Page 160 of Forever Relentless

I filled him in briefly.

Dante ran a hand through his hair. “Christ.”

I crossed to the kitchen counter, setting my phone down harder than necessary.

“They suspended him for a week, and it’ll stay on his record.” I held up my phone. “And he’s texting me asking what’s going on at my school.” I snorted.

“He read a tutorial?” Dante asked. When I nodded, he grinned. “Jesus. Go Tate.”

I smiled at that. “So this weekend I may have started some fires, and I need to get to Texas to talk to the administration to fix Tate’s issue and put out that fire.”

The room went quiet. Dante leaned against the wall, arms folding across his chest.

“How will you fix Tate’s problem? No offense, Noah, you’re not . . . diplomatic. Or his parents.”

“I know. I was hoping Savvy would give me some advice. But she’s pissed at me, too.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise at my grumbling. “You get why, though, right?”

“Yeah.”

“This isn’t how it works, Noah.”

“It’s how it starts. Rumor and suspicion, and then watch it spread.”

He studied me for a moment, the irritation in his expression slowly shifting into something more sympathetic.

“You know, you might not need to go to Texas,” he said thoughtfully.

“Should I be scared?” I asked him cautiously. “Last time you had that look, we got in a bar fight, and I almost got kicked out.”

“I’m thinking dangerous thoughts,” he said as he scratched his chin. “Are you feeling . . . reckless?”

I shrugged. “Usually?”

“This is why I love talking to you, Noah, you’re so fluent in the art of conversation.”

I let out a quiet laugh, shaking my head. “And I’m the difficult one? You’re impossible.”

“Some may say efficient.” He pushed off the wall and walked around his room. He came back with his sunglasses in hand and headed for the door. “Want to walk with me?”

“Just so we’re clear,” I said, picking up my sunglasses from the counter. I paused with my hand on the handle as I prepared to follow him out. “Whatever this is, if this blows up in our faces, I’m blaming you.”

“That’s fair.”

I closed the door, and as we went down the stairs, he glanced back once. “And Noah?”

“Yeah?”

“Next time you decide to start a war?”

I lifted an eyebrow.

“Give me a heads-up.”

We walked outside into the mid-morning sunshine, both of us putting our sunglasses on at the same time, and headed across the quad.

“The plan?” I asked.