Page 64 of Wicked Brutal

Beside me, Iz snorts. Danny looks between us with a grin already forming. The boys understand.

“About what?” I ask.

“It doesn’t matter. I just need a second.”

“Jesus Christ.” I look at Kaiden. Then back at her. “Did I accidentally give you the impression we’re friends?”

The hallway seems to get quieter. Not actually. Just inside my fucking head.

Ally’s fingers tighten around her books. “No.”

“Good. Because you’ve been hovering around us a lot lately, and it’s getting weird.”

Xander laughs. It sounds completely real. That’s because Xander is terrifyingly good at this. Ally’s cheeks turn pink.

I keep going. I have to. “My mother babysat your brother for an hour. That doesn’t mean you need to start following me around school.”

“I wasn’t following you.”

“You’re standing here, aren’t you?”

Iz whistles under his breath. “Fuck, Harrington.” Performance. All of it. Still makes me want to punch him.

Ally lifts her chin. “I’m trying to tell you something.”

“And I’m trying to tell you I don’t give a shit.”

There. That one lands. I see it — a tiny break in her expression before she locks it down. My chest fucking caves in.

Kaiden laughs beside me. “Take the hint, O’Toole.”

Ally looks at him. Then at me. I make my face bored. It takes everything I have. “Whatever this is,” I say, gesturing vaguely between us, “you’re embarrassing yourself.”

Danny laughs. Someone behind Ally does too. I will remember that voice. Not now. Later.

Her eyes meet mine. I know her well enough to see the hurt. Nobody else does. They see embarrassment. They see a girl getting rejected by one of the Elite Five. Exactly what they need to see.

“Got it,” she says. She turns. I let her walk away. Five steps. Ten.

Becca is coming around the corner. She sees Ally. Then us. Her expression doesn’t change either. She falls into step beside Ally without asking a question. Good girl.

I look away first.

“Well,” Iz says loudly, “that was fucking painful.” A few people laugh. I give him a shove.

“Shut the fuck up.” Normal. Everything normal.

Kaiden starts walking. We follow. I wait until we’re through the doors at the end of the hall before Danny mutters, so quietly nobody outside our group could hear, “You okay?”

“No.”

“She’s okay,” Kaiden says.

“I know.”

“You had to sell it.”

“I fucking know.”