and my uncle climbed out.
“That’s my uncle,” I said quickly.
“Should I take off?” King asked.
“Lace Lowell,” Uncle Bruce boomed. “What the fuck happened to you?” He stomped toward us, his eyes blazing as he took both of us in. “You get into a fight?”
“The cops mistook me for someone else.” King made the explanation before I could tell him it wouldn’t matter. “But they were rough with both of us.”
“You don’t look so good, son.” My uncle shook his head. Obviously, what condition I was in didn’t factor.
“No, sir,” King said. “Not feeling too well either.”
“Why don’t you come inside? You can call your parents, and we can sort this all out.”
“Okay,” King said, then glanced at me.
“Go ahead and wait for me by the house, son.” My uncle pointed. “I want to have a private word with my niece.”
King gave me an inquiring look, and I shook my head. I didn’t want him getting into trouble with my uncle. Turning away, he shuffled toward the house.
Uncle Bruce glared at me. “You’re just like your mother,” he said, his “private word” with me starting at the same place all his lectures did.
“I’m not,” I said, hotly denying it like I usually did.
“Your SAT is tomorrow, right?”
“Yes. What—”
“Just look at you. Sabotaging your future, hanging out with the wrong crowd.”
“King’s not the wrong crowd.” I lifted my chin. “He’s my friend.”
“He in your band?” my uncle asked.
“Yes.”
“You doing drugs with him?” His eyes narrowed.
“No. Never.”
Uncle Bruce asked that question a lot, but never believed my answer. I didn’t really know why he bothered to ask. Long ago, he’d formed an opinion about me based on my genetics, just like that cop had with King.
My uncle was never going to change his mind about me, and I was done trying to correct him.
Lace
“You look terrible.” Chad frowned at me the following morning when he arrived to give me a ride to take the test with him. He took one look at me and opened his arms. “Need a hug?”
“Yeah.” Nodding, I walked straight to him, and his strong arms closed around me. I laid my cheek on his solid chest, engulfed by his warmth. But I wasn’t soothed, nor was I turned on by him. Though his response to me was undeniable, he straight-up acknowledged it rather than dismiss it.
“Don’t read anything into it, Lowell. You are beautiful and I care about you a lot, but I get a boner when the wind blows a certain way.” His arms tightened around me. “I got your text when I woke up this morning. I know you’re hurting. Just let me hold you.”
“It was terrible,” I whispered, the pain still raw.
“I’ll bet it was.” He stroked my hair with his large hand. “War just cut you off. No further word? No text or call this morning to walk it back?”
“No.” And I didn’t expect there to be. This was War. The band’s song “My Way or the Highway” was his modus operandi. His name was his battle cry.
“You should have called me last night. I would’ve come right over.”
“You needed your rest.” I straightened, putting an inch of space between us, then two. I noted Chad was wearing a polo. He was so not rock ’n’ roll, just an all-around nice guy.
Why couldn’t I fall for one of those?
I glanced up at him. “King’s parents didn’t pick him up until after three, and afterward, my uncle laid into me for my choices some more. Then Diz came home, and he got blasted too.”
“Your uncle’s a sorry bastard,” Chad said, his hazel eyes warm with empathy and his expression sad.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I made allowances before because he took us in when we had nowhere else to go. But he’s never going to change. He’s just a stranger to me from now on. I’m through trying to win him over.”
“Understandable.” Chad’s gaze searched mine. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
“Nope.” I grimaced. “But I drank two cups of coffee this morning.”
“So you’re tired and wired.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. We can work with that.” He gave me his nice-guy smile.
It made me feel better, but it didn’t cure what ailed me.
My life was in the crapper. I was sad, mad, hurt, and worried as hell about the test, but I had a friend. One I could count on. A good friend was more reliable than hope.
“We’d better get going.” Chad stepped back and gestured to the old rusted-out pickup he’d parked in the driveway. He’d purchased it with