Toxic Bad Boy (30 page)

She grinned, bending over
to grab a bag.

“
I only know because he
bitched every other day about wanting some.”

A cruel idea entered my
mind. I’d slip inside the care package a picture of me holding a
handful of Gianna to rub it in his face that he wasn’t getting any
while the hottest chick ever belonged to me.

“
Come here, baby,” I told
her. She dropped more candy into the cart.

“
Why?” she asked, reaching
down for Snickers.

“
I want to take a picture
of us for Ian.”

She moved into my arms
while I held my phone outstretched in front of us. “That’s so
sweet, Caleb.” She couldn’t see the smug look on my face as I
snapped the picture. I’d print this out later after dragging myself
off of Gianna.

*****

Jim had asked my mom and
me to meet him to pick up the check for my portion of the sales.
The three remaining paintings which hadn’t sold yet would be
displayed for a while longer at the gallery.

My mom was already in
discussions with a larger gallery in New York to get me another
exhibit. There were far more artists in the world than there were
galleries or collectors, so she wanted us to move fast now that a
ripple of momentum had begun.

Painting had become almost
as addicting as Gianna, but I aspired to what very few artists
achieved, true success. If this career didn’t work out, I’d alter
my plans for the future. Any show in New York would be scheduled
months in advance, possibly next year.

As we entered the gallery,
Norah sat at the front desk. “Jim is waiting in his office for you.
He said to just go on back.” My mom and I ignored her, both still
pissed about her stunt with Gianna during the show.

Jim sat behind his desk,
swiping at the tablet in front of him. His head came up as when we
stepped inside his office. “Caleb, Eliza,” he greeted. “Normally
the artist has to wait weeks or months for their cut, but I’m
hoping to entice you into allowing me to exhibit you again next
year.”

“
We would love that,” my
mom lied smoothly. She wanted international acclaim for her son’s
talent and we’d have to look outside of Denver for it.

The amount on the check
wasn’t enough to retire on, but it was a promising start. If things
went well, art dealers would be able to demand higher prices for my
work.

Since I only needed one
class to graduate high school, my mom was looking into me taking
college art courses though Metro State during my senior year. It’d
mean I’d only be at the high school with Gianna half of each school
day, but I’d also get a jump start on my degree.

We got to our feet, Jim
reaching out to shake our hands. “One more thing.”

He pressed a button on his
desk phone and Norah’s voice came over the speaker. “Yes,
Jim?”

“
Could you come back here,
Norah?”

“
Be right
there.”

She showed up seconds
later. “What did you need?” Her tone polite and face blank, she
focused only on Jim.

“
I lost two sales because
of your lack of professionalism at the show. You’re fired,
Norah.”

Her face fell as her
posture slumped. “But, Jim!” she protested.

He handed a check over to
her, also. “That should cover your wages through today.” I hadn’t
realized it was a paid internship. It would suck for her to lose
it, but she deserved to be fired after the shit she’d
pulled.

Walking to the car, I
caught the satisfied smile on my mom’s face. “You tattled on
her?”

My mom’s grin disappeared.
“Do you care?”

“
Nope,” I answered,
shutting her car door for her.

*****

Her body swayed against
mine to the pulsating beat of the music. She wore that red dress
again at my request and had already reapplied her lipstick twice.
Gianna’s passion for dance mirrored my own for art. Music was her
medium as mine was paint.

Blue eyes shining, hair
mussed, her entire body rocked to the music. The seductive curves
rolled under my hands. Multicolored strobe lights flashed overhead
as the crowd around us lost themselves in the song about sex, some
people mimicking the act on the dance floor

My hands ran up Gianna’s
front as she ground back against my crotch. She whirled, her legs
entwined with mine as she arched her back. The song changed to
something with a faster beat and her body moved a few inches away
from mine. Not having that, I hooked her waist and hauled her
against me.

Her body felt warm in my
arms. “Time for water,” I yelled in her ear.

She nodded, fanning
herself in silent communication. Guiding her off the dance floor, I
kept her close so other guys couldn’t brush against her. The club
was one we’d gone to when we’d first got together. Her dad had
dropped her off at ballet class this morning and I’d picked her up
afterward. She hadn’t been out of my sight for more than ten
minutes since.

Cece had called her this
afternoon declaring her need to get out of the house for a night of
fun. The last we’d seen of her, she’d been dancing up on one of the
guys from the crew. Loyalty had me wanting to text Dante to tell
him where she was. Gianna’s threats had held me back and I figured
Cece deserved a drama free night.

Nudging my way between two
people waiting for drinks, I signaled a bartender and asked for two
bottled waters. I uncapped one and handed it to Gianna before
drinking my own.

Flynn, the guy from the
crew Cece was hanging out with tonight was someone I’d met a few
times but didn’t know well. Gianna swore he and Cece were only
friends, but I wouldn’t want Gianna dancing with any guy friend
like that. Come to think of it, I didn’t want her dancing with any
other guy at all.

Gianna hadn’t received any
new letters or email from her stalker for the last week. Hopefully,
it was some jealous, vindictive girl who posed no real threat.
Prepared for the worst case scenario, she hadn’t been left home
alone or allowed to go anywhere by herself.

Which had begun to annoy
her.

Over Gianna’s shoulder I
spotted a familiar face and shouted, “Hey, I want my money
back!”

My girlfriend whirled to
see who I’d spoken to. I brought an arm around Gianna’s front and
pulled her back against me.

Hailey wore a smirk but
her eyes were venomous. She jerked her chin to indicate the girl in
my arms. “Looks like you got your way as usual, Caleb. And it’s not
like you didn’t get your money’s worth.” She licked her bottom lip
in implication.

Gianna went stiff in my
embrace. I put my lips at her ear. “Shh, princess, I didn’t let her
near my dick.”

A guy who appeared at
least a decade older than us came up from behind Hailey. “Hey,
babe, these friends of yours?” His eyes wandered down Gianna’s
body.

Hailey made a disgusted
face. “Fuck no, these aren’t friends of mine.” She spun on her
feet, grabbing him by the hand to drag him away. The pedophile gave
Gianna one last leer before allowing himself to be led
away.

Peeking around at her
face, I took in Gianna’s grin. “What are you smiling
about?”

She bit her bottom lip in
an effort to hold it back. “You and Hailey aren’t friends anymore.
That makes me incredibly happy.”

“
We haven’t been for a
long time. Now, where did
your
little friend get off to?”

The place was packed. It’d
take forever to find Cece. “I’ll have to text her,” Gianna said,
holding her hand out for her phone.

I pulled it out of the
pocket of my black dress pants. “Tell her time is up if she wants a
ride home.”

Gianna’s screen glowed as
she turned it back on. “It’s only midnight. You have somewhere else
to be?”

“
Yep, alone with my
girl.”

She attempted a stern
look. “No more sneaking into my room, Caleb. I want my dad to keep
liking you.” Her fingers moved over the screen as she
spoke.

I wanted those fingers on
my body. “I can’t make any promises. We still have a year more of
this crap. I gotta get my fix somehow.”

Out of nowhere, some chick
crashed into Gianna, making her fall against me and her cell phone
drop to the floor. I caught Gianna before she stumbled to the
ground and set her down on the other side of me. Her face displayed
shock at being smacked into so rudely.

Ready to tell off the
bitch who’d almost hurt her, I picked up the cell phone from the
dirty club floor. The chick was trying to get to her feet on wobbly
stilettos. Her face was a disaster of tears and dark makeup. I
followed her line of sight and saw the guy clenching beefy fists a
couple yards away.

That motherfucker had
pushed the girl against Gianna.

I helped the chick to her
feet. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, wiping her
face and making a bigger mess of her makeup.

“
Do you know that
guy?”

“
Mind your fucking
business!” he snarled at me.

I ignored him. “He your
boyfriend?’

Her head nodded again, her
eyes darting fearfully to him.

A hand landed on my arm.
“Caleb, I don’t want you getting arrested!” Gianna said, pleading
with her eyes.

“
Rebecca!” the guy yelled.
“Get your ass over here. We’re going home.”

I was about to ask Rebecca
if she wanted to go home with her asshole boyfriend. Instead, I
took the initiative and lunged at him, cold-cocking him in the jaw
before he could defend himself. His big body landed in a heap and I
grabbed Gianna’s hand to get out of there before the bouncers
showed up to drag us out.

I’d given Rebecca the
opportunity to escape him tonight. If she was smart, she’d take
it.

As we exited the club into
the summer night, I used my shirt to wipe off Gianna’s cell phone
and passed it to her. “Text Cece that we’ll wait for her and Flynn
in my car.”

“
Do you think you’ll get
in trouble?” Gianna asked breathlessly. I slowed down, allowing her
a break from walking fast in heels.

“
Naw, a guy like that will
be too embarrassed to have me tracked down to press charges.
Besides, video footage will show I was defending you and his
girlfriend.”

Cece and Flynn arrived at
my car eight minutes after us and piled into the backseat. Cece’s
eyes were bright and her cheeks flushed. “Have fun?” I
asked.

“
Lots. Why are we leaving
so early?”

In answer, I started the car and backed out of the parking
spot while Gianna explained.

“
The saddest thing in life
is wasted talent and the choices you make will shape your life
forever.”

-Chazz
Palminteri

Michael Wright’s heart
raced as he and three other inmates approached one of the guards at
the youth corrections facility he’d been locked up in for the past
two weeks.

After detoxing at a youth
rehab center, the judge had sentenced him to juvie for stealing a
car and crashing it into a neighbor’s backyard pool. He’d been
snowballing out of his mind, but he’d needed it after watching his
dad beat on his mom again.

One of the other inmates
hid a big ass rock behind his back. Javier distracted the guard by
shoving Tobias and screaming that he was a faggot. Tobias
was
gay, so his anger at
the slur didn’t need to be faked.

The fourth boy of their
group lifted the rock and bashed it into the back of the guard’s
skull. The guard became disoriented, but managed to stay on his
feet. Michael was sweating, afraid of the consequences of getting
caught. He winced as the rock hit the guard again, finally knocking
him out.

Tobias’ grin was maniacal
as he watched the attacker unnecessarily hit the guard again with
the rock. Javier appeared as sick by the violence as Michael felt.
But that could be the withdrawals he was still suffering from. If
he didn’t get a hit soon, he’d freak the fuck out.

A chill went through
Michael as he took in the blank, deadened look in the eyes of that
Josh kid as he continued to bash the guard with the rock. Javier
grabbed Josh’s arm. “Whoa, man, are you trying to kill the dude?
They’ll throw your ass in a real fucking prison!”

Michael was still only
fourteen-years-old so the worst they could do to him was return him
here. Josh and Javier were seventeen and could be thrown in adult
prison if a judge moved them out of juvenile court.

“
We need to get out of
here before another guard comes!” Michael hissed. “Now, where the
fuck is the fence loose, Tobias?”

Instead of answering,
Tobias took off to the far end of the yard while the other three
boys ran behind him. A shout went out behind them and Michael knew
time was running out. Other guards would be on the
chase.

Tobias claimed he’d
discovered a weak portion in the chainlink fence the other day.
With four of them, they should be able to pull it up. If not, their
asses would be thrown in solitary. Michael joined the other three
in using all his strength to yank an area of the fence out of the
ground.