Jailbait Read Online Free Page B

fucking deserve one. I didn’t start the shit, yet I’m the one getting the bottom of my shoes dirty cleaning it up.  
    I straighten up the kitchen, and then take a shower. I get out, get dressed, and still have time to kill. Pepper ran errands with Savannah this morning, and then retreated back to the Davenwood Manor. She’s going to some sort of charity ball tonight. It’s an event I can’t get in, and it’s an event that’ll be heavily guarded on its own. I’m a man of my word, so I’ll be nearby, keeping an eye on whatever the hell I’m able to keep an eye on.  
    And there’s a bar across the street from the venue. Could be worse, right?  
    When it comes time to leave, I decide it’s too damn nice of a night not to ride my bike. Pepper’s not going to see me, after all. I can’t get close enough for it to even be a risk.  

    *

    I finish my second beer and lean back in the booth, watching the wrestling match on the large TV mounted in the corner of the bar. The building across from this place has been buzzing with all walks of life for an hour now. From what I could gather, the place is an old warehouse turned into some after-school art gallery for children. Because poor kids need art supplies more than food or clothes. Whatever makes the elite sleep better at night, thinking they did something amazing to help better the city. We’re not in the best part of town, which is why there are double the number of men in black suits standing around the sidewalk.
    Limos and expensive cars drop off the rich and famous. Paparazzi crowd around the roped off aisle way, cameras flashing as they snap something they can sell. And ordinary citizens squeeze between, cell phones out in hopes of getting something that can go viral, gaining their own weird little fame via social media.  
    Pepper arrived half an hour ago, exiting a black limo arm-in-arm with that sleezeball she was out with last night. I don’t know the guy’s name, or what he does, but I could tell by his body language he thinks he’s hot shit. And anyone could tell that Pepper was uncomfortable during their dinner.  
    So why the fuck is she with him again? It took effort not to get angry. Pepper can date whoever she wants. We broke up and never spoke again. She moved on. I didn’t. Sucks to be me, but what the hell am I to do? Hope that maybe, someday, somehow, I can move on from her, find someone better?  
    There will never be anyone better than Pepper.  
    I’m about to order another beer—and hell, another burger—when Rosemary sways her way back over. The chick was lit up like a Christmas tree when I got here a little after 7 PM, and wasted no time hitting on me. She’d be attractive if she showered, washing away the traces of white powder on her nose and ridding her body of the smell of sweat and dirty hair.  
    This isn’t the first time she’s been blitzed like this in public. She’s got her shit somewhat together like a functioning addict. I let out a breath and set the empty beer bottle on the table. I let Rosemary down easy the first time, feeling bad for her. I know what it’s like to have a fucked-up life. My eyes meet hers, but she doesn’t smile.  
    “Hey,” she starts and points over her shoulder. “Isn’t that your bike?”  
    “Yeah,” I tell her, and the question doesn’t raise alarm. Lots of people ask me about my bike. I did custom paintwork at the shop back in California, and my own bike is some of my best work. “It is.”  
    I move my gaze behind her, right as she says it. “I think those guys are stealing it.”  
    My heart lurches in my chest and I jump up. Two men in black leather jackets slowly circle the bike. My fingers curl into fists and it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to run out and beat the shit out of them.
    I’m not that person anymore .  
    And I have to be sure. A group of college aged kids bustles through the door, blocking my line of vision. I step around Rosemary and push