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IMANI
“What the hell is he doing here?” João asked, sliding into the backseat behind Landon.
I pulled off the curb in the middle of nowhere—because he hadn’t wanted me to meet him at his house, where he had brought Ana earlier—and merged back onto the main road. “Did you want to spend another date night with me, João? How cute.”
João rolled his eyes and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, lighting one up and puffing on it. “I don’t fucking like you that much.” He glared out the window, jaw twitching, as if he wanted to say more but refused. “Get it out of your head.”
Ignoring him, I continued to drive aimlessly through Redwood.
“How’s Ana?” I asked, glancing in the rearview mirror at João. “Is she safe?”
“She’s with Vera,” João said.
“Vera?”
“Vera Rodriguez. Nerd. Hangs out with Maddie Weber,” João said, turning on his phone, sliding it into his pocket, then glancing up at me through the mirror. “Don’t all you nerds know each other?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Just because we’re smart doesn’t mean we hang out. And besides, I’m not a nerd.” I looked over at Landon. “Am I?”
“You’re kinda a nerd,” Landon said. “You and Allie love Biology.”
“Yeah, but I also like you guys. What does that say about me?”
“That you’re both nerdy and a fucking idiot for wanting to hang out with a bunch of thugs,” João said.
I rolled my eyes.
“Where are we going?” he asked, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth.
I turned onto Pierce Road. “To pick up Kai. I thought we could spend tonight together.”
João nearly snorted in the backseat and shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe me.
I stopped in front of Kai’s house and parked the car, turning to face João. “Why do you always have a problem with me?”
Jaw twitching again, João stared at me for a couple moments, his gaze flickering to my lips for the briefest moment. I almost didn’t think I had seen it. But I had. I pressed my thighs together and turned back toward the steering wheel.
So, that was why he had wanted me to come over. He wanted sex.
Instead of entertaining him anymore, I picked up my phone and texted Kai.
Me: Get off your computer.
Me: Come hang with us.
A couple moments later, Kai emerged from his back door and walked into the driveway, holding up his hand to block his eyes from the headlights. He walked to the opposite side of the car and slid into the backseat beside João.
“What are you doing here?” Kai asked.
“We’re getting ice cream,” I said. It seemed like all that had happened lately was drama, and I wanted one drama-free night with the Poison boys before this town turned to hell. They were planning on fucking with Principal Vaughn tonight. “I wanted to hang out with you guys.”
“It’s, like, twenty degrees outside,” Kai said. “You want ice cream.”
“I want you guys not to violently kill people, but that’s too hard to obtain,” I said, cutting my gaze to him. That image he had sent me the other day was still burned in my memory. “So, ice cream it is.”
Once I pulled into the ice cream parlor parking lot, all three boys decided that it was too cold to get out. So, I marched up to the counter myself and ordered four cones for us. After I did, I slipped back into the car and handed each of them a cone. Then, I took my ice cream in one hand and turned the car on with the other.
“Ana is going to need more medication soon,” João said, lips pulled into a tight line as he stared out the backseat window. We weren’t going anywhere specific, just driving through great ol’Redwood because there was nothing better to do in this shitty town. “We’ll go this weekend.”
