Page 248 of Mayhem and Minnie

I don’t believe her, but she could sell me the most outrageous lie and I’d buy it without questions asked.

I open the door for her to hop in when a bunch of loud noises make me stop.

“Yo, girl, drop the scarf and let me see your pretty face,” a man’s voice calls out.

My body tenses.

“If it’s as pretty as the back, we’re screwed, man,” another speaks, after which laughter ensues.

My lip twitches as I look around for the source of the noise.

For fuck’s sake. Even covered, she’s still getting too much attention. Granted, her backside is rather delectable-looking, but that’s only for me to observe.

A group of three youths emerges from behind a truck. One of them is smoking a cigarette, which I’m pretty sure is illegal at a gas station, especially so close to the fuel. Another has a can of beer in his hand, while the third one went the hardcore route and is holding a half-empty bottle of Smirnoff.

I instinctively pull Minnie by my side, shielding her with my body while I glare at the strangers.

“Marlowe. Don’t,” she whispers. “Let’s just go.”

She can sense the tension in my body especially as they continue to leer at her.

She fists my shirt as she holds on to me, stopping me from advancing toward them.

“Move along, fellows. There’s nothing here for you,” I say in a tight voice.

“Move along, fellows,” one of them repeats in a mocking voice as he tries to imitate my accent. “That all you got, posh boy?” He laughs.

“We’re not looking for trouble,” Minnie says.

“And the lady speaks. You got a nice voice on you, cutie.” One of the men whistles as his eyes roam over her body.

This is it. Fuck.

I take a step forward, but Minnie is still holding on to me and shaking her head.

“We shouldn’t,” she whispers. “Let’s just leave.”

I ball my hands into fists.

“It’s not worth it, Marlowe. We’ll just draw more unnecessary attention to ourselves,” she continues.

They leer at Minnie, continuing to say foul things about what they’d do to her, and the moment they insinuate they’d lay a finger on her, all bets are off.

The dude smoking the cigarette is especially cocky, grabbing his crotch and thrusting his hips.

I push Minnie behind me, disentangling her fingers from my shirt.

“Marlowe, no…”

“It could have been your lucky day,” I say with a smile. “If only you’d have walked away.”

They laugh at me, and as I get closer, one of the guys pulls out a gun on me.

I roll my eyes. Of course. It’s three to one and they still need a gun to protect their nasty asses.

He aims it at me.

“Not so brave now?” The guy chuckles.

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