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“Of course, we are.”
“That,” he began, pausing dramatically to glance down at me, “was what we like to call a collaboration. A little more effort on my part then Ell’s, obviously.”
“Obviously?”
“I’m the one who had to perform theparkourand pour the shit,” he said matter-of-factly. “I assume you saw the footage.”
I snorted. “Yes, I saw the footage of you laughing your ass off.”
“And you didn’t?”
The image of him rocking back and forth in hysterics and Vivian’s sopping-wet dog hair flashed before my eyes. I grinned, imagining how it must’ve looked from above the cafeteria roof.
“I am now,” I chuckled, shaking my head as we continued up the fire escape. A breeze blew past, and I clung tight to the rails like a cat to a tree trunk. “Hey,” I called up to him, shutting my eyes, “are we almost there?”
I felt a hand on my shoulder and sneaked a peek to find Leo squatting before me. I was holding on inches before the edge of the roof and felt dumb as he offered me his hand. I moved to take it, but hesitated, and even went so far as to lower myself one rung down.
Why was I doing this?
Why did I want to be near him?
He’d been the sole mastermind behind the many “harmless” jokes and pranks that Elliot and his boys pulled on me throughout our years at Woodman. This wasn’t the first time he’d faked being the nice guy, the spontaneous charmer, before turning his back on me for the sake of tragic comedy.
Maybe I was a little afraid.
And I had every right to be.
“What are you doing?” he asked, sounding more hurt than anything else.
I shook my head, taking another step down.
“This isn’t safe,” I lied, to which he responded with another raspy laugh.
“And you didn’t realize that five minutes ago?” He reached down again, but instead of going for my hand, he stroked my hair. “God, you’re a wimp.”
So maybe he hadn’t lost his gritty humor entirely.
“Come on,” he said, pouting. “Is anything safe really that fun?”
I sighed. So it’s one or the other.
I heard Elliot’s voice go through my head. I did have my own end of the bargain to hold up, and Leo had come through. Vivian was knocked down once—no doubt, she’d come back with full-throated revenge.
I’d agreed to this, hadn’t I?
“Fine,” I said, grasping his arm. He pulled me up, and I rolled onto the rough surface of the roof. Luckily, it was completely horizontal, like a large cement plateau, so my fear of sliding down to my doom was subdued for now.
“Well?” Leo said, stepping back and spreading his arms wide as if talking to the whole world. “What do you think?”
His bright blue eyes landed on me, waiting. I turned to focus on where he was pointing. Below, students milled in and out of the buildings and relaxed across the dark grass. Even from up here, I could see spurts of fireflies, and the creaking sound of doors opening and closing felt familiar.
“Nice,” I said, turning to him. “You got me. I’m a typical girl who likes pretty sunsets. Now what’s the price?”
His eyes seemed to grow even wider, and he let out a short laugh. “You’re funny. How about a peck on the cheek?”
I stepped closer to him. “And?”
“And we’ll go from there,” he said, his voice turning serious all of a sudden, as if he were negotiating a drug deal, or more likely his grade for a pass-fail class. “Whatever I want, right?”
