ike’s dead.”
“What? Oh no.”
“Eva, please never leave me.” Desperation singes my words. “I can’t lose you.”
11
A force of nature
Junior/Senior year
EVA
Since Ike’s death, we’re more inseparable than ever. Sadly, the tragic loss of Jared’s best friend did nothing to soften my father’s heart toward the boy I love. And Papi and I clash more and more. I wish things weren’t like this but I refuse to stop seeing Jared. That’s unimaginable.
Jared’s soft groan brings me back to the present as he presses his hard erection against my stomach. His hot mouth and the tickle of stubble on his jaw send tingles along my flesh. My core burns, needy for him.