She's Mine - Jenika Snow Page 0,10

the owner of Black Mountain Tattoo, had given him a job when no one else would. He told Reese he saw potential in him, and although he hadn’t believed a word of that, now, looking back, he was thankful Max hadn’t given up on his punk ass.

Max and Nate were the only decent people who actually cared about him and not what he could do or give them. They also helped him through a lot of shitty times in his life.

“I heard you, but I don’t owe you anything.” The number of times Reese walked out that door and contemplated never looking back was far too many to count, but despite the fucked-up home life he had, he did have good memories.

There was a time when his mom had actually been a… well, mother.

But it wasn’t just the hope that maybe things would go back to how they’d been, because he stayed simply for the fact that he was doing this for himself.

So, he stuck it out, worked odd jobs under the table on top of his part-time tattoo gig to pay the bills of the household so at least he had a roof over his head.

Then there was his old man, a piece of shit who only loved one thing… the bottle.

His dad took another step toward Reese, but he refused to back down. Reese was still primed from the fight earlier, and if Hugo wanted to do this, after Reese had proved he would no longer let himself get knocked around, then so be it.

So he cracked his knuckles, rolled his head around on his neck, and straightened to his full height. But then something flickered in his dad’s eyes, maybe realization that something nasty churned inside Reese, just waiting to be released.

Or maybe after getting his ass handed to him the last time his old man tried this shit had common sense settling in through the alcohol brain.

Hugo cursed under his breath and waved a hand in Reese’s direction before turning around and snatching the bottle of vodka from between Reese’s mother’s legs. He sat back down, and a moment passed before Reese headed to his room.

He shut the door and closed his eyes. He was fucking tired, not just physically but mentally too. And although the night had ended fucked up, he did feel his heart start to race a little at one thought.

Keira.

7

Keira knew there’d be talk about Alistor’s party come Monday at school. It was inevitable that someone would have found out about Josh and the fight—or the beatdown Reese gave him—and the rumors would get twisted as they made their way through everyone.

BMA was a cesspool of people wanting to know everyone’s business.

On top of the rumor issues, there was also Reese and how she felt about him. Ignoring it wasn’t doing any good, and she found her interest for the bad boy growing daily. But then there was also worry about her brother Alex finding out about what happened at the party.

Although Alex was a few years older than her and didn’t go to BMA anymore, he still had friends and connections to the academy. That meant he heard about everything.

And once he found out, her once coveted BMA-football-playing brother would then want to beat Josh’s ass all over again. He may not know Josh, but he’d sure as hell find him, and then more shit would hit the fan.

Molly pulled into a spot in the academy parking lot. Luxury cars were lined up as far as the eye could see. Every once in a while, you’d see a Honda or a mid-price SUV, but those usually belonged to a staff member. The students here drove cars that cost more than most people’s yearly salary.

It was kind of disgusting.

“You gonna be okay today?”

Keira looked at Molly.

“I’ll be fine,” Keira said and looked out the window.

“You know the whole academy probably heard about the shit at the party, then the rumor mill will start about you and Reese. They’ll assume you guys are fucking.”

“I know.” Keira groaned and rested her head back on the seat. She forced her eyes open, the silence in the car thick and heavy. When she looked out the window again, she saw students milling around the front of the building. Black Mountain Academy was elite, prestigious, and the students within that coveted circle had their noses so far in the air Keira was surprised they could even breathe.

She didn’t miss a few of the girls close to Molly’s