“Quite a girl you got there.”

He tugs his zipper up and buckles his belt. “That’s some judgement coming from a hypocrite like you.”

I have no idea what he’s talking about.

Unless…

No. I shake the thought out of my head. There’s no way he’d know about me and Leo.

No one does.

As if on cue, my phone buzzes with an incoming text.

I wait for Knox to gun the engine before I read it.

Leo: Can’t. I’m stuck in a meeting. I’ll PayPal you some money for an Uber.

Aspen: No, it’s okay. I found a ride.

Almost immediately, another text comes through.

Leo: Will I see you tonight?

Disappointment flickers in my chest as my thumb hovers over the keyboard.

Aspen: Can’t. I’m studying for a big test with Violet. I’m free tomorrow night, though.

Leo: Tomorrow night it is then. Miss you, honey.

A small smile touches my lips.

Aspen: Miss you, too.

I never intended to hook up with Leo. It kind of just happened.

And before you judge me for my indiscretions—I’m fully aware of what it makes me and exactly how society would perceive me if they knew my secret.

Yes, he’s married. But he and his wife haven’t been together in a very long time, given she’s suffering from a crippling disease that’s slowly killing her.

Yes, he’s old enough to be my father. Which would be creepy to some people, seeing as he was my father’s best friend.

But the thing is…we all want to be special to someone.

We all want to feel cherished and cared for.

To know you have someone in this world who gives a shit about you.

Leo is that person for me.

And while I would never use him for his money—because I’m not my mother—I do use him for his capacity to care about me.

It makes me feel less alone in the world.

Like I belong somewhere.

And even though I’ll go off to college soon and I have no delusions that he’ll probably end up marrying a woman who’s closer to his age after his first wife passes, right now, what we have works.

It makes me feel a little less dead inside.

Knox takes a cigarette out and brings it to his mouth. “My father’s gonna give me shit about not showing up to the recruiting appointment, so I’ll need you to tell him the truth.”

I place my phone back in my purse. “That you were getting a blowjob in the school parking lot?”

He brings a lighter to the end of his cigarette. “That your bullshit little meeting ran late, and you asked me to wait for you so I could give you a ride home.”

Who’s the hypocrite now?

“But I didn’t ask you to wait for me,” I point out.

He makes a sound of annoyance in his throat, looking like he wants to reach over and throttle me. “Goddammit, you’re a pain in the balls. Are you gonna do it or not?”

I fold my hands in my lap. “Let me get this straight, you’re asking me to lie for you.”

A stream of smoke leaves his mouth. “Get off your high horse, Stray. It’s not like you’ve never lied before.”

He’s right.

But I only lie to cover up my shit. Not his.

Besides, he has a lot of nerve asking me to do him a solid after what he pulled today.

I can feel his gaze boring into me; however, I’m not prepared for his next statement.

“Did you enjoy watching me get my dick sucked?”

My cheeks heat. “No.”

A cocky smirk pulls at his lips. “Liar.”

“I didn’t,” I exclaim, squirming in my seat. “But I’ll cover for you as long as you never bring it up again.”

Witnessing that was an unfortunate mishap and the last thing I need is to hear him using it to torment me whenever the urge strikes.

The tendons in his hand flex as he tightens his grip around the steering wheel. “I bet you wish it was your lips wrapped around my cock.”

At that, I laugh. “Definitely not.” I take out my phone again because having a conversation with him is worse than hearing nails on a chalkboard. “And you’re officially on your own now when it comes to Daddy.”

Chapter 5

Knox

“What part of you have a meeting after school don’t you fucking understand?” my father booms the moment I pull in the driveway.

I suck my cigarette down to the filter and toss it out the window.

I knew he’d be pissed when I didn’t show up, but I was hoping I’d be able to get home and sneak downstairs before he started with his shit.

I open my mouth to tell him something came up, but Aspen says, “It was my fault. I asked him to wait for me after school to give me a ride home, but my student council meeting ended up running late and I forgot to tell him.”

My dad blanches, clearly caught off guard by her declaration.

That makes two of us.

“Oh.” I can tell he wants to scream some more, but he won’t because he still wants to make a good impression on her. “I see.” His dark eyes zero in on me again. “I’ll reschedule for next week. This time you better be there.”

You can cut the tension between us with a knife.

Apprehension flashes across Aspen’s face before she opens the door and hops out of my jeep. “I’m gonna take a nap before I go to Violet’s.”

“Aspen,” I call out when she’s halfway up the driveway.

She freezes. “Yes?”

“What time are you going to Violet’s house?”

I bite back a smirk when she swallows thickly.

“Eight.”

Liar.

She usually leaves at ten, but she pushed it up by two hours because my dad’s still standing in front of us and going to a friend’s house to study at ten on a school night sounds suspect as fuck.

“I’ll drive you.”

She looks like a mouse hovering near a trap. She’s starving and wants the cheese so badly she can already taste it…

But she also knows one little bite might kill her.

“You don’t have to. I can walk—”