Page 22 of Swerve (Boosted Hearts 1)

I swallowed.

“You been whoring yourself out to that black boy across the street?”

“No.”

“Little slut,” she muttered. “You get pregnant, you can fuck off and find somewhere else to live.” Then she turned back and stared at the TV.

I spun away and ran out. Not as bad as I expected. She’d said worse. Luckily for me, her favorite program was on and she was more interested in that instead of me, for once.

The street was dark, but there was a full moon. It was also warm, and I was glad, I didn’t want to cover my dress with a sweater. I walked along the street, following the thumping beat of the music coming from Tomas’s house. I could hear people talking and laughing and my belly flip-flopped. I’d never been to one of his parties before, but I wasn’t a kid anymore, and Neco would be there to look out for me.

I walked down the broken concrete driveway. Several guys were standing around and I felt their eyes following me.

“Who do we have here?” one of them said, moving toward me.

I ignored them all and quickly walked toward the back.

There was a bonfire in a drum, and most people were back there. I stopped, searching for Neco, and some guy slung his arm around my shoulders.

“Hey, baby . . .”

That’s all he got out before Neco was in front of me. I smiled up at him. “Hey.”

He stared at the guy still with his arm around me and shook his head. The guy dropped his arm instantly and backed off. My heart did a little flutter.

Neco’s eyes slid back to me. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I jerked back. I thought he’d be happy to see me. “I, ah . . . I thought . . .” Suddenly I didn’t know what to say. That never happened when I was with Neco.

He dragged a hand over his cropped hair, eyes dropping to my dress. “Fuck.” His nostrils flared. “You can’t be here.”

“But . . .”

“These aren’t the kinds of guys you need to be hanging around, Ruby. You’re a fucking kid.”

“I’m not, and you know it.” I could see several girls from my class standing around. “And I . . . I wanted to show you my dress. I bought it with the money you gave me.”

He stilled and his eyes did another sweep, from head to toe, and his chest expanded to twice the size on his next breath. “Ruby . . .”

“Do you like it?”

“It’s not safe for you here. You need to leave.”

I wanted to hear him say he liked it; I wanted to hear him say I looked beautiful. I ran my hands over my hips. “But my dress . . .”

“Go the fuck home, Ruby!”

I jumped. Neco had never yelled at me like that. Ever. He looked so angry, angry at me. Oh God, I’d gotten it all wrong, I’d made a mistake . . .

“Now!” he barked.

I spun and ran away.

When I hit the street, I was struggling to breathe through the pain his words had inflicted. I loved him, so much.

He didn’t love me, not the way I loved him.

He didn’t want me.