Pit: The A**hole Club Series Saffire Blue (top 10 most read books in the world .txt) 📖

“Her smile was contagious,” Skittles says as she stops beside me.

I didn’t hear her come in. I turn to look down at her and she has a distant look on her face as she looks at the picture. I wrap my arm around her shoulders.

“You have her smile,” I say. I think that’s it. It’s the smile that transforms Skittles’ face and takes her from looking like her dad’s mini-me to her mom’s.

“Yeah, my dad used to say the same thing.” She looks at me and curiosity fills her gaze. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll understand. I’m just asking. How is your mom?”

I clench my jaw. After everything that happened, I wouldn’t talk to any of the assholes about it, no exceptions. They all respected my space. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to them, I couldn’t. Not without rage consuming me.

“One morning I got a call from Scarlett. She was crying. She found mom on the floor in her bedroom.

“At first, we thought she was alone and just had a stroke. I got her a nice house in a neighborhood she loved in Bridge Lake after my father lost everything, but nothing was the same. My dad’s embarrassment became hers I guess, divorced and all.

“We figured out my father was there that night. She had the stroke while he was in the house, and he didn’t even call for help. Claimed he had no idea, he had stormed out after their talk,” I seethe, not realizing how angry I’ve gotten until the bite of my nails from my balled fists starts to register.

“You guys think he was lying?”

“Of course, never once has my mother ever let him leave without taking the blame and smoothing things over.” I shake my head. “Turns out, her noisy ass neighbor overheard them arguing. He said the fighting abruptly stopped and he saw when Thaddeus rushed out.”

“Wow, I can’t stand that guy all the more.”

“I have her in a really nice place. She didn’t want to be a burden on us, but she couldn’t go back to the house on her own. I would have moved in with her and Scarlett had offered to drop out of school, but Mom didn’t want us to fuss over her. She seems good with the home and they’re good to her.”

“Do you go to see her?”

I shrug. “Not a lot. She’s hiding something. Even after he left her for dead, she’s keeping his secrets. I don’t want to be a part of that shit.”

“You’re ready to talk about something else. Come on, let’s figure out lunch,” Skittles says.

I look at her and my heart swells. I think I needed to get that off my chest, but I also needed this conversation to be over. Skittles is always what I need her to be.

This is why I love her. Smart, caring, and drop-dead gorgeous. The fact that she gets her hands greasy under the hood of a car is a bonus.

“How about that gyro place? You know, the halal one.”

“Oh, yeah, that sounds great. Want to walk there? I’m not in any rush,” she says.

“Yeah, if that’s what you want.”

Skittles

I haven’t stopped laughing since we started our walk. I was surprised to see Pit show up at my shop. He usually only comes by with the guys to race the track on the property.

He’s never shown real interest in what I do until today. I don’t know why, but he made me so nervous at first. Seeing the smile on his face after he drove my car made me so proud.

“We’re still on for our trip, right?” I ask as we turn into the entrance of the restaurant and get in line to order our food.

His cheeks turn pink. I let my eyes thin into slits. “What are you not telling me?”

“I thought it should be a crew thing, so I invited them.”

I burst out laughing. “You did good, big man. I miss them. They will definitely help to get my mind off of things,” I say. “Where are we going?”

“One of your favorites. The Turks and Caicos Islands.”

“Yes,” I sing.

I’m already packing in my head. I’m so excited. There will be jet skiing, diving, scuba, and so much more. I’m hyped. That’s tons of stuff to distract me and keep me from losing my mind.

“We should tell them.”

And of course, my little bubble is burst. We’re going away so I can relax. If I tell the guys, I’ll end up more stressed than I already am. I’m shaking my head before I finish the thought.

I groan. “No, that’s a double no.”

“Why not?”

I huff. “For the same reason I didn’t want to tell you. You guys are as overprotective as I am. I don’t want them worried about me or making this more difficult than it already is.”

He holds his hands up. “Fine, as long as you stop the tossing and turning by the time we get back.”

“Again, you have a California king you can occupy all by yourself,” I sing the last part.

“And spend a night without my favorite little person up under me. I wouldn’t hear of it.” He winks and then turns his attention to placing our order.

My phone rings. It’s one of my suppliers I’ve been waiting on a part from. I tap Pit’s arm to let him know I’m going to take the call. However, I don’t get to make five good steps before some jerk decides he wants to play with his life. It all happens so fast.

“Damn, look at all that ass. Now that’s a body. Some of you women need to take notes. Out here looking all fat but want us to wife y’all up,” the guy says.

I spin because I can feel the raging bull that raises up in Pit. “You have a full set of tits and a pot belly and you have the audacity to say some shit like that,”