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Just sixty bucks. That's all I need. I'll pay it back.

With a quick glance over my shoulder, I snatch a handful of twenties and stuff them into my pocket. Just as I grab another stack of bills for counting, an iron-tight grip wraps around my bicep.

“What the fuck do you think you're doing, asshole?”

I whip my head around to find Christian's blazing hazel eyes, nostrils flared. “I… I wasn't⁠—”

Growling something in Spanish, he yanks me toward the kitchen. Both Juanita and Gale glance up at us as we storm through, but Christian waves them off as he drags me through the back door.

“Smoke break,” he mutters. We burst into the back parking lot, cold air chilling my skin. I barely get a chance to breathe before my back slams against the brick wall.

“Give me the money, Dev,” he snarls in my face, palms planted flat on my shoulders.

I lift my chin despite the blood roaring in my ears. “What money?”

“Don't fucking lie to me!” His fist connects with the wall beside my head. “Couldn't even go more than a week, could you, motherfucker? Jonesing for a fix that bad?”

My stomach bottoms out, taking my breath with it when I shove him backward. “Fuck you. You think I’d seriously take money from Juanita just to get high?”

“If the shoe fucking fits, yeah.”

“It doesn't. I wasn’t buying coke, goddammit!”

Christian just crosses his arms with a scoff. “Prove me wrong.”

I bite down on my cheek hard, humiliation flooding my senses. “I met with my probation officer yesterday. She said it doesn’t look good to not have a phone. I need service to stay compliant, so I was going to use the money to turn it back on. I wasn’t buying dope. Not that I expect you to believe any of that.”

He stares at me silently, searching my face for any hint of a lie. When he doesn’t find one, his features soften. “So that's where you went. Devon, look⁠—”

“Save it,” I snap, looking away. “I get it. That’s what you think of me. That’s what everyone thinks.”

“That’s not⁠—”

“It is.” Taking the money out of my pocket, I shove it into his chest. “Here. I'll get my phone service some other way.”

Fuck if I know how, though. Jesus, this is embarrassing. I'm thirty years old and don't even have my own income to spend.

“This doesn’t make it okay,” Christian growls, snatching the twenties from my hand. “You can’t steal from her, man. She gave you a chance when she didn't have to because I asked her to.”

“I know. I just…” Carding a hand through my hair, I tilt my head to scowl at the stars. “I didn’t want to ask you.”

He reels back like I hit him. “Why the fuck not? You ask me for food. For rides and clothes. You suck my fucking dick without letting me return the favor, but this is where you draw the line?”

That catches my attention. “Wait, pause. Did you say let you return the… what?”

“Seriously, fucker, I don't understand you,” he grumbles, pulling a pack of smokes out of his pocket as he starts to pace. “Twice. Twice you gave me head. Why the fuck for?”

I watch him stick a cigarette between his lips and light it before I reply slowly. “Why did I… give you head?”

The confusing asshole just tosses me an odd look. “Yeah. Why would you do that if you didn’t want anything from me?”

My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. “You think I did it because I wanted something?”

“People like you don’t do shit for free.”

“People like me? Seriously?”

“Have we forgotten how you treated Xed? And Salem? Logan? You slept with Arya behind my back, fool.”