Page 39 of The Jester and His Outlaw: Part One

When he pulled up, he made a few gestures to make his distaste for the situation known. Or it was disbelief that fate had somehow shoved us together once again.Icouldn’t fathom it.

“I wonder if his cheeks cracked from doing something other than scowling.”

Foxy barks a laugh as she scrolls through her phone. “It’s a damn good possibility,” she agrees, joining the land of the living once more as she looks up when a car horn honks.

Riggs is six or seven cars ahead of us now. I’m hanging back long enough that he doesn’t notice, or I hope I am, at least. Unfortunately, my big square ride sticks out like a sore thumb, no matter where I go. I’m no James Bond, but I’m hoping that it simply looks like we are going the same way as him. Hopefully, he hasn’t even noticed, or he has and is leading us around. Who knows?

We have no business being on this side of town after Foxy explained that Mr. Tatum wanted her home for dinner. If it came down to it, we could say that we are going to visit her mother. Mama T isn’t far from here, so it makes sense.

I don’t get why, but I want to check out where he lives. He deals pot for shit’s sake.Pot.That’s so dangerous, and he is so young to be caught up in something like that. Well, I don’t know how old one would have to be for that to make sense, but it pulls at my heart. I guess he could not need the money and he does it for the sake of doing it, but that mixed with him not eating lunch and Jensen telling me he’s going through something makes me want more information.

I’m a lunatic. The dude hates my guts, but for some reason, I need to figure out what makes Riggs Sutton tick. Especially after that damn smile. That was a smile that reached straight into my soul.A dangerous smile. A smile I have no business chasing, but here I am.

“Where are you going, weirdo?”

“Nowhere.”

“We aren’t heading back to Bleudale, and you heard me say that my dad wants me home for dinner, so where are you going?” She clicks off the screen on her phone then scans the road ahead of us. It doesn’t seem like anything registers as she turns back to me. What the hell am I doing? Why am I following Riggs home, and why do I care about if he has a proper roof over his head? He is a poor guy from the dangerous side of town who hates me.

He’s also a jackass.

Sweat sticks to my back as nerves kick in. I’m still trying to figure out how to explain to Foxy what my crazy ass is doing, when Riggs signals and pulls into an apartment complex that has seen better days. The buildings aren’t exactly run down, but they aren’t in great shape either, and the roof looks like it went out twenty years ago with patches of tarp covering areas all around. Paint fades to a dull blue that is almost white in some spots and in other places, the siding is straight up missing. The cars in the parking lot are in about the same condition, save for the bike Riggs is riding. It is the nicest transportation in the lot.

I’ll have to make this quick because my Wrangler sticks out, especially now.

It doesn’t take long for Foxy to notice and start asking more questions.

“Why on earth are we here?” She’s not disgusted or anything, just curious. Her mom lives out here and even though her situation sucks and she can’t afford much, her apartment is loads better than these. “Wait a minute,” she gasps, “you followed Riggs?”

I back into a spot across the lot from where Riggs parked that still allows me to see him directly, but hopefully he doesn’t notice me. I leave the engine running, my gut churning, and give Foxy a sheepish smile. This is absolutely crazy, but if she feels the same, she’s not letting it show.

“Why did you follow Riggs?” she asks and my response is a groan of mass proportions.

“I have no explanation,” I whine.

She doesn’t respond right away. Instead, she watches with me as Riggs dismounts, standing to his full height, his lean body towering over the bike. He pulls his helmet off and tucks it under his arm, then grabs the key from the ignition. His stride is long and powerful as he makes his way to the stairs. They jiggle precariously when he steps on them, but he doesn’t seem to care, his backpack slung over one shoulder. It falls forward a bit as he leans over to kiss an old woman on the cheek who is sitting on the balcony.

Her face lights up when she sees him, her skin wrinkly, her hair thin and white as snow. She looks far from healthy, even for someone her age, but her smile is beaming. He says a couple words to her while he helps her stand by gripping her elbow. Reaching over, he pushes the door open and gets beside her, looping their arms.

My chest warms again. This is possibly the sweetest thing I think I’ve ever seen. Is this woman related to him, or is he doing good deeds before he makes his way to his apartment?

“Holy shit, girl, he may be a douche to you, but damn, he keeps getting sexier and sexier.”

“Right?” I agree, annoyed as all hell. Riggs, the hero, at it again. Yet another point to him in proving how much of a super-dick I am for trying to debunk his poorboy status.

“That must be his grandmother,” Foxy muses, and I wonder how the hell she knows that. Jensen must have told her. Why was she talking about Riggs? Maybe she is trying to figure out why he hates me so much? Not sure why it matters at all. The kid is allowed to dislike me.

“His grandmother?”

“Yeah, I guess he lives with her.”

So this is where he lives, and he takes care of his grandma.

This knowledge makes me even more confused. He’s supposed to be a bad guy. He treats me like shit, but other than his attitude with me in sticking up for his friend who I hurt, he seems like a great guy with good morals—aside from providing weed for the community.

He lives with his grandma and all but carried her into the damn house. I’m lost in thought with a frown on my face when Foxy says, “You like him, don’t you?” I explore her expression, but there’s nothing other than a genuine question.

“What? No, I don’t like him. No one is immune to seeing a hot guy help an old lady, Foxy,” is my automatic response, but it’s clear it isn’t true despite trying to make it true.

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