Page 11 of Black Waters

Yep, he personally knew Tim.

“Link—”

I pointed to Whit’s room. “She’s the only one who calls me that.”

“Reether is a bit too close to home for comfort.”

My face scrunched in question.

“Reefer? Marijuana cigarette?”

Now, my face winced.

“So Link works?”

I inhaled deeply. “I guess… now that you fucked up my natural name.”

“Well, marijuana is a natural product—if not laced.”

“You can stop any time.”

“Right. So. Uh, Link, how do you know Franky needs to be guarded?”

I shamefully looked at the grass. I felt guilty for knowing private information about Crash’s personal life. “I heard when… I saw your dad get a hold of you in the alley—the night I found out who you are.”

Crash’s expression danced between shocked, embarrassed, and ashamed. “Guess she’s not the only one you’ve been spying on?”

Trying to blow off remorse, I shrugged. “Do you blame me?”

He chuckled. “No. I actually respect you more for it.”

Unexpected comment, but that meant we were both one for one in the respect department.

Whit came out of her bathroom suited for bed, then her bedroom light blinked on and off. “Shit.” How could I forget such a detail?

“I envy that you are who she thinks of before going to bed.”

That’s when I knew this wasn’t Crash’s first night watching Whit. I stopped, pulling my cell phone out of my front jean pocket. “That shadow last night was you?”

“Uh, yeah.”

My phone lit up half out of my pocket. It was a text from Whit: You at Connie’s?

I quickly typed: Yeah, baby. U all right?

Yeah. Going to bed. I luv u

Luv u too girl

As if unaffected—which I knew to be a lie because Crash could easily read the text in the dark, he leaned back, stretching out his legs. “Got first watch?”

“I have everything first when it comes to Whit,” I adamantly declared.

Crash laid his head on the grass, closed his eyes, and grinned. “Not everything. That girl’s got ‘virgin’ written all over her.”

“Don’t make me kill you, fucker.”

“Settle, tiger. She don’t want me within a hundred miles of her.”