Sinful Ever After - Vivian Wood Page 0,16

wearing came from her mom’s closet, after all. “Yeah, okay. I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

As Tanya orders our food, I look over to the group of guys and notice that Tanya and I are being appraised. I can feel the gazes of the boys, weighing their chances with the cookie stand girl versus their chances with us.

As we accept our pretzels and drinks and turn to find somewhere to eat them, the boys saunter toward us. One of them, wearing black from head to toe, smirks at us.

“Hey,” he says, jerking his head in a nod.

Tanya isn’t shy. “Hey. What’s up?”

She and I sip our drinks as the guys come over, circling us as suspiciously as wolves. Now that Tanya and I are the center of attention, I can feel heat beginning to creep up my neck. My palms are sweaty even though the air conditioning in the mall is on full blast.

“I’m Dane,” the main guy says. “This is Dan and Everett, and Cutter and Sim.” The other guys wave or nod.

Tanya clears her throat, pulling herself to her full height. It’s like watching a tightrope walker get ready. “I’m Isabella. And this is Evelyn.”

I cringe inwardly. Why would she lie about our names?

Ducking my head, I take a sip of the too-sweet lemonade clutched in my hand. I feel judged by these guys, as if our personalities are reduced down to the sum of the how much skin we have on display. They survey our bare legs and our flat chests and try to decide if we are even worth talking to.

“What are you girls doing here? Seeing a movie or something?” Dane asks, crossing his arms. As he does, the guys circle in even closer. One of them reaches out a hand and brushes his fingers across the bare skin of my shoulders. They laugh at my knee-jerk reaction.

“Don’t touch me,” I grit out. I clutch the pretzel I’m holding, beginning to shake.

Why did I come here again?

Tanya smiles evenly. “Don’t get your titties in such a twist, Evelyn. It’s not a big deal.”

“Not that she has any titties to twist,” one of the guys says. The teenagers find this hilarious, laughing at me. My cheeks turn scarlet and my guts snarl into a knot.

I narrow my eyes at Dane. “I think I should go.”

“Hear that guys? She thinks she should go.” Sim leans in and grins. “Don’t be such a baby, Evelyn.”

I look pleadingly over to my friend, but Tanya is no help. “Yeah, don't be such a baby! They are just playing around.”

She’s aligning herself with the guys for some reason. I start to back away, ready to put the lemonade in the trash and hustle back to my backpack. But one of the teenaged boys is right behind me, his arms closing around me from behind as I stumble.

“Let me help you out,” he sniggers. This close to him, he reeks of pot smoke.

“Let go!” I whine. “Seriously—”

“Hey!” a male voice calls. “Take your hands off of her right now.”

The teenage boys part like a curtain, the one who has a hold on me dropping me like a hot potato. I look over to my savior, who is bearing down on our group with a long scowl.

I blink.

He’s tall and broad, with short dark hair and the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen.

“Aiden?” comes bubbling out of my mouth.

He sees me and looks doubly angry. He swings his head around, practically breathing fire. “Get moving, all of you. And I don't ever want to catch you grabbing a girl like that again. Ever.”

Dane and his crew are already turning tail and scurrying away. Tanya licks her traitorous lips and edges away, looking at me meaningfully. I turn around and look at her as she starts to drift off, trying to decide what I should do.

Aiden growls at me. “Not you, Olivia. You stay put.”

Facing back toward him with wide eyes, I realize that my hands are shaking a little. He circles me, glaring.

“It’s noon on a Tuesday. Where are you supposed to be right now? Don’t you have school?”

I flush. “Umm… it’s spring break.”

Actually last week was spring break, but he doesn’t need to know that.

Aiden looks unamused. “Uh huh. Does your mom know where you are right now?”

That one hurts. “Mom disappeared like three weeks ago. I’m doing fine on my own.”

His eyes are focused like a laser on my face. “I don't think you are doing fine. Where is Grayson?”

My gaze sinks to