Page 11 of Wrecked

“Thank you for protecting me.”

He looks back at the road. “Yeah. No problem.”

His face is tight with disdain. The criminal is clearly a hard topic for the tough cop.

“What he said about Brad…is he responsible?”

Adam swallows and purses his lips. “Yes.”

I sit back and remember my first boyfriend who wasted away in a short amount of time. Brad was my first kiss. My first date. My first love. We’d been dating for a year when, one day, he canceled a date. He said he had other plans. Those plans took over his life for six short months until he was found dead.

“Adam,” I start to say. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him about Brad since he cut me off all those years ago. Actually, I never talk about Brad with anyone. My memories are kept in a tiny pocket inside my heart.

“We’re here,” he says as he pulls up to my house and hits the unlock button. All he offers is the side of his face.

I’m being dismissed.

Looks like we’re back to him being a complete dick. I undo my seat belt and open the door. I want to say something else, but it’s too late. What we had is lost.

chapter THREE

Crunch, crunch, slurp.

I open my eyes and see the cardboard cutout of Matthew McConaughey staring back at me. He’s wearing jeans, a button-down, a cowboy hat, and a smirk. Those piercing blues welcome me with the morning sunshine every day.

And, today, there’s an added sound effect.

Crunch, crunch, slurp.

I roll over and see my brother, Luke, sitting in my desk chair, eating a bowl of Cap’n Crunch.

“What are you doing up so early?” I ask, rubbing my eyes.

I’m the early bird in this house. Looking at my clock, I see it’s only eight in the morning. I got a grand total of four hours of sleep, yet I feel oddly refreshed.

Luke, on the other hand, looks like he’s still in last night’s clothes.

“Just got in. Thought I’d swing by and see how your night in the pokey was,” he says with a mouthful of Crunch Berries.

I bolt up in bed. “How did you know I got arrested?”

“My friend lives across the street from the park. Saw you getting hauled away in the backseat. He said your car was mangled,” Luke states like it’s the most fascinating thing he’s ever heard.

“Glad to know you were so concerned.” I cross my arms. “I’m fine by the way.”

Luke smiles and takes a huge, heaping bite from his spoon. Milk is dribbling down his chin. “I know. As soon as I heard, I called the station. They said you had been released, so I came home to see how you were feeling. Before I forget, your probation officer will be here at nine.” He grabs my cell phone off my desk.

“My who?” I take the phone from his hand and scroll through the text messages.

“Someone texted and said you had to be ready at nine for community service. I take it that is your punishment.”

I fall back on the bed. “Yeah, punishment indeed. This whole thing is ridiculous. As soon as I find Victoria, I am going to wring her neck. Can you believe she drove my car while high, crashed it, and then took off?”

“Yes,” Luke says. He brings his bowl to his mouth and slurps the remaining milk from it. When he’s finished, he places the bowl on the desk and turns to me. “If you weren’t driving, why did you get arrested?”

“I was the idiot standing by the driver’s door. The officer assumed.” I wave a hand in the air, wiping away the bad Karma. “Whatever. It’s fine. Adam was there, and he’s letting the whole thing go as long as I do community service. It’s a drag, but it’ll be fine. Gotta keep on living, you know?”

“Okay, McConaughey.” Luke is looking at me with one eye closed. “Since when are you friends with Adam? That guy’s a douche. He gave me a ticket last month for doing sixty in a fifty-five.”