Robin in the Hood (Robbin' Hearts Series Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

followed by a fiery blast. Screaming, I dove to cover my dad, coughing at billows of smoke.
    “JUSTIN! JASPER!” I heard a woman holler. “You knock that off, ya hear?”
    Too frightened to budge, I kept my face buried in my dad’s orange polyester blazer, my forehead sweating up a storm.
    “Oh my Lord, she’s just a baby!” I heard a woman cry. “And you gone and scared her half to death. Come here, sweetheart.”
    A pair of unwelcome arms pulled me upright in the seat and nearly squeezed the stuffing out of me. When I was finally released, I found myself staring at a very large . . . skunk?
    Black, bouffant hair with platinum streaks filled my vision, until I leaned back and took in the fluorescent purple eyeshadow and blood-red lips with a strategically-placed beauty mark on one cheek. For a sophomore who wasn’t even allowed to wear makeup at Pinnacle, the effect was downright . . . frightening.
    I screamed again.
    “Aw, it’s all right, honey,” the woman purred with another bear hug. “How do! I’m Brandi with an I,” she winked, “not a Y. Welcome to Turtle Shores.”
    She waved aside a cloud of smoke. I couldn’t help noticing that her frame was squeezed into a skin-tight black velvet jumpsuit with rhinestone swirls in embarrassing places. Like maybe she was a pole dancer channeling Elvis?
    “Sorry about the TNT Twins.” Brandi rolled her eyes at the two large boulders that had begun to wiggle. To my surprise, the boulders actually stood up, and a helmeted head and set of limbs poked out of each one. They cautiously inched closer until I could see their get-ups were made of stone-colored paper mâché.
    “Those two will blow up anything that don’t have sense enough to run for cover,” Brandi sighed. “And they’re a bit touchy about newcomers.”
    “You the law?” One of them growled.
    I glanced down at my nerdy uniform and mud-splattered sportscar.
    “In a convertible?” I replied. Funny how no one seemed to be bothered by the fact that a nearby bush was on fire.
    “Could be undercover. They got all kinds of tricks,” his boulder buddy snarled, holding up a smoking PVC pipe. From the odd, french-fry-crossed-with-gasoline smell, something told me they’d just shot a potato out of it.
    “Who you runnin’ from?” His partner persisted.
    Everybody! I wanted to say.
    “Well, uh we,” I began to explain, “Ouch! Sweet Mother of God—”
    Gasping, I grabbed my arm, realizing my dad had actually
h
i
t
me.
    “No innnfo, no naymzzz,” he hissed into my ear, spraying spittle while he was at it.
    Gotcha—no info, no names. Nodding, I rubbed dad’s slobber from my ear. Just for kicks, I decided to play this one straight.
    “Listen, people. And boulders,” I said boldly, “we’re just looking for a place to stay. You got something or not?”
    “Why, you don’t need to say another word, child!” Brandi cut in, giving me yet another hug.
    Swear to God, if that woman so much as touched me one more time, I was gonna slap her silly. Luckily, she lifted her chin instead to Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum and set her hands on her hips.
    “You boys know the rules,” Brandi chastised with a shake of her finger. “T’ain’t a soul here that’s got to explain nothin’ if they’re willin’ to be neighborly and pay rent.”
    “We can pay rent!” I promised excitedly, feeling the bingo lady’s money burn a hole in my pocket. Seeing this as our only chance, I unbuckled my seat belt and popped out of the Miata.
    “Here, how much for the first month?” I pulled out some cash and took an enthusiastic step forward. “Do you have a roomy double-wide, or—ahhhhhh!”
    Quick as a flash, I found myself in total darkness, like I’d fallen into a hole in the ground. Yet every time I tried to move, my limbs were hindered by something gooey and gelatinous and horribly disgusting, like . . . like . . . jello?
    “Ahhh!” I cried again. Struggling to reach up, I pushed over the grassy trap door