Riley's Pond (New Adult Romance) Read Free

wheel.
    I worried about my stupid brother, whose insides were being rearranged by doctors at the moment. However, this was by far the dumbest stunt Jaxson had pulled. If what Pete and Charlie said proved true, Jax could find himself spending a long time inside a jail cell.
    **
    Cold water pounded my back before I gathered the wherewithal to shut the shower off. School. I dragged my naked, dripping body across the hall and face planted into the center of my mattress.
    “Your butt’s whiter than an Albino’s,” Dirk said.
    My head felt too heavy to lift, but I saw Dirk’s face, twisted with disgust, reflecting off the glass covering Kaylee’s photo on the night table.
    “You checking me out little bro?” I teased.
    “Ewwe! Gross! No way!” he grimaced.
    “Close the door and go get ready for school. I’ll be down in a minute and fix breakfast.” No matter what crisis evolved, Mom insisted our lives remained normal as possible, and ditching school was never an option.
    Inching my body upright, I blinked against what felt like tiny razor slices along my lashes. I stretched a T-shirt over my head, wondering if the naked silhouette covering my chest would earn me an excuse to come home and crash. Pulling jeans up my legs drained my last energy reserves. The socks on the floor passed the smell test to be worn another day before being tossed in the dirty clothes hamper. I yawned the same time I pushed my foot into my shoes and stumbled into my desk.
    “Damn,” I hissed, shaking the numbness out of my hand. I shoved the math book lying on my dresser into my backpack, snatched my iPod from its docking station, and the sweatshirt off the hook behind my door. I’d need to hide beneath the hood with earphones pushed in my ears to catch some serious ZZZ’s in English. Good thing Bruiser sat in front of me. He was big enough to shield me from Mrs. Bornstein’s iPod thieving eyes.
    I tossed a slice of toast onto a plate and slid it down the counter to Dirk, engrossed in some handheld video game. “Put that away.”
    “My toast is burned,” he complained.
    “So? Shut up and eat. You’ve got ten minutes until your bus comes.” I held my own piece of toast between my teeth, refusing to bite. Beyond burned .
    Dirk started whining and the sound grated inside my skull. “Where’s Mom? I don’t want to take the bus. Give me a ride, Riley.”
    Mom didn’t give me any instructions past feeding Dirk. Explaining why I fed him was another story. I spit my toast into the garbage and grabbed my backpack. “Hey, what’s with the list of demands? Mom had to go into the shop early.”
    “You’re lying.”
    “You’re a loser. Now get your crap. The bus will be here any minute.”
    “Why can’t you give me a ride?” I glared at Dirk over my shoulder when I locked the back door. He gave me a toothy grin. “ Ooooh , lover boy’s got to pick up his girlfriend. Maybe get in some action before school?”
    I smacked the backpack hanging off his shoulders. “Geesh, you’re ten. What do you know about anything, and her name is Kaylee. And yes . . .” I smiled, not finishing my X-rated thought. The bus horn blared out front and I gave Dirk a slight shove. “Go.”
    “Why do you have to be such a butt wipe?”
    I burst into laughter. Dirk wouldn’t swear if his life depended on it. Maybe because Jaxson and I cursed enough to cover him.
    “I’m telling Mom, ‘potty mouth’.”
    Dirk stood in the doorway, face puckered. “ Paleease give me a ride.”
    “Fine,” I surrendered. “Besides, there’s something I should probably tell you.”
    I waved off the driver and a cloud of blue smoke rolled up the front lawn when the bus pulled away. Dirk caught the keys I tossed, smiling triumphantly at his little victory.
    “I forgot my cleats for soccer practice. Wait for me in the truck, but don’t mess with anything or I’ll purposely run over your skateboard…then your bike. And, I will torture you in your