Thanks for the reviews! Big shout out to my beta would lending a hand with this chapter, She got me over my writing block. I do not own anything in this chapter, besides Savannah, everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Chapter 30

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Juice felt like a total creep standing outside of the diner. He couldn't go inside. Savannah was working and for that reason, Mel chose today of all days to drop off the cash for him. He was on edge, hoping to god this would just be over with. The sooner this happened, the sooner he could go back to his life for another month. And best of all, another month of Savannah not finding out about it.

Mel was seriously pushing it though. His break was almost over, and if she didn't show up soon Savannah would come out looking for him. The last thing he needed was this blowing up in his face now. He was planning a dinner for Savannah and he was short a few bucks. He knew it was lower than low to use Mel's money to take Savannah out but he didn't have much of a choice at this point.

When he finally caught sight of the red car, he wasn't sure if he was more anxious or relieved to see it. Glancing back at the diner, he couldn't see Savannah on the floor. If he could get this done quick, he was the luckiest man alive.

Walking over to the car, he leaned over and peered inside the window. Mel was dressed to kill today, her boobs nearly popping out of her shirt. When her perfume hit him, he knew she was really trying hard. It was the one she knew drove him nuts. Unfortunately, for her, it didn't have the same affect on him as before. "You got the cash? I've got another tool payment to pay." He said, knowing he wasn't be completely truthful.

He already had the payment covered, she didn't need to know that though. A little white lie never hurt anyone. He knew he was taking advantage of it, but he was too excited for his date with Savannah to care.

Mel searched through her purse, taking her sweet time in looking. It was like she wanted him to be caught. She could see he was on edge. Which meant the little bitch he left her for was close by, or coming by soon. "Don't worry, baby, I've got it. You looking forward to graduating? It's soon, isn't it?" She asked sweetly.

Juice tensed up. The last thing he wanted to do was make small talk, but he could tell she was gonna drag this out as much as she could. Glancing back at the diner, he didn't see Savannah through the windows. That didn't mean she wasn't in there though. "Uh, yeah. Two months. You can't show up, in case you were thinking about it. Don't. Sav, she can't . . . it just wouldn't go over well." He said, knowing that's where she was going with it. He could see the wheels turning in her head already.

The last thing he needed was Mel making a disaster of his graduation. He knew Savannah was planning something for him. He was excited for it too, and he knew Mel showing up would just ruin whatever it was. He didn't want Savannah to know about Mel still giving him cash, but if she were to find out? He definitely didn't want it to be on his graduation day.

"That was suppose to be our thing, Juice. We were gonna come cheer you on." She reminded him.

He knew that had been the plan before. Mel talked about it a couple times before. Her and her kid were gonna show up, signs and all, and cheer him on when he got called. Plans changed when they ended things though. Now Savannah was the one he wanted cheering him on. She was the one he wanted there, not Mel. "I know, but things changed. I don't want you near Savannah. I mean it, Mel." He said, wishing she'd just accept it and leave.

Mel didn't seem to like his answer, and he knew she had every right to just drive off without giving him the cash. She pulled it out and held it out towards him. "Don't worry, Juicy. I won't upset your little girlfriend." She said, leaning over just enough that he would still have to reach in and grab it from her. From the angle he was leaning in, he could see even more of her exposed chest, and he had to bite his lip. He was over her sure, but he was still human.

It was also what she'd wanted.

He didn't realize it until after he'd taken the cash and she'd driven away. Once she was gone, he pocketed it and slipped back into the diner, completely unaware that Savannah had seen anything. He didn't know that she had taken out a bag of trash for Mr. P. That she'd seen the familiar red car and Juice talking to the red head inside. She hadn't stuck around to see him with the cash, but she'd seen enough.

She knew he was still in contact with Mel.

Juice, oblivious to it, looked around the diner for his girlfriend. He was guilty for using Mel's money to take Savannah out, sure, but he was excited to just take her out at all. There were only a few times he was able to do it, and this was one of them.

Savannah was all smiles when she came out from the kitchen. Juice didn't know she'd heard a thing. She approached him, her smile plastered on her face, and kissed him. It wasn't a quick kiss like he was expecting since they were working, but a good slow one. One that made him want to take her out back and have her for himself. When he pulled her against him, she smiled and pulled back "Easy, Ortiz. Behave. We got eyes on us." She giggled, giving him a wink as she pulled away and went to take an order.

She knew that was more for her benefit than his. She wanted to make sure things were still good for them. Good for him. She couldn't understand why Mel would be here. She didn't like that she was here seeing Juice.

Seeing that woman was not something she ever wanted to do again. Seeing her with Juice was even lower on that list.

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It was Tuesday afternoon which meant Savannah was in her art class with Skylar for the next two hours, leaving him completely home alone until he had to go to work at 10 at the club. He savored the alone time. Months of living in a car had given him no privacy and even his showers at Mel's had been joint. Now . . . he had personal space.

He sat on top of their bed with his weed in front of him, along with the little digital scale he used to divide it up into the baggies. He had a whole pack of those out too, stolen from Savannah's kitchen cabinet. She used them to take a sandwich to class with her, he used them to sell his product. He licked the edge of the joint he'd just stuffed then held it to his lighter, breathing in.

Living with Savannah meant he was free, had alone time to smoke and chill out. He toked again, reveling in the relaxation. He almost always mellowed out the instant a joint touched his lips. He held it loosely, hands going back to work on the task at hand. He had until tonight to get this shit thrown together to take with him to work. His phone had been blowing up all morning with requests.

Juice blew the smoke out pausing to listen hard . It almost sounded like the front door had clicked shut. Shrugging, he grabbed the saran wrap, humming a little bit while he made up a few dime sacks. Those were always a big seller, cheap and small. Easy to hide.

The door to their room jangled suddenly making him jump. "Juice?" Savannah called out.

His eyes widened in horror at her coming home. "Uhh . . . just a sec!" He snuffed the joint out, waving his hands around the room hopelessly.

"Why's the door locked?" She tried it again.

He was grabbing frantically for the weed, cursing when the seeds and stems he'd so tediously picked out spilled all over the floor. "Mother Fucker."

"Juice? What's going on?"

"Hold on." Juice was rushing, and failing, to get everything in a mad grab. "I'm, um . . . almost done."

"Done with what? Let me in. Now." She sounded like she was getting pissed.

He swept everything into his open gym bag quickly then looked down at the seeds. No way could he vacuum right now. He grabbed the dirty clothes hamper and emptied it on top of the mess. "I was, umm . . "

"What?" She snapped, hitting the door with her first.

"Jerking off." He spat out the first thing that came to his mind. "I do that sometimes."

Silence. Then the door tried again. "I'm coming." He threw the bag beneath their bed, grabbing the door handle just as she twisted it again. "Sorry." he put on his best grin.

Savannah crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him. "Jerking off, huh?"

"Yep. I like to do that if I know we're gonna mess around. I last longer if I get myself off while you're gone. Then I can, umm . . . take care of you?" He knew just how stupid he sounded, the question was, was she going to call him on it?

"With the door locked?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. "You thought I was at class. What were you doing in here? And why is my laundry everywhere?"

"I was looking for those panties you had on earlier. The little purple ones with the bow in the back. I . . . " He swallowed, looking away from her. "I like to use them to . . . ."

Savannah's eyes widened then she went back to glaring at him. "Do you always smoke put when you jerk off?"

Juice didn't give her an answer, but that was all the answer she needed. She was no stranger to the smell, but it didn't mean she wanted it stinking up her apartment. The last week with Juice had been . . . great, but different too. Since she'd seen him with Mel outside of the diner. He never mentioned it, and she didn't either. They went out to dinner, went home, fucked, and then went to sleep.

Savannah didn't bring it up, but the question had been on her mind. Was Juice still seeing Mel behind her back? The question had been on the tip of her tongue for days now, but it never seemed to make it past her lips.

Was it wrong she'd come home early just to see if he was cheating? A part of her knew that was ridiculous, but she needed to know. It was eating her up inside not knowing. She felt guilty for even considering it though. He'd made his feelings clear to her, and she'd yet to say she loved him. Was that the problem? Was she too guarded?

"Hey, what's that pretty head of yours thinkin' about? I can practically see the wheels turning in there." He said, bringing her back from her thoughts.

She opened her mouth to ask, but held back. She couldn't ask him. She would look stupid, asking him if he was cheating. She'd feel embarrassed because she knew he wouldn't. At least, she really hoped he wouldn't. Mel was a sore subject for them.

She was about to tell him it was nothing and leave, but stopped at the last second and turned back to him. "Are you still seeing that woman? Mel." She blurted out before she could stop herself again.

He looked stunned, and if she was honest, a little guilty. It was gone before she could really know for sure. He wasn't sure where it'd come from, but if he was ever going to own up to the fact Mel was still helping him financially, this was it. Of course, he could never make things easy for himself.

"Nah, course not, babe. I'm strictly a one woman man now. All yours."

Savannah looked relieved, sighing as a smile appeared on her lips. Juice was holding his breath, hoping that meant the end of the questions. Technically, he didn't lie. He wasn't sleeping with Mel, but he still saw her when she was dropping off cash for him. What he knew for sure though, was that if this got out? If Savannah found out he was lying to her?

He was royally screwed.