“It feels weird to be here,” she said.
“Yeah, I live here and I fucking hate the place.”
“Nix…” Harleigh twisted slightly to look at me, her big green eyes alight with pity.
“Don’t do that, B. Don’t feel sorry for me.”
“It’s not that.” She dropped her gaze, toying with the rope pull of my hoodie. “I just hate that I wasn’t there for you the last nine months.”
Sliding my hand under her hair, I gripped the back of her neck, forcing her to look at me. “But you’re here now.”
That same uneasy expression from earlier fell over her. Before I could ask her about it, the door swung open and Chloe and Nate came inside.
“Hey,” I said to him as he stood awkwardly by the door. “Come inside, make yourself at home. It isn’t much but it’s home, you know.”
Except, it wasn’t. Not really.
“Do you want a drink?” Chloe asked Nate.
“There’s beer in the refrigerator,” I said.
“I brought a little something too.” Nate rifled through his pocket and pulled out a small baggy.
“Nice. Light her up.”
Someone turned on Jessa’s radio and chilled beats filled the trailer. This was all I needed, my friends and my girl. And maybe a half hour in Buster’s ring with Denby and his punk ass friends. But I’d deal with them later. Right now, I needed something to take the edge off.
Nate lit up the blunt, sucking the end until the cherry burned red. He exhaled a wispy stream of smoke and offered it to me. I glanced at Harleigh and she shrugged.
She’d seen me get high before, but she’d never indulged back then.
“You want a hit?” I asked her.
“I…”
“Relax, B. Either you do, or you don’t.”
She rolled her lips together, giving me a small nod.
“Come here then, pretty girl.” I slid my hand to her jaw, gently squeezing her cheeks as I inhaled the end of the blunt, letting the bitter smoke fill my lungs. Harleigh watched, entranced, her eyes wide and alert as I leaned in and brought my lips right to hers, exhaling the smoke into her mouth.
Her eyelashes fluttered as the hit rolled through her and when she’d exhaled, I kissed her, slow and deep, letting my tongue tangle with hers, not giving a fuck that we had an audience.
“I’ve never done that before,” she whispered.
“Good,” I said. “I want your firsts, B. Every single one.”
Fuck, it was so easy to get lost in her. In the way she made me feel.
Even beaten and bruised, every inch of me aching and sore, Harleigh made me feel ten feet tall.
I slumped back against the chair and took another couple of hits on the blunt before Kye leaned over and plucked it from my mouth. “Greedy fucker.”
“Get your own,” I said.
“There’s plenty more where that came from,” Nate said, picking out another blunt from the baggie.
“Can I—”