Note: this book will make you hungry.

Banner by VellichorWriter! Thank you <3

____________

You can now read my books such as BULLETPROOF on the interactive chat gaming app Lure, link is in my bio!

✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿ ✿

Prologue

"Congratulations idiots. You got caught."

Sheriff Small grinned through the tooth pick dangling between his gleaming white teeth. Nick Holden stood in front of him and nearly fell backwards from how blinding his smile was. He blinked and his face turned into a grimace as Small spat the tooth pick out by Nick's feet. Small crossed his arms over his chest and stood in front of the four boys who were currently cuffed at the wrists.

"Is this really necessary?" one of the boys, Keith, asked. He lifted his cuffed hands into the air and tried to ignore the drop of sweat making its way down his forehead from the blazing sun above.

"All criminals pose as a threat to the citizens of this great country and the system," Small recited.

"They teach you that in good cops school?" Nick asked.

"Yes," Small hissed at him. "Yes, they do. You've committed a crime, criminal. And you're gonna pay."

"Oh come on," Andrew, the third of the four boys groaned, his dark hair plastered to his forehead. He was born in Germany but hadn't actually lived there since he was three, though that didn't stop him from forcing on a strong accent that hardly anyone could understand. "It was hardly a crime!"

"Vandalism is a very serious offence to the state. I don't know if the rules are different in your home country but you abide by American law now kid." Small sneered.

"It wasn't vandalism," Logan, the fourth boy, drawled. "It was an act of protest. And if I remember correctly, this country has freedom of fucking speech."

"Drawing a penis on the front doors of Town Hall is an act of protest?" Small asked incredulously.

Logan shrugged, his blonde hair disappearing under the rays of sunlight. "Artistic interpretation."

"And you also committed theft. A very serious offence," Small glared at them all through his dark shades.

"Is it really an offence if we're stealing condoms?" Nick said. "I mean aren't we helping the world? One less pregnant teen on the streets. You should be thanking us, Small."

"Wait," Keith laughed, his black tattoos that sat along dark skin began to peek out from beneath his shirt as he moved his arms. "Your name is small?"

Sheriff Small frowned in confusion. "Yes."

Keith howled with laughter and the other three boys snickered. "That's a great name man. Then you don't have to break it to her when you're already on the bed and getting frisky. Your name speaks for itself!"

"I'll have you know that I am very well endowed thank you very much!" Small blurted out, his face turning red.

Keith choked on his laughter and crouched down on the ground by the side of the dirt road they were stood beside. He heaved heavily as he tried to keep his laughter in. Nick rolled his eyes at his friend and turned back to the embarrassed sheriff.

"Small, look. I'm sure a highly powerful man such as yourself has better things to be doing than turning in four idiots who just wanted some free condoms. Guys like you should be tracking down the big guns. Chasing after the serial killers and murderers. The Queen should be thanking you and Obama should be shaking your hand. You've got potential, Small. You shouldn't waste your delicate time with us."

Small looked at Nick until the latter literally wanted the sun to melt his body and let him drip along the ground until he reached a drain. Small took a step forward and narrowed his eyes.

"You think I'm that stupid, criminal?" Small asked with a hint of menace.

Nick tilted his head. "I mean I'm not gonna lie and say I wasn't hoping..."

"The four of you," Small pointed his chubby finger at all the boys, "are going to end up in prison for the rest of your lives. Your family will cut all ties with you and when you eventually get out you'll meet a girl, impregnate her and then end up back in prison where you will rot for the rest of your lives. Your child will call you by your first name and your baby momma will file for a restraining order that will be accepted and you shall forever be alone."

"Damn Small," Logan whistled. "You should write a book. I smell a bestseller."

"Shut it, freedom of speech kid," Small growled and whipped a speaker from his belt. He lifted it to his face and smirked at the boys. "Prepare for a criminal record, fiends."

Nick raised an eyebrow as Small pressed a button and began speaking to the device. "Charlie Tango Delta Ice Cream Santa Claus, this is Sheriff Small," he turned around and kicked his booted foot against the ground. "I have four guys here that I'll be bringing into the station. They're highly dangerous. Have no qualms over destroying public property and steal from vulnerable people-"

Small began to turn around and froze in place.

"Sheriff," the guy on the other end of the radio yelled through. "Hey, you still there?"

Small looked down the dirt road just in time to see four figures running in the distance. He quickly closed his mouth that had dropped open and stomped his foot down on the ground. "Fuck!"

"Sheriff!" the guy yelled again. "What the hell is it?"

Small began to run - and that wasn't an easy feat for a man that hadn't done any strenuous physical exercise since his police training over twenty years ago. Also didn't help that his mother had owned a bakery and he literally became her guinea pig to try all the goods and make sure they weren't 'lethal'.

"They're on the run," Small huffed into the radio, his arms flailing and his legs managing a weird galloping shuffle. "I repeat, they're on the run."

Nick looked over his shoulder as he ran to see the Sheriff in the distance trying to catch up to them. He grinned and ran faster, his cuffed hands forcing his arms to not move as much. Andrew laughed and turned, running backwards in front of his three friends.

"That Sheriff's an idiot," he said, German accent slipping a bit.

Logan smiled wickedly, his usually spiky hair flopping down. Logan was known as 'The Spike' because his blond hair was always gelled extremely high into a perfect spike. Now, he was the flopping spike.

"Right?" Keith laughed. "Guy can't do anything."

The four boys came near the end of the street that was cut off by a big main road that was pretty much deserted that day. Andrew continued to run backwards and Nick was secretly wishing he tripped and fell on his ass.

He didn't expect his wish to come true and for Andrew to get hit by a car instead.

The car screeched to a stop, bumping the side of Andrew and making him fall to the ground. He groaned loudly and then proceeded to yell a load of stuff in German as he kicked the wheel of the car with his foot.

The other three boys stopped and Logan rolled his eyes and sighed when he saw that the car was a police one. The obnoxious cop inside the car flared the siren off for no reason and Keith glared at him through the glass of the window. Two police officers got out of the car and one dragged Andrew up off the ground who was still screaming in German. He yelled out in pain from the growing bruise on his side and glared at the cop who smirked back.

"It's your lucky day, kids," the younger of the two cops said.

Sheriff Small came running up slowly and eventually in a mass of sweat and heavy breathing, he stopped behind Nick and clamped his hand down over the boy's shoulder.

Nick lolled his head back and sighed.

"Congratulations idiots." Small laughed, out of breath. "You got caught...again."

- Tahlie x