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One of my eyebrows rises. “It wasn’t a what, it was a who. And no, we don’t know who it was.”
“Is that all he did? Your arms?”
“He stabbed me in the chest with some kind of metal spike, or so the report says. I’ve got a nice scar there, too.”
Milo grasps my arm gently and turns my wrist left and right, catching the sunlight on the scars. Finally, he sets it gently back in my lap.
“You don’t have anything to be ashamed of. You clearly survived something terrible, and that just shows how strong you are. No one will say anything.”
“Yeah, and if they do, we’ll shut them up real quick,” Landon adds.
They definitely respond better than I thought they would, but my heart is still racing. “Are you sure? It’s not that bad, and I’m sure it’ll cool off-”
“I’m sure, Lex.”
My eyes dart between the two guys, who wear matching expressions of conviction.
It would be amazing to strip off this sweaty shirt and expose some skin to fresh air…
“Okay,” I stand abruptly. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be so afraid of showing my skin that I die of heatstroke. Where is the bathroom?”
I’ll take you.” Milo stands and gestures down the stairs. “Landon will save our seats, and I’ll get us some more drinks while we’re down there. Landon, you want anything?”
“Yeah, see if they have that lemonade monster. And you’d better grab a Laffy Taffy for Jared. You know they always sell out.”
“Got it,” Milo replies. “Come on, Lex, this way.”
We navigate out of the bleachers and back through the waves of people heading toward the stands. It’s getting crowded, and Milo grabs my hand to keep us together, which spikes my heart rate again as the electricity passes over my skin. He leads me straight to the restroom and runs to the concession stand while I strip off the sweat-soaked long sleeve and pull the jersey back on. I do a passably good job of retying the front and tucking the back, and emerge feeling about fifty percent cooler.
Only to walk directly into Amber.
She’s flanked by a couple of girls I’ve seen her with before—seriously, does this chick always need two lackeys?—and they all don immediate looks of disgust when they recognize me. Their eyes run over my body as if judging my outfit, but I have no idea what they could possibly judge since we’re all dressed similarly in oversized jerseys and jeans.
“Well, look who it is,” Amber sneers. “Already have the jersey on, huh? You move fast.”
I glare at her, crossing my arms over my chest. “Jared asked me to wear it, not sure what your problem is since you clearly have your own. Unless you’re jealous about this particular jersey?”
“Dude, look at her arms!” One lackey squeals. “Those look like suicide scars. Did you try to off yourself?”
“That would explain a lot. Clearly, Jared feels sorry for you, and Milo and Landon are right there with him. Pity is a powerful motivator.” Amber’s eyes are bright with hatred.
“Actually,” Milo’s rich voice rings out from behind them, “she survived an assault by some kind of viciousbeast, Amber. I’d say Lex here is a lot tougher than you think. Perhaps you’d better run along before she shows you.” He slides in beside me and hands me a frosty cup. “Here you go, babe,” he murmurs with a soft press of lips to my temple, then settles his arm around my hip and turns to Amber with a smirk.
Red creeps up the side of Amber’s neck, pooling in her cheeks before her expression changes from fury to a flirtatious smile. “We should probably go get our seats, girls. See you later, Milo.”
They step around us and walk away as if we don’t exist at all.
“Are you okay?” Milo’s low voice is concerned, and his arm raises from my waist to wrap around my shoulders and steer me toward the bleachers.
“Yeah, I’m okay. It figures that bitch would be the first person I run into when I take my shirt off. Seriously, what did I do to her?” I draw a sip of my drink, which is an icy lemonade slushy and ridiculously refreshing.
Milo sighs. “She… kind of has a thing for Jared. For all of us, really. She doesn’t like that we’re all… hanging out.”
My heart sinks. Why is the mean girl drama always about boys?
“It’s not like I’m dating any of you, so it’s not like I’m the reason you’re not dating her… right?”
He clears his throat. “Yeah, she knows that. We just never were interested in her, so that we’re hanging out with any girl is bad enough, in her opinion.”
