Page 96 of Falling in Reverse

“Boyfriends will kill, baby McQueen,” I convey, easing up on my grip. “Friends will throw a few punches.”

“Would it matter?”

“No.” A wave of silence ping-pongs between us, and I’m seriously memorized by how beautiful this chick is. “How are you so damn gorgeous?”

She scoffs at my compliment and tries to lift her body from underneath me. “Would you get off me?”

“No.” She bristles, and I can’t hide my smile. “I’m not like Torin. You might be South Shore, good for you, but I’m not threatened by you.”

“No, you’re worse,” she claims haughtily. “I can’t breathe with your massive weight on me, and you just want to sit here and ask me questions.”

“You’re no damsel in distress,” I counter because I’ve heard the stories.

She’s already nailed Torin a few times and now has his stupid ass kidnapped. Also, funnily enough, she attempted to lay out Cairo. Seeing him pissed—I don’t get to experience that often—has been the highlight of my week.

“I’m still waiting on a few things from you.”

“You’re a fucking creep,” Bay states through a glare, but it’s half-assed. “I’m half naked.”

I make a little groan in my throat. “Please, don’t remind me, McQueen.”

“Levi is my boyfriend, happy?” She says it too fast, so it’s hard to depict that as a myth or that she just longs for her freedom.

“Not until he’s not. However, a deal is a deal.” I roll off her and lie on my side, two steps ahead when I mom-arm her feeble attempt to launch off the bed. “No need to wake the house, McQueen. We’re still talking.”

She shoves at my forearm, but gets nowhere. “We don’t have to do it in my bed.”

“Would you rather I be on top of you again?” A defeated sigh escapes her chest as she stops and lies there, dead as a doornail. “Where do you want to meet?”

“There’s an old industrial street in East Riverside,” she grounds out through her teeth. “It’s mutual ground.”

“What time?”

“Now.”

“You’re not going alone to pick up Wallace.” Slowly, she cranes her head to look at me. “Get it together, baby. You’re mad at Torin. Don’t go making stupid decisions.”

“You started this.”

I quirk a brow, because I wasn’t even there. This was all Torin, and I cover for his ass all the time, but not with this. He misjudged this girl and better digest that she isn’t going to take his shit nor is she coming crawling back to him to beg for a damn thing either.

I like that shit a lot.

“Ten o’clock,” I reply instead, because I’ve already been tried and judged by this girl. Makes no difference in the grand scheme of things, she’s still going to be mine. “Your sisters can go to school. You can get together with your boys. I’ll have him ready.”

“You want me to wait another day?” She clutches her fingers into tight little balls, and I’m sure she’s wanting to use them on me right now.

“You want to do it in broad daylight? People work on that street. Plus, it’ll keep the peace.”

Bay peers back up at the ceiling. “Fine.”

“Alright.”

We lie next to each other in silence as I get caught up in the pretty edges that line her face. This is a negotiation, and I didn’t even need to do it with my Glock holstered at my back.

No, the way to Bay Astor is the honeyed method. You clap back at her and she’s just going to follow suit.

“Was there anything else?” she presses impatiently. “Or are you finally leaving?”

---