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  “I have no intention of starting anything with either of you.”

  He nodded slowly and his gaze dropped to her chest. “We’ll see about that.”

  “See about what?”

  Two pairs of eyes turned to determine the owner of the voice, and found Kendrick striding through the door.

  Barbie’s nostrils flared. “Store’s closed, mate.”

  Kendrick surveyed the shop floor. “Looks open to me.”

  “He’s right,” Frank said, finally making an appearance. “The store is closed… or will be in about thirty seconds. Out you go boys.”

  “I’m waiting for Molly,” Barbie said leisurely.

  Kendrick rubbed his neck and stole a glance in her direction. “That makes two of us.”

  “Is it okay if I get my stuff?” Molly asked.

  Frank waved a dismissive hand, before widening his arms to usher the boys out of the building. “Then you can both wait outside. She’ll be out soon enough.”

  Molly ran to the restroom. She’d had enough of this shit. Let them wait. They could wait all night, for all she cared. She grabbed her bag and slipped out the back door. Then, after checking the coast was clear, she headed for home.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kendrick

  Kendrick hadn’t gone to the store expecting to encounter opposition. Unable to keep his mind on his studies, and off Molly, all day, he needed to see her, and he’d taken the chance she would be working that night. For the first time in his life, he had feelings for a girl that went beyond getting into her pants, and he had to find out if it meant something. If only his dumb brain had thought of it sooner, he would have arrived earlier and had a free run, but perhaps his timing was a stroke of luck. Unused to having to compete for a girl’s attention, he’d stepped into unknown territory, but he couldn’t allow the ground he’d gained to be flattened. Barbie might be in charge at the meets but no way was he getting the better of him where Molly was concerned. Not when he knew now. Whatever she was denying, on the outside, he’d felt her respond. There was something there. There had to be. And he was determined to find out what. Maybe not tonight, but soon.

  Taken by the surprise of his jacket sleeve being tugged, he stumbled slightly as Barbie pulled him towards him. “Whoa, mate. Take it easy,” Kendrick said.

  “Stay away from my girl,” Barbie grunted, with a storm brewing behind his eyes.

  “I didn’t know she was.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m in charge around here. If I say she’s my girl, she’s my girl. Got it? She just needs to loosen up, that’s all, and she was about to, until you came sticking your nose in. I heard about that stunt you pulled, last night. It was out of order. See it doesn’t happen again. Understand?”

  Kendrick held his hands up in submission. He had no intention of surrendering Molly, but he’d rather win her without earning a bloody face. “Yeah, I understand. It was nothing. A college project. I only came to see if she was okay. She left in a bit of a hurry.”

  “Probably went home for a bloody good shower, after having your filthy hands on her. God knows how many skirts they’ve been up. Stick to your whores, Rick. A girl like Molly is out of your league. You’re lucky she gave you the time of day.”

  Kendrick’s fists clenched at his sides. How he’d love to punch the smug bastard on the nose. Who was he to judge? Sure, he had money and girls seemed to find his looks passable, despite the crooked teeth scored from years of brawling his way to the top, but what made him think he was so much better? Kendrick had heard about the heartbroken girls Barbie had used and discarded when he’d had his fill. He got off on the chase, pure and simple. At least Kendrick’s girls knew the deal beforehand. He’d never had to make promises he had no intention of keeping, just to get a girl into bed, and somehow, he got the idea that dishonesty wasn’t a turn-on for Molly. And yet, however much he disliked Barbie choosing Molly for his next target, he was reliant upon his work contacts, and had to keep him onside. For now.

  Over Barbie’s shoulder, Kendrick noticed a figure running up the road. Someone was in a hurry to get home.

  “No worries, mate. I can take a hint.” And ignore it. “I’ll leave you to your, um,” he cocked his head in the direction of the store, “loosening. Catch you later.”

  Striding casually away, he waited until he was out of Barbie’s line of sight before kicking into a jog and following the figure in the distance. He didn’t have to follow for long. The way Molly was moving, anyone would think she had NOS in her tank, and after only a few minutes, she entered a one-storey house, with paint peeling from the window frames and weeds creeping onto the porch, and slammed the front door.

  Shouting followed.

  Kendrick crept up the path.

  “I said you’re late, girl.” Something about the man’s tone put Kendrick on edge.

  “You knew I was working ‘til ten.”

  “Don’t lie to me. You don’t work Tuesdays. Who’ve you been whoring ‘round town with?”

  “No one, Dad. I pulled an extra shift. I told you.”

  Kendrick stepped up to the window to see inside. A scruffy looking man in a dirty vest stood facing Molly with his hands on his hips. “The hell you did,” he said.

  Molly discarded her bag onto the floor and removed the band from her ponytail. “Yes, I did. This morning, on my way to college.”

  “I don’t remember.”

  “Well, maybe if you paid some attention to what’s happening around you, instead of watching that thing, all day,” she said, flinging her hand in the direction of the television, “I wouldn’t have to work so much?”

  “Don’t turn this around on me. If your mother were here—”

  “Well, she’s not, is she? My mother doesn’t give two shits about me. Or you!”

  “That’s not true,” Molly’s father bellowed as she turned her back and took a step. “Oh, that’s right, run and hide in your room, like you always do. Just don’t start that singing rubbish.”

  Molly swung back around. “Why? Because you’re determined to take away the one pleasure I have?”

  “Because it’s pointless, that’s why. If you think you’re going to become the next Madonna, you’re deluded, girl.”

  “I don’t think that.”

  “Then shut the fuck up. It disturbs my TV.”

  “And we wouldn’t want that, would we?”

  The way Molly was being spoken to incensed Kendrick. How dare her father speak to her as if she were no better than the stains on his vest? Needing to take a calming breath, Kendrick turned his back to the wall and slammed his hand against it, without noticing the rotting trellis. It came away from the wall and crashed to the ground, taking half the nearby drainpipe with it. Kendrick froze.

  “What the fuck was that?” Molly’s father shouted. “Have you got some horny little bastard outside waiting to jump through your bedroom window?”

  “You’re pathetic,” Molly screamed. “I don’t have to listen to this.” Heavy footsteps plodded across the floorboards, followed by a door slamming.

  The creak of the front door handle turning brought Kendrick to his senses. Shit. Stalking Molly hadn’t been planned. He’d wanted to find out where she lived, maybe see if he could get her to talk to him, but after what he’d overheard, it would only add to her problems if her angry father discovered him lurking in the garden. He had to get out of there, and with the possibility of the guy coming out the door, he couldn’t go back the way he’d come. That left one option.

  The fence was high, but Kendrick scaled it with ease, dropping to the other side and running along the back street, until he stopped a few yards from the end to catch his breath. Turning around to check he wasn’t being followed, he found the street deserted. Fucking idiot, he thought. You’ve had a few close calls in your life, but that was—

  A pain shot through the back of his head, and he fell to the ground. Barely catching a glimpse of a utility boot before his eyes scrunched shut from
another pain firing into his side, his head swam as he struggled to hold on to consciousness under the constant assault of blow after blow, before finally losing the fight and descending into darkness.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Molly

  Closing her locker at the end of a busy day, Molly leaned against it and waited for the throng of students to thin.

  Yvonne’s pink curls bounced up beside her. “Wotcha¸” she said.

  “Hiya. How’s the editing going?” Molly asked.

  “Fantastic. Actually, I’m almost done. Can’t wait for you to see the finished result. Come on. I’ll give you a lift home,” Yvonne said, grabbing Molly’s arm and looping it through her own. “Hey, have you heard?”

  “Since I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, I guess not.”

  “It’s all round campus.”

  “What is?” Molly asked, as they began to squeeze a path along the corridor.

  “Everyone says he had it coming, but—”

  Why did she have to have such an infuriating best friend? “Who had what coming?”

  “Your co-star. He got beaten up last night. You really didn’t know, did you?” Yvonne said, as they exited the building and headed for the car park.

  Molly stopped dead. “You mean Kendrick? Is he okay?”

  “Ooo, do I detect a note of more-than-friendly interest?” Yvonne’s mouth curved into a knowing smile, but Molly turned from her enquiring gaze.

  “Am I not allowed to be concerned for a friend?”

  “Friend, huh? I knew it. You do like him.”

  “I never said that. What happened?”

  Pulling Molly back into motion, Yvonne explained, “Word is, some kind of revenge attack, on account of his brother fleecing the Schofield brothers out of a bunch of cash, but Reece isn’t sure, and I can see his point.”

  “Oh? Why?”

  “Apparently Barbie was mouthing off in the club, calling Rick a nobody, saying how he’d see to it you saw him for the loser he is. Any idea what he meant by that?”

  “Chris came to the store, last night.”

  “He did? Now I’m wishing I hadn’t been asleep when you called. What happened?”

  “Not much. He asked me out. I said no. Then Rick came in too.”

  “Did they argue?”

  “Not from what I saw, but it was closing time, and Frank shooed them out. I snuck out the back. I never saw them after that. All I know is, Chris wasn’t happy, but you don’t think he’d go that far, do you?”

  “With his reputation? I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  The Subaru’s door beeped open. Molly threw her bag into the footwell before climbing in, weighed down by a feeling that it was her fault Kendrick had been hurt. Maybe, if she’d agreed to a date with Chris, it wouldn’t have happened? “You still haven’t said if Kendrick is all right. Is he in hospital?”

  “No idea. Liam found him at the back of Green Street and took him home. That’s all I know.”

  The weight jumped into her throat, and she almost choked on it. “Green Street?”

  “Yeah, you know, the next street up from yours.”

  “I know where it is.” She also knew it backed onto her own road, and the news did nothing to calm her guilt.

  Yvonne turned on the stereo and began head dancing, clearly unconcerned by the fact that Kendrick had been found only a few yards from her friend’s house.

  Why would Kendrick be on Green Street? What had he been doing there?

  Molly tried to think back to the previous evening. Her father had been pretty vocal, she remembered. Not one of his better days. Yes, she’d antagonised him by talking about Mum. The subject of her mother always flared his temper. She knew she shouldn’t stoke the fire, but he always acted as if her mother was such a saint, who couldn’t help deserting her family, and it pissed her off how he kept defending her, even though she should have been used to it by now. Something she was accustomed to was her father calling her useless. She’d heard it so much, she almost believed it, but the way he’d flung accusations about her sex life was a new low, even for him. She’d never left a boy outside, waiting to jump through her bedroom window, but she was starting to believe there may have been one there, invited or not. But why?

  “Thanks for the lift.” Molly waved goodbye to Yvonne and entered the house.

  Without acknowledging her presence, her dad sucked the dregs of his beer from a can.

  Reluctantly accepting, if she wanted answers, she had to engage him in conversation, she tried to play it cool. “Dad? After I went to my room, last night, did you investigate that noise?” she asked, walking to the kitchen.

  “What noise?”

  Desperate for a drink after her long shift, she filled a glass with water, and elaborated, “You said you heard something outside? I was wondering if you found out what it was?”

  “Why? Worried about your boyfriend?”

  “I don’t have a boyfriend, Dad. But if I did, should I be?”

  “Stop talking in riddles, girl. You’re making my head hurt,” he said. “And while you’re in there, grab me another beer.”

  “How about I make you a nice cup of tea, instead?” she called.

  “Tea? Are you trying to kill me?”

  “I’m trying to save you.” Not that I ever succeed.

  “I don’t need saving. Just get me a beer.”

  Molly took a can from the fridge and returned to the lounge. “So you didn’t leave the house?” she said, handing it over.

  She waited for the hiss of the ring pull to die, and her father to slurp away the escaping foam, before he replied, “Only to find the bloody thing’s falling down around our ears. You need to tell the landlord, he has to come fix the drainpipe.”

  Molly sighed, resigned to being kept in the dark. “I’ll call him tomorrow. Night, Dad.”

  It was pointless continuing the conversation. She was probably running down the wrong track anyway. Her mind was always making up stupid stuff. Despite her regularly being on the wrong end of his temper, she didn’t really believe her father was capable of such a thing, did she?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Kendrick

  Kendrick awoke to the sound of his phone buzzing on the nightstand. Two days in bed, with him being pretty much out of it, had resulted in almost twenty unread texts from Lexi, and considering a girl like her wouldn’t be short of a partner to get down and dirty with, while he was out of action, she must be pretty desperate to get some special Ricky love, and he didn’t like to disappoint. Waking up from a dream about Molly ensured he was fired up to ignition, and his dick was throbbing like he hadn’t had his bags squeezed in months. It was as if he’d been infected with an incurable Molly fever in need of dousing, and perhaps a dose of Lex was just the medicine he needed. An afternoon with her might even stop his mind fixating on someone who clearly didn’t need any more unwanted attention.

  A sliver of guilt nudged his brain, but he willed it away. Why shouldn’t he see Lex? He was a red-blooded, single man, and he couldn’t be called out for being unfaithful to someone he wasn’t actually seeing. So before he could change his mind, he pressed the keypad and messaged Lexi to pick him up.

  Twenty minutes later, they parked up at Crown Point.

  Lexi wasted no time climbing into his lap, and with a questioning look, she angled her head and ran a finger along his damaged jaw. “It makes me sad to see my baby all banged up.” She pouted.

  “You ain’t with me for my face,” he said.

  Her finger stopped on his lower lip, and she touched her tongue to her teeth. “Will it hurt if we play sucky-face for a while, or do you just wanna get right down to it?”

  “You really are a horny little bitch, aren’t you?”

  “You know it,” she said with a sassy grin.

  “Well, I got bruises in places dying to feel those healing lips of yours.”

  Her eyes brightened, and she shuffled into the footwell, as her fingers reached for th
e button of his jeans.

  Kendrick closed his eyes, leaned back against the headrest, and tried to convince himself he was doing nothing wrong. Within seconds, Lexi had freed him and begun her well-practised routine, but unusually, he wasn’t feeling it. What was wrong with him? When the boots had started pounding, that night, his junk was the first thing he’d protected, so why wasn’t it working?

  Turning his head, he opened his eyes to look out of the window, and his gaze found the wire fence where Molly had danced. Memories of how she’d felt in his arms, wet and shivering with need, came flooding back. It was a feeling he couldn’t imagine not experiencing again.

  Reaching down to weave his fingers into Lexi’s hair, he lifted her face. “Stop. Stop, Lex.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. It’s no good.”

  “What’s wrong, lover?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, but it’s not happening.”

  Lex rose up to straddle him. “Tell me what you need,” she said, rubbing her crotch over his half-baked erection.

  “Lex, you’re the best, and you know I think the world of you…”

  Her finger teased down the collar of his T-shirt. “I know that, baby.”

  “But what I need you can’t give me.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “With my repertoire? You’re joking, right?”

  “Afraid not.” Picking her up, he placed her back into the driver’s seat and refastened his jeans. “Look. We’re mates. Aren’t we?”

  Her brow furrowed, clearly puzzled. “The best kind.”

  “So if I tell you something, you’ll keep it between us?”

  “Sure.”

  Kendrick paused to light a cigarette and took a long drag, hardly able to believe what he was about to say. Then exhaling slowly, he said, “I think I’m in love.”

  “Ha!” Lexi stared in astonishment, and her lips moved trying to find the right words, before she said finally, “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. That beating must have affected your brain too.”

  “I’m serious.”