Real Ugly (Hard Rock Roots #1)

Chapter Sixteen: Turner Campbell

After the police thing with Naomi, I'm even more interested in her. Even coming back to the bus to find that Ronnie and Treyjan had invited a girl into my bed hadn't done it for me. We'd fooled around for a bit, but I didn't fuck her. Told her I was tired and she stormed out after a massive sobbing fit that woke everybody on the damn bus. Fine. Her loss.

I slide some gel through the back of my hair, letting it stick out in all directions – messy, unassuming. But carefully planned. Perfect. Eyeliner goes around my eyes, not enough to look like some kind of emo fuck, but just enough that my eyes are haunted, far away. I change out the stud in my tongue, switch out the piercings on either side of my lip for rings, and slip red plugs into my earlobes.

"Primping for Miss Naomi Knox?" Treyjan asks, leaning around the edge of the door frame and flicking his tongue out at me. His brown hair is sticking straight up and he's got a tie around his neck, but no shirt. Typical Trey. I grin at myself in the mirror and give him a look over my shoulder.

"I might be. What's it to you? You interested?" Treyjan shrugs his shoulder and starts digging around in his jean pockets for a smoke.

"I wasn't until I saw her running naked across the parking lot the other night. Damn, girl's got a body." I try to ignore the fact that my hands curl at my sides and the air gets a hell of a lot thicker. I smirk and run my fingers through my hair once last time, just to make sure it's perfect.

"Yeah, we had a bit of a thing," I tell him, refusing to elaborate. If he knows Naomi and I didn't have sex that night, he doesn't let on.

"I can see that," he tells me as he moves back and makes room for me to step past him and start towards the door. We've been parked for about an hour now, and I'm tired of waiting. I want to see Naomi. No, maybe that's not it. I need to see her, and I need to find my kid. "But why? A few days ago, you acted like you couldn't stand her. Now you're in love or some shit? What's going on, Turner? I've known you a long ass time now, and I've never seen you look at a girl the way you look at her." I pause with my foot on the top step, ready to descend. Part of me wants to break down and have some sort of gay ass heart to heart with Trey, tell him everything.

Instead I say, "Hey Treyjan, what are you named after again? Oh yeah, that thing that failed and got your mommy preggers with you." I reach into my back pocket and grab a Trojan, tossing the little square package over my shoulder as I step out and onto the cement.

"Hey Turner," he shouts after me. "Fuck you, dude." And then for a few blissful moments there, everything is normal. Better than normal even. And then I run into Naomi, and a smile curls across my lips. My body goes crazy and my heart starts to pump.

She looks fucking perfect tonight, dressed in a white, sleeveless button up that isn't actually buttoned, just pinned together over her chest with an Amatory Riot button. The teal color of their logo only emphasizes the matching bra beneath, the one that peeks out at me as she moves. Around her neck is a black tie with a skull on it, made out of the same fabric as the very, very, very short fucking mini skirt she's got on.

She pauses in front of me and places her hands on her hips, letting out a sigh that I don't quite get.

"Hey there, sexy," I say, and I can't help but notice the way her lip curls up at the edge. There's still heat between us, so much so that my dick is already hard and my body is starting to sweat. I find myself licking my lips and running my hand through my hair. And she, she just stands there and looks at me with eyes so shadowed in secrets that I can't even tell what color they are anymore. "You know," I begin before she can say anything. "It's true. Honesty really is the best fucking policy. You had something you wanted to tell me?" She lets her mouth twist into an all out sneer and steps back, shaking her head like she can't even believe I just said that. "It'll clear your head, I promise."