Falls Boys (Hellbent, #1)

by Penelope Douglas

People start spilling off the side, Hugo holds out his hands, widening his stance to maintain balance, and I jerk my eyes to Hawke. And he smiles. “We’re going to laugh about this someday!” he says. I gape at him, and he just starts laughing. “This isn’t funny!” I bark. “It will be when I get you drunk later!” I slap his arm. “Hawke!” What an… I grit my teeth. He’s just like his mom. Trouble is only bad if it doesn’t work out. Blah, blah, blah…

“You’re the only time I’ve ever felt it,” I say. “What?” I rise up a little, looking down at her. “Live or die. You or nothing.” I brush her cheek with my thumb. “I have to have you.”

“Solo un año,” I tell her. Just a year. But her eyes flare. “You actually speak Spanish?” she yells. I hold back my laugh. “I told you I spent a lot of time outside of America growing up.” She slaps my arm. “Hawke!” I pull away from her attack, chuckling. “What?” She knew I understood her when she called me ‘motherfucker’. I guess she just assumed I only understood some swear words and nothing else. “You should tell someone you speak their language!” “Why?” I shove her into the car and close the door. “You only spoke Spanish when you didn’t want me to know what you were saying, which is rude,” I say through the window. “You deserved it.”

He stares at me, takes the résumé, and I watch his eyes move over it before he starts laughing. “Debt collection.” He looks up at me and then continues reading. “Sales. Security. Investments… I’ve never seen someone say extortion, fencing, assault, and embezzlement in such nice words before.” “I’ve got gifts.”

He scowls, but he doesn’t argue further. Leaning over, he kisses my lips and says, “I’ll pick you up from school tomorrow.” And then he looks at his mom and heads out the door, brushing past her. “The ride home will take several hours.” I struggle to hold back my laugh. His footfalls hit the stairs, but Juliet pokes her head back in the door before she closes it. “I’ll pick you up from school tomorrow,” she tells me. “I think we should go to the gynecologist.” “Mom!” Hawke yells.