King of the Road by R. S. Belcher

Author:R. S. Belcher [Belcher, R. S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Urban, Contemporary
ISBN: 9780765390158
Google: UpFxDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B078X23BLX
Barnesnoble: B078X23BLX
Goodreads: 37534911
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 2018-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

“10-99”

Ryan knew he was being stupid, dangerously stupid. He walked through the tall grass toward the dense, dark woods behind the park. The June sun was high in the crystalline sky and the heat and humidity beat down on him like a hammer. He could turn back, make up a lie to tell Nevada that he had tried to get her stolen property back, maybe even embellish it a little to make him sound extra heroic in her eyes. No, lies were an awful way to treat people you cared about, and he obviously … cared about Nevada.

Nevada had let Cody, one of the teenagers that hung with Dickie Dennis, borrow her grandpa’s harmonica. He had promised he’d bring it back as he kissed her forehead and headed off into the woods with the other guys. Cody told her that night that he had lost it in the woods, but she knew he was lying.

“I was so stupid to trust him,” Nevada had said. She and Ryan had been sitting on a bench near the courtyard of flamingos. “He was being so nice, and he told me he was in a band and they were going to do some blues stuff and he wanted to learn how to play it for that. I told him about Grandpa giving it to me. I’m an idiot!”

Ryan had felt a hot flush of jealousy. She thought that asshole was cute, and she had fallen for his bullshit. The angry part of him felt like saying, “Yeah you were an idiot, and now it’s gone!”

Nevada began to cry. She had been trying to be cool, but she had lost the battle at the summoning of her grandfather’s memory. “He … he acted like he really understood how it was the only thing I had left of him since we lost everything in the stupid hurricane and had to come here. I thought he was being nice.” The tears became sobbing, as her shoulders heaved and Ryan was ashamed for what he had been thinking.

Now, heading into the the woods, Ryan remembered the look on Nevada’s face, a look of soul-deep sadness and betrayal by someone you truly wanted to believe in. Mom had that same look on her face the night Kenny beat her, the night “the thing” happened, the night they had both nearly died. Ryan would have given anything to take that look off his mom’s face, to take that cataract of pain from the light of Mom’s eyes.

He had hugged Nevada and told her it was going to be okay. He held his friend. That was the moment, Nevada’s wet hot face on his shoulder, her long tanned arms around his neck, that he decided he was going to get Nevada’s harmonica back.

He liked Nevada, really liked her. The feeling ballooned inside him whenever she was around. It was too big for him to find words for. And at twelve Ryan knew, he knew, he’d never feel this way about another girl again.

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