Breaking Her Bad by Michelle Mankin

 

 

 

 

 

Claire

I was trying to slide my panties back on, but that was difficult to do with Kyle staring at me like he wanted to take them off again.

A loud knock suddenly rattled the door—and me. My gaze flew to it.

“Open the damn door,” Tommy demanded.

“Hold up!” Kyle shouted. Looking at me, he waited until my panties were in place and my skirt was down before he opened it. “What’s going on?”

“Sorry to interrupt.” Tommy rubbed the back of his neck. “But it sounded like you guys were through. Finally.”

Obviously, he’d been listening. My cheeks flaming, I moved closer to Kyle. Now that I had him, I wasn’t staying away. Those wide shoulders of his, that tight ass, all of him was too compelling to resist.

“Came to tell you Randy’s here. I started to knock earlier, but I heard what was going down.” He tipped his head from side to side like he was trying to dislodge the sound from his ears. “You two are loud. Now I’m horny as hell and can’t do anything about it until I make sure you’re square.”

“What does he want?” Kyle asked.

I slid my arms around his trim waist from behind, laying my cheek against his back. Every solid muscle I could feel was tense.

“I dunno.” Tommy shrugged. “You were pretty clear that he’s out with you, but he marched inside the apartment like he had a right to be here. Don’t worry, though. He doesn’t know about Claire. Missy intercepted him, and she’s keeping him occupied.”

I drew in a sharp breath. “I don’t like her being alone with him.”

Tommy’s gaze met mine. “I don’t like that either, Claire.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Kyle said. “Just give me another minute with Claire.”

Turning, he took one of my hands and squeezed it.

“No way, man.” Tommy shook his head. “Missy knows the sitch. She’s got it under control.”

One of Kyle’s brows lifted. “Got it under control where?”

“In the back bedroom. She’s doing a bump with him that he paid for.”

Kyle shook his head. “Guy’s an asshole.”

“I believe she’s aware. But she can handle herself. She made that clear. But I’m still planning on interrupting, just in case. Since,” he said with a grin, “interrupting seems to be my gig tonight. But you two better take off. I have a bad feeling about him being here.”

“Roger that.” Kyle shifted, tucking me under his arm.

I liked being there and wanted to melt into him.

“But Missy,” I said. “Who’s going to see to her getting home?”

I might not have had a lot of girlfriends, but I knew the code. Never get separated. Never leave one behind.

Tommy waved off my concern. “I’ll see that she gets where she needs to.”

“Thanks, man.” Kyle extended his hand, and Tommy clasped it. They clapped each other’s backs, then they broke apart as quickly as they’d leaned together. “Appreciate you.”

“Got your back.” Tommy nodded once.

“And I yours.” Kyle lifted his chin. It seemed like Tommy and Kyle were as tight as Missy and me.

“Now take off.” Tommy hooked a thumb over a shoulder as muscular as Kyle’s. “I’d recommend no PDA until you’re well clear of the shit hole. Randy might not be the only Skellin crow watching, if you get my meaning.”

“I do.” Nodding, Kyle steered me into the hallway.

The couple who’d been having sex were gone. But the bass still thumped and the icky smell was just as strong.

“You go down the stairs first, Claire.” Kyle’s jet-black brows pinched together. “I’ll be right behind you. But be prepared. I’m gonna fake a bullshit scene in case anyone is watching. Play along, yeah?”

“Okay.”

“Then go, babe.” He gestured, then turned me. “I’ll have my eyes glued to your sexy ass.”

I headed down the stairs, smothering the satisfied curve to my mouth at the knowledge he was watching me. On the steps, I hugged one side to avoid stepping on needles. What I couldn’t avoid was my dismay when I noticed that a few of the zombies on the stairs were kids I knew. My grandmother had been an addict before she died. Just like her, they might die too.

Pausing, I turned my head. “Kyle . . .”

“I hate it too, Claire. That stuff is poison,” he said, and I could hear the resignation in his voice. “But if they don’t score a hit here in a somewhat controlled environment, they’ll score it on the street. At least here, I can call an ambulance if things go south.”

That was sad, but it made sense the way a lot of bad things that were normal in Southside did. Distracted by my thoughts, I continued to the bottom, but startled when Kyle suddenly shouted.

“Get the fuck out of my place, Claire!”

“But—” I whirled around, my hair whipping my cheeks. “I . . .” I sputtered but then remembered to play along. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Yeah?” He gave me a cold look. Not Tommy you came to see after all, huh?”

I dropped my chin. “No.”

“Nothing to talk about,” he snapped. “Nothing here for you.”

“If you’ll just listen . . .” Tears sprang to my eyes. I knew he was pretending, but this seemed too real.

“Fucking hell!” Kyle said. “I can see I’m gonna have to put a bitch out.”

He grabbed my hand and yanked open the door. Once he had me out on the stoop, he slammed the door behind us.

“You okay, babe?” he asked, moving closer.

A little shell-shocked, I just nodded.

“Good.” He leaned closer to speak in my ear. “You did great, Claire.”

“Was anyone even watching,” I asked in a whisper. I hadn’t been able to focus on anything but him.

“Not that I could tell. But let’s go. It’s better not to hang around.”

He gestured to the steps, and I made my way down them. On the sidewalk, I strode a few paces ahead of him, hopefully to the two bathtub sentries. It looked like he was herding me away.

As soon as I entered the narrow space between the buildings, Kyle took my hand.

“You handled that well.” He squeezed my fingers. “I just wish you didn’t have to.”

I stopped and turned to face him. In the low lighting, his handsome face was shadowed. I had the thought that by being with him, I might not outright condone what he did, but my approval was implied. So we were both in the shadows now, literally and figuratively.

Life was no longer as simple as I once believed.

“I care about you, Kyle.” Motivations mattered when choosing who was with you in the shadows. “I’ll do whatever I need to do to help you. But I know how things work in Southside. Missy told me that caring is a weakness your enemies will use to exploit you.”

“She’s right.” He shook his head sadly. “And you’ve certainly had a crash course on how to survive during the short time you’ve been here.”

“I think I’m doing better than just surviving.” I lifted my chin. “I have real friends here, genuine ones. Missy. Tommy. Chad. And you. That’s more than I had in Lakeside.”

“You shouldn’t care about me.” Kyle exhaled heavily. “You should hate me for what I am.”

“Why?”

He frowned. “You know why.”

“You don’t see yourself properly.” I shook my head. “You see only flaws because of what others say who don’t even really know you. That was the way it was for me in Lakeside until you came along.”

I placed my hand on his hard chest, feeling his heart thumping wildly beneath my palm.

He tilted his head. “What do you see?”

“I see a handsome, resourceful guy with an admirable inner strength and a willingness to help others. You consistently keep coming to my rescue, no matter the danger. Not for my appreciation. Not for a reward. You see something that needs doing, and you do it. Your heart motivates you to act.”

“My heart is irredeemable, Claire.”

“You think so, but I don’t.” Emotion deepened my voice. “Not unless mine is too. I followed my heart, after all, and it led me straight to you.”

“I can’t keep away from you anymore.” His silver eyes glowed brightly, like a full moon in a black velvet sky. “I should. It would be best for you. It’s what a hero would do.”

“You think you’re not a hero.” I narrowed my gaze. “And maybe you’re not in someone else’s eyes. But you are in mine.”

“Claire.” He blew out a breath. “A hero doesn’t leave his heroine alone to fend for herself.”

“He does if it’s safer for her.” I searched his gaze and saw I was right. “You sent Tommy to check on me that day in the cafeteria when Missy told me about you and her. You even try to shield me from emotional harm because you can’t come comfort me yourself, right?”

He nodded.

“I get the idea that Tommy walking me to class and looking out for me these past two weeks was mostly your idea.” My brow furrowed as I considered all that had happened, knowing Kyle cared for me. “You kept yourself away from me at school, because showing you cared for me might put me at risk.”

His firm lips flattened. “It does put you at risk.”

I kept going. Though I wanted to tell him that I could handle the risk, that was a conversation for another time.

“You couldn’t intervene when you saw me with Belinda, but you got my bracelet back because you know what it means to me. Southside or Lakeside, you’re rescuing and protecting me. At every turn, you put in the effort, take risks, sacrifice your own well-being.”

I remembered what Missy had told me about Kyle’s leg, and how badly he’d been hurt. Running my gaze over him, I searched for injuries that were no longer there, or at least not that I could see. But I saw him just for a moment, maybe like others saw him.

With his unruly black hair and his watchful, hooded gray eyes, he looked dangerous, like he’d stepped from the pages of The Outsiders. In his tight white T-shirt and low-slung jeans, he could be a greaser. Dallas Winston, considering it was likely Kyle carried the same blade and knew how to use it.

Kyle was as dangerous as he looked. But as hardened as his circumstances had made him, he was also gentle, sensitive, and caring like Johnny Cade from that story. His actions rivaled his good looks.

“Your leg was broken the night we were together because you stuck around Lakeside when you should have gone. How is your leg, by the way? You bore my weight when we, um . . .”

“When I fucked you against the wall.” His sculpted lips slowly curled, and my stomach predictably flipped.

“Yes, that.” My cheeks heated. “Are you completely recovered?”

“I’m fine.” His brows dipping, he framed my face in my hands, and I hummed from the warmth of his gaze and the pleasure of his touch. “It’s not your fault I got my leg broken. That’s on Martin Skellin. He should never have ordered me to deal in Strader’s territory.”

“Can you tell me more about Martin?” I asked and then held my breath, fearing he wouldn’t.

Yes, Kyle and I had sex. Yes, he cared about me.

But to keep him, I knew he had to trust me. He had to trust that I could survive in his world.

He had to let me in, and not just a little.

All the way.