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“How do you wanna do this?” Savage asked approaching me, a gleam in his eyes. “You want me to go in there and scare the shit out of this kid?”
“Tempting,” I said with a flicker of a smile. “But no. Let me handle this.”
I walked into Boots first, Savage and Duke trailing behind me. Heads turned in our direction and there was a momentary pause in conversation before the diner roared to life again.
As I surveyed the room, Duke pointed at the booth in the far corner. Waverly was easy to spot because of her bright red hair. She was sitting with her back to the door so she had no idea that I’d arrived.
I strutted up to the table and casually slid into the seat across from her.
My sister was in the middle of sipping a soda through her straw when her blue eyes—heavily caked with black eyeliner and shadow—widened at the sight of me. She immediately began to cough as she set her drink aside.
“Willa!” She hastily grabbed a napkin and dabbed her watering eyes.
“Fun night?” I asked, reaching across the table to pluck a fry from her dinner. I dunked it into the blob of ketchup on her plate and then stuck it in my mouth.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
As I swallowed my French fry, I finally noticed what she was wearing. My mouth gaped. “That’smine.”
She glanced down at herself and then quickly looked at me. “I borrowed it.”
“Borrow implies that you asked. I don’t recall you asking if you could borrow my leather corset.”
Her mouth pinched. “You would’ve said no.”
“Damn right. You’re fifteen years old.”
“I’m old enough to dress myself. What crawled up your ass and died?”
“What crawled up my ass, you ask? How about the fact that you lied to me about spending the night at your best friend’s house when you really went to a rave so you could meet up with your boyfriend.”
Her eyes widened.
“Next time, don’t leave your phone.” I reached into the tiny purse I wore slung across my body, fished out her cell, and placed it in front of her.
She grasped it. I noted the bright red nail polish on her fingertips. When she’d left to go to Jessica’s for the night, they’d been painted black.
“Next time?” Her hand curled around her cell.
“Right, what was I thinking?” I clocked my forehead with the palm of my hand. “There won’t be a next time. You’re grounded until you’re thirty.”
“You don’t have the authority to ground me,” she lashed out.
“Your best friend trackedmedown. Not Mom. As far as you’re concerned, I’m judge, jury, and executioner. Speaking of executions…where is this boyfriend of yours?”
“Bathroom,” she muttered. “Please don’t embarrass me.”
I raised my brows. “Like you have any grounds to make requests here.”
A dark-haired teenage boy wearing jeans, a black T-shirt, and black Converse strode out from the back hallway into the dining room. He paused but a moment when he saw me and stood taller when Savage and Duke rose from their stools at the diner counter. They corralled him and shepherded him toward the table without a word.
He slid into the seat next to Waverly, who didn’t move over for him. Instead, she tucked herself into his side. He raised his arm and placed it around her shoulder.
My gaze narrowed at him.
Calm green eyes peered back at me. Not pugnacious, not ready for a fight. But merely staking his claim.
“Dylan, I presume?” I asked.
