Page 24 of The Taste of Deceit

The smile disappears from his face. For a second, he stares at me.

“What?” I ask.

“Your daddy would shoot me.”

“He doesn’t have to know.”

“That’s exactly what somebody your age would say.”

I roll my eyes.

“Oh my God.”

Randy studies me for another second before muttering something under his breath and handing the cigarette over.

“There. One.”

I immediately take a drag and immediately regret it. The smoke hits the back of my throat like a freight train. I double over coughing while Randy bursts out laughing beside me.

“Don’t say a word.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were thinking it.”

“I was.”

I glare at him through watering eyes and hand the cigarette back.

“That’s disgusting.”

“Yet you asked for it.”

“Because I thought I looked cool.”

“You do not.”

“You’re a terrible friend.”

The corner of his mouth lifts.

“Good thing I’m not your friend.”

I swing myself up onto the fence rail and balance there, my boots resting on the lower board. Randy glances over but doesn’t comment on it. He takes another drag from his cigarette and stares out toward the fields.

“What are you doing out here anyway?”

He shrugs.

“Thinking.”

“About what?”

A corner of his mouth lifts.

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be thinking anymore.”

I groan.