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“Beat the shit out of him? For real?”
She nodded, then held up a finger while she swallowed her mouthful. “Leon swung first, I heard. Haven’t seen the recording, though. No doubt it’s been blown out of proportion. I overheard Jessa McNeill say they only threw a few punches.”
“Why? They're like brothers; why would they fight?”
Liss arched a brow, chewing around a mouthful of bread. Her curious eyes studied me, and I shrank back in my seat. “There's usually only one thing that comes between two guys, babe. A girl.”
A girl? The fries I'd already eaten settled into my stomach like lead, churning. Reno had sex with girls, used them, discarded them, rinse, repeat. He didn't fight over them. He didn't sacrifice lifelong friendships for them.
My breath hitched painfully, my hand going to my throat on instinct. Wide-eyed, I surveyed the room again, looking for any signs that someone had tamed Mr. Untouchable, that some girl had touched his black heart. The possibility pierced my regular colored heart and I grappled with my emotions, trying to keep them from spilling over. I didn't question what I felt for Reno, didn't poke at it too hard. There was... something there. Some dangerous urge I didn't want to think about, desires I needed to keep a lid on. I didn't name it.
Ever
ything around me looked the same. Nobody stood on a table-top broadcasting their conquest through a megaphone, and believe me, if they'd nailed Reno's balls to a chair, they would be.
“This happened last night, Liss?”
“What I heard.”
“And you heard nothing else? No specifics about why?”
She shook her head slowly, the tips of her blonde pony sweeping her shoulders as she eyed me thoughtfully. “Nope.”
I nodded, getting to my feet. “Okay. I gotta go.”
“What? Where?” She uncrossed her legs, collecting her trash and dumping it on the tray with my uneaten fries.
I was already halfway to the doors by the time she stood, arms out, palms up, her face morphed in confusion.
“I'll meet you in fifth period,” I called.
“Wait! Riley! What are you—”
I knew where he'd be, and so help me God, if he had a girl on his lap, I'd slap him six ways from Sunday.
“What the hell is going on?” I yelled, breaths panting. Man, it was a damn hike up here.
On the top level of the old auditorium, Reno sat with his knees braced, one hand dangling between them and the other holding a cig to his lips. He looked up, blowing a thin cloud of smoke before throwing me a smirk.
“Riley.” His eyes raked over me, his standard greeting. “You look pissed. Suits you.”
Dumping my bag by his feet, I plucked the cigarette from his fingers and launched it behind him.
He raised a brow.
“You hit Leon?”
I scowled at him, crossing my arms over my chest to stop them trembling. He was so damn cocky, so cool and confident. I was teetering between mad as hell and majorly turned on. And I hated that he could do that to me without even trying. More than that, I hated that he knew he could do that to me.
Leaning back on his elbows, legs stretched out in front of him, his eyes traveled my body again, lingering long enough to make sure he left goose bumps—demonstrating exactly what he was capable of doing to me. He removed another cigarette from the pack and took his time lighting it, before blowing another cloud my way. Yeah, I was definitely mad as hell.
“Here to defend your boyfriend, Riley?”
I stopped, frowning. “What? No, I want to know what went down? Why'd you guys fight? It's not like you.” I lowered my head and looked down at the ground, exhaling slowly in a bid to calm my raging thoughts and roiling stomach. “No girl is worth your friendship, Reno.”
He was silent while another plume of grey smoke floated by. “You don't think so?”
I lifted my head. “No.”
