Page 26 of When Wrecked Meets Ruined
Oh, baby, it was me, all right.
The nicknames were my idea, chosen from Evie’s favorite book,The Outsiders. The only book I’d ever read voluntarily. Three times.
No doubt she was sifting through her memories, trying to recall what she’d written to her secret pen pal. This year, she hadn’t been in my English class, but we had the same teacher, and Evie was in the class right after mine. Apparently, writing letters was a dying art and Ms. Whitman wanted to rectify that. Principal Bradley thought it would be a great social experiment.
There were no names, only a sticker to identify us, and the letters were printed not handwritten, but I’d figured out it was her early on.
That’s a lie. I knew from the start that we’d been paired together. Our teacher kept the master list locked in her desk, and I was good with locks.
I winked. “Been in Dallas lately, Cherry?”
“Oh my god,” she said under her breath.
“Told you I’d be worth it.” I puffed out my chest, playing the role expected of me.
Evie snorted. “You’re overselling yourself, as usual. I’m not one of your fangirls. Ooh, Ridge, you have such big muscles. Thank youso muchfor letting me suck your dick. It’s such an honor.” She batted her long, dark lashes, and just like that, I had a semi.
“I love your dirty mouth, Cherry. You should use it where it counts.” I pointed to my crotch.
She ignored me and took a bite of her taco before she threw it down. “Now, look at what you’ve done. You’ve ruined my appetite.”
“You still look hungry. Just not for food.”
“Why did it have to be you?” she muttered. “Did you write those letters yourself? Or did you get one of your minions to write them?”
That was ridiculous. Nobody but me could have written those letters. “I waited for you at the Sunset.” I’d waited at our designated meeting spot forty-five minutes before finally concluding that she’d never intended to show up. What a chump. “What happened? Chicken out?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Maybe I wanted to keep the mystery alive and not ruin it by putting a face to the words. And now look. It’s ruined.”
“Oh, Cherry.” I put my hand over my heart. “That hurts.”
“You probably made half that shit up.”
“I never lied about a single thing.” I gave her the Boy Scout’s salute.
She rolled her eyes. “It’s three fingers.”
“I never claimed to be a Boy Scout.”
“Wow. O-kay,” Quinn said from across the table.
Quinn had a big smile on her face. She was the opposite of Evie. Petite and blonde. Pretty. Sweet. Naive. She was cool, though. Genuine, which was rarer than you’d think. And cute as fuck. Not in the way that made me want to jump her bones, but in the way that made me want to protect her from douchebags.
“Okay, what?” I asked.
“Nothing.” She and Walker shared a secret little smile. Huh. Interesting. Quinn was exactly his type. In fact, she looked a lot like his ex-girlfriend, Leah. This could be useful. I was already formulating a plan.
In August, Walker and I were headed to San Marcos State for pre-season training camp, but it was only the beginning of June. Plenty of time to charm my way into Evie’s life.
We’d have our fun this summer, I’d get her out of my system, and then we would go our separate ways.
The perfect plan.
* * *
“Time to pop your party cherry.”
The party at Quinn’s house was my idea. Quinn’s mom was away so she had an entire house and a pool to herself.
