Breaking Her Bad by Michelle Mankin
Kyle
“How can you grin at a time like this?” I asked Tommy. The tardy bell having rung, I pushed away from the wall where I’d been impatiently waiting for band practice hour to be over.
“Because I like your girl.” Tommy stood in front of me while a few other late stragglers from band adjusted their trajectory to avoid us.
Claire had already left. She’d been in the first wave of students moving on to the next class. When she saw me, we exchanged a glance that I felt down to my bones. I noticed she wasn’t so sad. But she didn’t acknowledge me with words, nor could I acknowledge her.
“She’s not my girl,” I said, and speaking the denial out loud drove a thunderbolt through the center of my chest that rocked me.
“She could be.” His brows plunged together.
“She can’t be.” Hope was a flickering flame amid the ashes inside me. Determined, I stomped it out. “There is no way for us. No safe way with me being Skellin’s dog.”
“I hear you.” Tommy glanced at me. “But I don’t know how you can stay away.”
He shook his head, his hair loose now. But when I’d sent him to check on Claire, it had been pulled back in the club he usually wore.
Frowning, I fisted my hands. “Tell me what’s going on with her.” Whatever she and Missy had been talking about, Claire had looked crushed when she left the cafeteria.
Tommy studied me for a moment. “You gonna beat me up like you did Randy if I show an interest in her?”
“Randy just wants to fuck her,” I growled. Wait . . . did Tommy want her too?
“Dude.” One of his dark brows inched upward. “Have you looked at her?”
He does want her. Shit.
Claire was obviously fuckable. Seeing her today in that shirt that I’d peeled off her to discover her creamy skin and perfectly round tits was killing me.
“She’s her own person. Up to her who she wants.” The words were difficult to wrench free from the wreckage inside me. “But not gonna tolerate guys like Randy touching her without her permission.”
“How do you know what happened with Randy?” he asked.
“I was watching.” I glanced away, feeling edgy at letting her out of my sight for a single minute.
Tommy gave me an accusing look. “You’re stalking her.”
I glanced back at him. “I’m making sure she’s safe.” I looked around again, confirming the hallway was empty, then leaned in, my gaze meeting his. “I don’t trust Randy.”
“I don’t think you should.” Tommy’s lips flattened. “I get a really bad vibe off that guy.”
“Yeah, me too,” I said low. “He served a purpose at one time. Barely. But after that stunt with Claire this morning, that’s through.”
“So, you trust me?” Tommy asked, one of his brows inching up.
“Yeah, man. I do.” Frustrated, I explained what to me seemed obvious. “That’s why I sent you to check on Claire. Why I trusted you to check on her. So, how is she?”
His eyes rounded. “Whoa.”
“Whoa what?” I frowned at him.
“You’re a loner like me. We’re both outcasts, though for different reasons. Guys like you and me don’t trust easily.” He gave me a long, considering look as if expecting me to disagree with his assessment.
And?” I prompted when he didn’t speak.
He shook his head. “And I need a moment to bask in being the recipient of this lofty honor.”
“Cut the bullshit, Tex.” I rolled my eyes.
“Ha-ha. No one’s ever called me that.” After another considering moment, he nodded and his grin reappeared. “But I like it, Murphy. I like it a lot.”
“Claire,” I said curtly, refocusing him. “How is she?”
“Sorry.” His grin flatlined. “Your girl’s something. Pretty. Sharp. Talented. Tough.”
“I know all that.” And man, it irked me that he’d figured all that out so quickly. “But she’s not my girl.”
“Not here, maybe.” His gaze sharpened. “But she was there, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah. In Lakeside, for a hot second. But not anymore.”
Tommy narrowed his gaze as if he didn’t believe me. “I went after her like you told me. I reached out to her. But she reached out to me first.”
That sounded like Claire. “What kind of reaching out?” I asked suspiciously.
“She’s a hell of a guitarist.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Tommy waved a finger in the air. “I’m getting there. Be patient.”
Drawing in a calming breath through my nose, I discovered that I wasn’t a patient man when it came to Claire.
“She likes Anthem.” He dipped his head. “Did you know that?”
“She likes Gale Lafleur.”
“Maybe, but she also gets the message in their music. Most chicks don’t.” He gave me a measured look. “If you’re not gonna make a play for her, mind if I do?”
My blood ran cold. Tommy and Claire? Hell no.
“Yes, I mind.” I scowled at him. Claire could fall for a guy like Tommy. I wanted her safe and protected, but I didn’t want her with him. “Why was she upset, man?”
Missy moved toward us but wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Because of me.”
Worry slithered along my spine. “I thought you were in class with Claire.”
“I was.” She held up a piece of paper. “I have a hall pass.”
“Don’t like you leaving her alone,” I muttered. The two of them together was a good thing. There was safety in numbers.
“I know you don’t,” she said, her gaze furtive. “But I needed to tell you she knows about me and you.”
That was a loaded gun. “What about us?” I asked.
“That we had sex. But that has to end now. It hurt her to know. I don’t want to hurt Claire.”
I understood that. Totally.
“I can’t give her a reason not to trust me.” Missy lifted her chin to a stubborn angle. “So I’ll have to stop going over to the apartment. Which means I can’t help you with Bob anymore.”
“Okay. I understand. I’ll figure something out.” But it sucked to lose the help of someone I trusted. “Bob has an interview with Addy this afternoon.”
“That’s it then?” Missy asked. “After all the stuff we’ve been through? Just, Okay. ’Bye, Missy. Have a great life you and Claire.” Missy stamped her hands on her hips and glared at me. “When you know the shit I have going on at home, and Claire just lost her dad.”
“She lost what?” My jaw dropped and my blood went ice cold.
Missy cocked her head. “You didn’t know her dad died?”
“No.” I shook my head, suddenly unable to breathe.
“He died the same night you two were together and left behind a ton of debt. They had to sell everything to pay it off. She had a family and a home, and now she sleeps on a couch in her aunt’s one-bedroom walk-up apartment. Claire lost everything.” Her voice husky, Missy lifted her chin. “But she’s not going to lose me.”