Page 44 of One Breath After Another

A chill froze her to the spot.

“It’s Dunsworth, right?” Caleb asked, twisting the strands of her hair between the pads of his fingers. Penny couldn’t move. Why was he touching her? Why did people think they could just touch someone without even asking? “Preston—that was your dad. Preston Dunsworth.”

All at once, Penny snapped out of her fear. All she needed was hearing her father’s name on this stupid fuck’s mouth to do it.

She jerked away from Caleb, her book bag tight in her grasp. Out of his reach, she at least felt a little safer and was able to talk. Or rather, tell this guy to go fuck himself with a sharp object.

“Get the fuck away from me,” Penny snapped.

“So, that’s a yes?” He winked. “If that’s true ... is it also true what he used to do? Did he really pimp you out to anyone who could afford the price? Is that still available, or ...?”

His gaze trailed up and down Penny’s form. She was forced to wear the same stupid uniform as every other girl in the school except she opted for the slacks the boys wore and usually kept an oversized, zip-up hoodie on hand to throw over the button-down and tie that was made mandatory by the dress code. Today was no exception.

It didn’t stop Caleb from looking.

Nothing did with creeps.

They were all the same.

Then, Caleb dared to step forward.

Closer to her.

Again.

Penny wasn’t going to let him touch her—once was enough and even then, that was too much. Before he could even try, she reared back and threw a fist that landed against Caleb’s smirking mouth. She felt the way his teeth smooshed against her knuckles, leaving an ache behind when her hand fell back at her side.

He hit the lockers.

Laughter roared from down the hall.

Penny was already leaving, spinning on her heels and heading in the opposite direction from the students and her next class. Someone called her name when she turned the corner at the end of the hall, but she didn’t care to look for who.

Fuck all of them.

She didn’t bother to call Roz.

Or Naz.

They were both busy—baby stuff. Not that they needed to worry about a silly thing like her punching someone in the mouth. The school would probably fill in those details. Why did she have to?

Instead, she texted Luca. She might as well put that drop everything promise Naz made to the test.

Right?

9.

Luca

I need help.

Three words. That was all Luca needed to drop everything he was doing for Naz—the little issue of a caseworker sticking her nose where it didn’t belong—and head a few blocks away. At least, Penny didn’t make him search for her. Her second text added, Don’t rush. I’m at the gas station a block away from the school.

Well, too late.

He did rush.

Shit, it was the first time the girl even used his number since Naz had given it to her. Luca wasn’t about to make her wait when she had to use it in the first place. He figured she probably hadn’t bothered to call Naz or Roz because they were busy with appointments in the heart of the city. Not that it would have mattered as, like him, they would have dropped everything to run for Penny, too.