Page 126 of Shattered Pieces

“Yeah,” she mumbled, her phone buzzing on the bedside table.

Diesel handed it to her, and she rolled her eyes when she read whatever it was.

“Who is it?” I asked when she didn’t say anything, and she turned the phone for me to see.

Rory: Your bike survived.

Marco: Bet it soaked your panties too. You’re not really mad, right? Just playing hard to get? If you are mad, ride it a little more. You’ll feel better.

“He thinks letting you ride his bike fixes it?” I asked with a chuckle, clearing my throat when I realized no one else found it funny. “Sorry.”

“He’s simple-minded,” Jensen muttered as Rory locked the screen to ignore him.

I wasn’t sure how to feel about it all. Marco and Hunter were becoming good friends, and the thought of cutting them off made me feel sick. I’d basically lived at Marco’s the past two months while Rory was gone, so how could I just pretend like that hadn’t happened?

What they’d done was wrong, I wasn’t going to argue that, but it still fucking sucked.

We hung out in Rory’s room until dinner time, and I forced myself to let Diesel sit beside her since he was leaving soon. I’d have her all night.

“When the hell did you get those? In prison? You know how unsafe that is, right?” Josie asked as she sat at the table and eyed Rory’s tattoos.

“It was all done with clean needles,” Rory replied, making Josie frown.

“The needle isn’t the only concern.”

“I’m keeping it clean and using ointment. Do you like them?”

“I think they look hot,” I grinned, giving Josie a wink. “Tell her. She’s a baddie.”

A small smile tugged at Josie’s mouth as she tried to look disappointed but failed.

“The design is pretty and suits her, yes. I don’t approve of the way she got them though.”

“Yeah, it was a bit dramatic to go to prison just for a free tattoo,” Jensen smirked, and Rory rolled her eyes as we dug into our food.

Josie talked her ear off for most of the meal after that, so I listened to them talk while I ate, just enjoying the normality. I’d really missed things like this.

“How was your day at school, boys?” Josie finally asked when she was done talking to Rory, and I scrunched my nose.

“Shit. Calculus can go and fuck itself.”

“You need to study together. You dropped basic math last semester when you struggled, which I was fine with as long as you did some type of mathematics this semester. Now you all share classes, it’s easier to study together. Tell me what you’re struggling with,” Josie said calmly, embarrassment filling me.

“All of it.”

“Ask for help, Ty. You know I’ll help you, but I won’t know you need help unless you say something. You did better when you switched classes and studied with Rory, so maybe the two of you can sit down and work together like last time.”

Rory cringed, giving Josie the side-eye. “I’m struggling with Calculus too.”

“That’s why you worked well together. You’re good at understanding the question, but you struggle to solve the problem. Ty doesn’t understand the question, but when it’s explained to him, he’s really good at knowing how to solve it. You’re a good team,” Josie promised, patting her arm.

“I can help,” Lukas offered, pushing his plate aside. “I’m good with numbers.”

“You’re an asshole when trying to help me,” I grumbled, and he rolled his eyes.

“Because you don’t listen. I only get mad at you when you start dicking around and wasting my time.”

“Excellent,” Josie grinned, giving Lukas a grateful look. “You can work together then.”