7. Chapter 7
Chapter 7
J ulio was going over the pickup schedule. Most of the dealers weren’t showing up for a couple more days, though a few would trickle in earlier. His crew all knew how it worked. Julio just liked to give orders. It was a way to remind them he was in charge, but Naz never minded. Things sometimes went to shit, but having a clear pecking order and clear plans helped smooth them out.
Not that Julio’s plans were clear. He mostly rambled.
While Julio talked, Meg moved over to rest against the wall near Naz, though not so close that they touched.
Julio’s eyes flicked to Meg, but his voice never paused.
Naz had been expecting something different, but he hadn’t wanted to deal with Julio’s possessiveness either.
“Can I have your phone?” Meg whispered.
Naz tried to pay attention to what Julio was saying, but she’d diverted his attention. Why the hell did she want his phone? Was she going to contact someone?
“Please,” she breathed out.
Naz pulled his phone out, unlocking it and handing it to her. He kept an eye on the screen as Julio continued in a drone that didn’t register. She didn’t call or text anyone. Instead, she pulled up the Notes app.
‘What’s your favorite animal?’ she typed.
Naz’s mind went blank. Why the hell would she ask that?
Meg tapped the screen.
He shook his head.
At first, her lips tilted down as if she was hurt. Like he didn’t want to share it with her or something. Then her lips parted in surprise, and she typed again.
‘You don’t have one?’
He shrugged.
That seemed to stump her.
Naz tried to concentrate on Julio again while her fingers moved over the surface of his phone. When she turned it toward him to read, he couldn’t not look.
‘You can have mine. It’s a giraffe.’
He huffed, startling himself and making the room go quiet.
Julio’s eyes narrowed before he crossed to them.
“Something funny?” he asked, snatching the phone from her hands.
The other guys stared at Naz, and his neck felt hot. Had his laugh sounded weird?
“What the hell?” Julio muttered. He glared at Meg.
She forced a smile. “I’m sorry. I got bored.”
“Not that childish shit. He had to talk you into getting the pill?” His brow creased. “You wanted my baby or something?”
Naz had forgotten to delete the messages from their shopping trip. The exact words he’d typed wouldn’t form in his mind, but he thought he’d been careful. He was always careful.
Meg froze, like an animal sensing a threat. She didn’t answer, and her smile started to look sick on her face.
Julio shoved Naz’s phone into his chest, and he scrambled to catch it.
Meg squeaked next to him when Julio’s hand closed around her throat. “Answer me!” he shouted in her face.
Her eyes narrowed, fury flooding her face to replace the fear. She tried to slap him, but he batted her hand aside, squeezing harder, and she choked out a gasp.
Naz’s hand went numb, and he dropped his phone as he stood frozen in indecision. If he stepped in, he might make things worse.
Julio was already easing off. “You better start talking,” he warned.
“You’re the one who soaked me in your cum. How was I supposed to know you wouldn’t keep doing it?” She tried to push his arm away, but he didn’t budge. “The pill seemed pointless. Ignacio made me realize I was being stupid.”
“Ignacio, is it?” he released her throat and stepped back. “Go to the trailer. You better be naked when I get there. I’ll give you the cum you want.”
“That’s not—”
His grip on her face shut her up. “Just go.”
She scrambled away once he released her, not looking back as she left the warehouse.
Julio glared at Naz, so close that Naz could feel the heat coming off of him. “You want my woman?”
Naz stared at him, frustration roiling in his gut. He waited for Julio to give him a reason to beat his ass.
Julio took in his expression, forcing a laugh. “What am I saying? You don’t fuck.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Shit, I’m starting to get sick of her. Not her cunt. That’s fucking magic. But if she talks your ear off instead of mine, that works for me. And it must be hell for you.”
He bent down, picking up Naz’s phone and handing it to him. “Just don’t cross the line, even if she manages to make your limp dick work.”
Naz didn’t know what to make of Julio’s continued smile. He wanted to punch it off his face.
“Since you find her more interesting than listening to me, run out and get her another pill. Now.” His smile curled. “She’s gonna need it.”
Naz decided leaving was better than what he wanted to do.
On his way out, Julio called after him. “Oh, and Naz. No, Ignacio .” His voice held a singsong tone as he said the name. At least it was different from the sneer Naz hated. “Bring the pill into the trailer once you get back,” Julio ordered.
Another dick move, but Naz didn’t let himself react to it. He was ready to walk off his urge to smear the cartel brat into the concrete.
He took his motorcycle to the store, wanting the noise of its engine rumbling in his ears. It didn’t sound right. He told himself that was all in his head, but he sent off a text to Ramiro anyway. It made him see the last text he’d sent him, his ‘not yet’ response. He wondered if he wanted Julio to kill him. To try, at least.
Maybe if Rocks pitched in, it’d work. His stomach still felt sore from that one punch.
The same pharmacist was working as before. From the disgust on his face, he seemed to recognize Naz, but it saved him from asking for what he needed, even if the pharmacist slammed the package down a little hard on the counter.
On his way back out, one of the rickety quarter machines drew his attention. It contained those little plastic capsules, and according to the picture, rubber animals were inside of them.
One of the animals was a giraffe.
Naz told himself he was being ridiculous. He felt like the idiot everyone thought he was when he walked over to the bored cashier and slapped a dollar down. He conveyed his need for quarters by making a circle with his fingers and gesturing at the machine.
It took him three trips to the cashier for quarters before he got the damn giraffe.
He dumped all the other animals he’d gotten in the trash, along with the opaque capsule the giraffe had come in. It wasn’t cute, kind of ugly actually, but it was small, and he shoved it in his pocket, making Meg’s Post-its crinkle.
The ride back to the old recycling factory felt both too fast and too slow.
Julio was probably still fucking her. He wanted to be fucking her when Naz returned. He wanted Naz to hear it.
And, what, be jealous? Naz wasn’t jealous. Julio must have realized his discomfort around sex was the best form of punishment. Even without hearing or seeing it, Naz had broken out in a cold sweat.
He should ask Ramiro to pull him. Not asking was the worst kind of self-sabotage.
When he finally made it to the field where the trailers sat, vague noises came from the right one, the one where he had sat inside with Meg and let her think they were friends.
His feet grew roots deep into the ground. There was no way Naz was going inside. Julio was going to be pissed.
The longer he stood there, the louder the buzzing built in his ears, sounding a lot like the cicadas already making a racket now that dusk had fallen.
A hand jutted into his tunneled vision, making him blink.
“Give it here,” Seb said.
It felt like a million years before Naz could lift his neck to stare at him.
Seb sighed, snagging the pharmacy bag from his grip. “Just get out of here,” he said, moving toward the trailer.
Naz left before Seb had even opened the door.
N az wasn’t asleep when Meg settled beside him in the middle of the night, and he didn’t bother pretending to be.
She wore his shirt again. The sight of it on her somehow made everything else clamoring inside him go still.
The plastic bag of gummies she’d brought with her crinkled when she took one out. He watched her bring the worm to her mouth and bite off a chunk.
The bag was almost empty. He should have bought her more of that instead of the damn giraffe that was burning a hole in his pocket.
She ate the final three gummy worms slowly as she stared out at nothing, her amber eyes bright in the flickering fluorescent lights of the warehouse.
When she was done, she let the bag fall to the ground and wiped her hands on his shirt, pulled tight over her curled-up knees.
“What is this place?” she asked. Her finger pointed up at the dangling chains.
Naz had always hated those chains. When he’d first started working there, he’d seen dealing with them as a way to grow, to force himself to face the reminder of his past.
Now he had a lot more reminders to deal with.
He dragged out his phone, unsure how else to answer her. His hand had hovered over the ‘delete’ button on the Notes app earlier, but he hadn’t been able to erase her brief conversation about animals.
He opened up a new note and typed out his answer.
‘Abandoned recycling factory.’
“Huh.” She curled her arms around her legs. “You’d think this place would be too obvious.”
‘Forgotten. Trees and fences.’
“That’s true. I remember feeling like we were entering the woods or something when my ex drove us inside.” She snorted. “That asshole had to be high as hell to bring me with him. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, but then, he rarely did.”
There was a dullness to her words.
“He did a lot of drugs, so he was always high. Me too. It was easier to zone out since he couldn’t get me off. But maybe that was the drugs, too.” She sighed, laying her cheek on top of her legs, facing him. “I was ready for a change even before he hit me that day. And Julio was hot. Going down on him in front of you all like that really got me going.”
She didn’t laugh. She didn’t even seem to be seeing Naz.
“It’s better with Julio,” she mumbled.
Naz remembered the way Julio had grabbed her neck. He shook his head.
Her eyes took in the movement. “It is. He’s good at fucking. He may be possessive, but I like that. When we’re alone, he doesn’t slap me or anything. I think I annoy him, though.”
Naz didn’t confirm or deny it. He didn’t want to lie to her, and it seemed like she already knew.
“I annoy everyone. Even when I know it’s not good for me, I can’t keep my mouth shut. When I try, it feels like it winds me up more, so I don’t bother trying.” Her eyes searched his. “Do I annoy you?”
Did she? Here she was, talking, but he didn’t really want her to go away.
He shook his head.
Her amber eyes softened around the edges as her hair slithered over her arms. “That’s another thing. You’re here. That makes it better, too.”
Naz let his phone fall to his lap. It rested over his pocket, and he thought about giving her the giraffe.
Meg yawned, not bothering to move her hand to cover it. “What’s your favorite color?” she asked.
Instead of reaching for his phone, he reached for the hem of her shirt, giving it a tug.
“Black?” She let out a soft snort. “That figures.”
She continued to stare into his eyes, quiet for once. He could hear the buzz of the fluorescent light overhead. He missed her voice.
She stretched out her legs beside his, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Mine used to be red. A bright red, flashy and eye-catching.”
He leaned his head against hers. Her hair tickled his cheek.
“It’s gray now. Like your eyes.”
That she liked his eyes made butterflies twist in his stomach. He really was pathetic.