Page 66 of Them Bones

He remembered John’s warning about Cary’s sister and smirked.You sent me, buddy.

She was young. Like, definitely not-legal young. And she had dark shadows under her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept in a good long while. But even drowning in that stupid giant t-shirt, she was still the hottest little piece he’d seen inforever.

“Hi,” he said, holding out his hand. She took it warily and they shook.

She just stared at him, and he shifted awkwardly under her intense scrutiny. Like she’d just stripped him and found him lacking.

“Did you need something?” she finally asked.

“Oh. Yeah. Cary wants you to call him.”

“Okay,” she said. “Is that all?”

Nick bristled again. “Can you call him while I’m here? So I know you done it?”

“Fine,” she snapped, and brushed past him and up the stairs. He followed her, staring at her tan, bare legs. He didn’t know if she was wearing shorts or not, the t-shirt hung past her ass and he couldn’t see anything else.

She picked up the phone off the wall and dialed, wrapping the curly cord around her forefinger.

“Cary,” she said in a sweet, gentle voice that didn’t match her expression. “Your friend is here. Says you’ve been calling… mmhmm… mmhmm… Yeah, I know. There must be something wrong with the phone.” She threw Nick a look that seemed to dare him to say otherwise. “Mmhmm… No. Ma’s been in and out, you know how she is…”

Then Cary said something and her fist tightened around the cord, her eyes darkening. “Shane hasn’t been here in a while,” she said. The words came out hard and bitter. “Mmhmm… Yeah. No, Dusty’s done school so he’s got no reason to come by.”

She was practically spitting, and Nick got thedistinctimpression that there was alotmore to that story. “Mmhmm… yeah he’s right here…” Laney stuck the phone out to him.

“Hello?”

“Nick,” came Cary’s voice. “Something wrong with John? I asked him to go by.”

“Nah, just got his hands full with…” Nick trailed off and glanced at Laney, “stuff at the shop.”

There was a rustling noise and the sound of a lighter, and then a female voice in the background. “What are you doing baby? Come back to bed…”The whooshing of air as Cary exhaled his smoke into the receiver. Nick almost rolled his eyes. Cary had a girlfriend in every city and several here at home, though Sarita seemed to be the only one with actual girlfriend status. She’d been hanging around all summer, making eyes at the guys and generally making everyone’s day less comfortable. It’s not like any of them would risk touching her. No pussy was worth pissing Cary off that bad.

Nick’s eyes slid to Laney’s legs.Well… almost no pussy…

“I’m gonna be stuck out here for another few weeks, maybe a month” Cary said. “I need you to drop in. Make sure it’s just the two of them. That nobody’s using my place as a crash pad.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Nick said, looking Laney in the eye. “I’ll look in on the place for ya.”

“Thanks,” Cary said. “And tell John to call me.” Then he clicked off.

Laney sighed and pulled out a bottle of lemonade from the fridge. She walked over to a cabinet but she was so short she had to stand on her tiptoes, stretching up to reach a glass. Her shirt hem rode right up to the curve of her ass cheek.

He swallowed. She wasn’t wearing shorts. Just a pair of light blue panties that saidWednesdayon the butt.

She poured the lemonade and then leaned back against the counter, propping her bare foot up on the lower cabinet behind her and cocking her head at him.

“I know you from somewhere,” she said, sipping slowly.

“New Year,” he choked out, unable to tear his eyes away from her lips.

“Mm… right,” she said in a bored voice. Like she didn’t remember and didn’t really care. She took another sip. “So… you can go, now.”

“You’re not much of a host,” he said, taking a step towards her.

“You’re not a guest,” she shot back.

Little bitch…

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