Boy Next Door (Parkside Avenue Book #2) Read Free

this girl was all skin
and bone, long and lean, no curves at all. Only her fluffy, fake fur jacket,
prevented her looking like a stick stuck into black, scuffed stilettos.
    Her red hair flew out, like a
flag blowing at the top of a flagpole, as she swung around to greet me. “Hi,
Rick’s brother. How’s it hanging?” she asked, her gaze travelling down to my
jeans, and spending a moment too long there, before reverting to my face.
    “Can’t complain.”
    As she downed half of her drink
in one long mouthful, I found myself wondering what else she could fit in that
wide mouth. Yeah, it was definitely time to get laid by an actual woman again.
I’d almost forgotten what one felt like. It wasn’t as if I’d climbed on the leg-over
wagon, but after one too many one-night stands, at uni, I’d realised that getting
off for a few minutes, or an hour, relieves the frustrations but gains no
lasting satisfaction. Sleeping around just wasn’t my scene. It was time to find
that elusive, meaningful love: the kind my parents shared, the destructive kind
that ends badly more often than it works out. I was ready. I wanted it. Tina
wasn’t it. But it didn’t hurt to take what was on offer, and Tina was
definitely offering. One last random shag could be just what I needed. The game
was a bust anyway. Kendrick had Lexi up against the wall, greedily partaking of
every inch of her exposed caramel flesh.
    Tina inched closer. “So, where
you been hiding, then?”
    “Uni.”
    “Brainbox, huh? That mean you’re
gonna get one of those city toff jobs and earn loads of dosh?” She threw her
head back, laughing, like one of those boxed clowns at the funfair: a horsey
laugh with little snorts at the end.
    “Nah, not my style, babe.”
    She raised a sceptical brow,
finished her drink, and lit a cigarette. Was I the only one who didn’t smoke
around here? “You wanna go somewhere?” she asked, chewing on a piece of gum
like a cow chewing cud.
    “Like where?”
    “Anywhere. You choose.”
    “How about your place?”
    “Still live with my folks and
three baby sisters.” She paused for a second. “Guys usually wanna go to Crown
Point.”
    Yeah, I bet . “I don’t have
wheels yet.”
    “Your house?”
    It was past midnight, and Pappa’s
hearing wasn’t what it used to be. I pictured him snoring heavily in his bed.
We might get away with the sofa, if she was quiet. It was worth a shot, and
better than taking her up against the side alley wall surrounded by discarded
kebab trays and yesterday’s empty beer bottles.
    “I’m bunking with my grandfather.
I guess it would be okay. But no screaming.”
    Her eyes twinkled. “You usually
make girls scream?”
    “Don’t get too excited. You want
something. I want something. I’m not out to impress.”
    Tina shrugged; clearly not out to
impress me, either.
    ***
    Arriving at the end of Pappa’s
driveway, I was puzzled to see the living room light still glowing. Didn’t all
old folk crash early? Perhaps he’d left on the bulb as a welcome home, or
fallen asleep in his chair.
    “Wait here,” I whispered.
    I crept up to the window and
peered through a gap in the curtains. The standard lamp lit up Pappa’s spot,
and there he was, newspaper and pen in hand, scribbling away. Shit. Who does a
fucking crossword in the middle of the night? I contemplated sneaking Tina past
him and up to my room, but there was always the chance he might see, and this
girl wasn’t worth upsetting Paps for. I turned to Tina. “The old man’s still
awake. Some other time, maybe.”
    “Not so fast, buster. Don’t you
know it’s bad form to get a girl all worked up and drop her without so much as
a fumble? What about the garage?”
    Fuck me. She was desperate to get
some. “It’s locked, and I don’t have a key.”
    “Round the back then?”
    I thought for a moment. “There’s
a shed.”
    “Perfect.”
    A few minutes later, I had Tina
pressed up against the wooden slats next to the plant pots. She