Free Hellion, a New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series) by Elle Casey Page A

  She jerks up the emergency brake and then puts her arms and forehead on the steering wheel.
    I rub her back, waiting for her to spill her guts.
    “He lied,” she finally says.   “He lied about that … that … supermodel assbag.”
    “Olga?”
    She turns her head to look at me.   “Who else would I be talking about?”
    “Sorry.   Geez, lighten up, okay?   I’m not the enemy here.”
    She turns her face to look at the floor again.   “I know.   I’m just … really upset.”   She’s crying before the sentence is fully out.
    I grab her by the shoulders and pull her towards me. “Come here, Tea-Tea.   Don’t cry on your steering wheel, cry on me.”
    She leans towards me like she has no bones left in her body.   Her arms hang limply by her sides as she heaves out tear after tear and sob after sob.
    “Listen, I’m only in the Rebel fan club if you’re the president, so don’t take this the wrong way, but maybe you just misunderstood something.   I mean, did he actually lie to you or did this Olga bitch do the lying?”
    Teagan sits up suddenly, wiping her face with her hand angrily.   “No.   It was a lie of omission.   I asked him weeks ago whether he was ever with her and he denied it.   But apparently, that’s a big fat fucking lie.   They were together, Quin.   Together.   As in a couple .”
    “Wait a minute … I thought you told me he did admit to being with her. I’m confused.”
    “No, what I said was that he said he was just in some small thing that was nothing and was very short and no big deal.”
    “Somehow I doubt those are his words.   There are way too many syllables involved.”
    “You know what I mean!   He says a lot without saying a lot.”
    I snort.   “Says you.”
    “Quin!   Whose side are you on?!”   Her face is bright red, and I’m trying really hard not to fish around for a tissue to wrangle the snot coming out of her nose.
    “I’m on yours, of course.”   I look away.   “Gah, Teagan, wipe your nose.   My stomach is a mess tonight and you’re making me sick.”
    She uses the back of her hand, which doesn’t improve my indigestion one bit.
    I get a text, and since the only people who text me at this time of night are pretty much in the car with me right now I look at my phone.
    Are you with Teagan?
    I don’t recognize the number, but I’m pretty sure I know who it is.
    I respond with my own text: Go away.
    “Who is it?” Teagan asks, wiping her nose again.
    “It’s Mick, I think.”
    “What does he want?”
    “He wants to know if I’m with you.   I told him to go away.”
    Bring her to RW. Don’t let her go to that hole.
    “He wants me to bring you to Rebel Wheels.   They don’t want you over at the Golden Tooth Legacy.”
    She huffs out a snort.   “Like they can tell me what to do.”
    I chew my lip, trying to figure out how I can manipulate her into going to Rebel’s place.   I’m with Mick.   I don’t want her hanging out with the break-dancing alcoholics at her old apartment complex where she still has a place.   “Listen, babe … don’t you think you’re better off in a safe place where kidnappers can’t snag your ass and punch your face off?”
    She hesitates and I hold my breath, waiting for her response.   I’m worried I’ve pushed too hard and will end up hitching a ride home.
    “That’s not going to happen again. No one’s going to touch me. My step-mother knows they’re watching her.”
    “Let’s hope not.   But just to be sure, I’d sleep a lot better knowing you have a wall of muscle between you and the bad guys, if you know what I mean.”
    “But that muscle is a liar.”
    “Only some of that muscle is a liar.   You still have Colin, and if you ask me, he’s plenty of muscle all on his own.”   I can still remember the pile of wasted human being that greeted us at the top of Rebel’s stairs, when he basically rescued Teagan from their asses.   One of them was in a coma for a week