Page 72 of Falling in Reverse

“There’s not a chance in hell that it’s going to happen.”

He tsks me like a deplorable child having a fit. “Uh, uh, Bay Bay. Don’t go talkin’ shit when you know you don’t mean it. Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and give me your number? I bet you I’m not as bad as you think I am.”

Travis bumps into me and gets into Reeve’s personal space. “Get away from her. She’s not going to associate herself with a piece of—” I seize Travis’s forearm, interrupting the next words off of his lips because I don’t know Reeve and I don’t want to.

I also don’t choose Travis either.

“We’re leaving,” I command with ire in my voice, pulling Travis out the door with me. “Pay for our books, Reevie. Make yourself useful and do a good deed today.”

“I’m gonna take you out one day, Bay Bay McQueen,” Reeve coos at my back as we begin for the door. “And it’s gonna happen sooner than you think.”

Over my dead body.

TWENTY

bay

“Are you seriously still staring at that thing?”

Juice glances over at me, lips down casted in a pout. The forest green Mercedes that the boys and I picked up tonight sitting in front of him is about to get stripped and sold.

“It’s my dream car.”

My brows pinch in disbelief. “Really?”

Flicking my eyes back to the SUV, it’s ugly.

Maybe because it’s too boxy for me, and I don’t see the hype. Whoever we ripped it off from paid way too much money for it, in my opinion, and I felt as though I was doing them a solid by getting a nicer ride.

“It’s a premium G550 Mercedes Benz, with four hundred and sixteen horsepower, and hand-fitted leather seats with a hot stone massage.”

My face lifts. “A what now?”

Juice stares at me with the same devastated expression. “Heated massage on your ass and your back.” He turns his focus longingly back to the ride. “Heaven.”

“Yeah, but?—”

“It has voice controls, LED ambient lighting on the inside, and double-wishbone suspension for on-road precision.”

I step closer to him, still not seeing why he’d want this car over anything we’ve ever seen or raced against.

I look back at my buddy. “But isn’t it a little too?—”

“Perfect. It’s perfect,” he vouches confidently with a nod. “This baby has a bit turbo V8 in it and a camtronic system that saves on fuel. I could literally take this thing anywhere.”

I mean, we just drove it through thick mud and deep puddles so he has me there. “Right.”

“You still starin’ at that piece of shit?” Levi carps out before wrapping a heavy arm around my shoulders. The familiar smell of motor oil wafting around me. “We gotta get this thing out of here and back to the shop to strip.”

“I…” We both steal another glance at Juice, whose mouth is wide open like he can’t bear the thought of disassembling any part of it.

“Why don’t we just give it to him?” I mutter to my best friend. “He’s literally about to have a panic attack and cry.”

“Do you know how much money we could get for this thing?” he retorts, keeping his voice down, even though Juice is only but five feet from us. “It was a risk just going out to that area to lift it.”

We’re in the middle of nowhere, deep down in the throng of woods where we keep all the stolen cars we take. It’s too risky to leave them anywhere else where law enforcement might find them, and we don’t have the warehousing to hold them in either. You literally have to take a dirt road here and back because it’s so off the map.

“Yeah, but look at him.” He looks pathetically attached already, and I feel bad. Besides, Juice never asks for anything, and I’ve never seen him make heart eyes at anything so intently before. “He’s in love.”

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