Page 13 of Girl Violence

“How nice,” Miss Finn says, clapping her hands. “Josette needs a hand lifting the heavy boxes. They need sorting to be put on the shelf. I have heavier work later for you.”

Unable to believe the strange turn in events, Josette stalks down one of the aisles, sensing Vince follow. He’s already picked up a box. Once they reach the back, she turns to him. “I’d have at least thrown a bit of a tantrum.”

“I’m not you, brat.” He steps past her, dropping the box. When he tips it, books spill out. He picks up the first one. “French Kissingby Lena May.” He hands the book to Josette, and she places it on the shelf without looking. He smiles with amusement when he picks up the next one. “Popping Cherriesby Heather Lore.”

“No way.” She snatches the book from his hand, glances at the cover, and laughs. That’s a terrible title. “Do you want to borrow this one, Vincent?”

“Nah,” he says, bending over and picking up another book. “I think this is more my thing.”

Josette’s mouth drops at the title as he hands her another book.Rough and Readyby Angela Keane. Her blush makes him laugh until Miss Finn walks by and scowls.

“Don’t be distracting Vince from working,troublemaker,” she says to her and walks away. Josette gapes after her.

“I definitely would have thrown a tantrum,” she finally says. “Even McDonald’s would be better than working for the moth queen.”

“Hmm.” He puts some books on the shelf. “Complaining about it wouldn’t have gotten me anywhere.”

“Anywhere?”

“Yeah—when you want something, you need to play nice to get it. How many times did I tell you that?” A lot. It’s called manipulating and isn’t guaranteed to always work.

“And what is it you want?”

“Like I’m going to tell you.” He turns around and goes to a shelf she “finished.” He looks at the mess and begins redoing it entirely, though he’s always been a little OCD.

Josette finds herself thinking about what he said as they continue working. Evidently, he’s hellbent on leaving again, and that’s what he wants. Does he believe going along with his mother will achieve that? Is it because of Elizabeth? Does he want to go back to her?

Sighing, Josette gets on with her shift. They don’t talk for the rest of it.

CHAPTERFIVE

The following day, Josette is unusually happy. She’s not sure why—nothing happened after her shift yesterday. When it was over, she and Vince went their separate ways, and she came home to a quiet house. After putting on a load of laundry she binge-watchedThe Walking Deaduntil late and then went to bed. Maybe the reason is that she’s off work, and the weather reporter’s predicting a scorching weekend, which suits her just fine.

Josette begins the day by blasting music, waking her dad up earlier than he should for work. After telling her off for being selfish, she makes him breakfast—eggs on toast—which makes him less moody.

The heat in the air convinces Josette it’s time to pull out her bikini, so she rushes upstairs to change so she can begin sunbathing. After putting on a pair of black shorts and flip-flops, she heads outside with her iPhone, sunglasses, and a towel.

A loud bang makes her scream as she’s about to sit. Whirling around, the fence separating hers and next door’s garden is now on the floor. Then there’s Vince, holding a hammer and smiling smugly on his side of the lawn.

“What the hell are you doing?” Josette shouts at him. “What did you do to my fence?”

“You meanourfence. And I’m knocking it down, obviously.”

“With who’s permission?” She scowls at him, propping her hands on her hips. As his eyes drop, she flushes, remembering what she’s wearing. Even though it’s only a bikini, it feels intimate, as if she’s showing him too much. Maybe she’s overthinking it. He’s seen girls in bikinis before.

That’s when Josette realises what he’s wearing, orlack of, should she say. Her mouth goes dry. He’s wearing just a pair of black shorts and Nike runners, his top-half bare. He also looks way more muscular than he did in that topless picture on Instagram. And those tattoos. God. Josette wishes she could see them up close in person.

He goes to say something about their staring contest when Diane comes outside. She notices Josette and waves. “Hi, Josette.”

“Hi? Uhm…what’s going on?” She gestures to the dismantled fence.

“Oh, didn’t Evan tell you?” When Josette’s silent, she looks a little apologetic. “I’m sorry. I told him that I was replacing the fence. It was a little battered and weathered. You don’t need to worry; Vince won’t take long to clean this up. You can get back to your sunbathing.”

“She’ll get over it,” Vince tells his mother, swinging the hammer in his hand. Who does he think he is? Thor?

Josette frowns at him. How does Diane suppose she sunbathes in front of her son? No—Josette refuses to let him ruin her day off, which must also be his day off.

Her dad walks out into the garden at the exact moment that Josette plops down on the recliner. He’s wearing a suit for a meeting at work that he has to do in person and looks tidy. Wait—did he shave? He sees Diane and smiles. “Morning, Diane!”

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