“You’re driving guys crazy, Gemma. You don’t even realize how many threats I have to hand out every day to keep guys from undressing you with their eyes.”
I laughed, thinking he was pulling my leg but his face was dead serious. “Really?” I asked, thrilled and embarrassed at once. Savio had hit on me that day, but I’d thought it was a fluke. “Guys never hit on me.”
“Because they know what’ll happen if they do,” Diego said in a voice that sent a little shiver down my back.
“Was that why you were in that fight?” A couple of days ago, he’d come home with a split lip from a meeting with several other Camorrista in his age. He hadn’t been very forthcoming with information.
“Yeah, a few guys voted you hottest piece of ass and aspiring sex bomb.”
“Oh.”
“And no, Savio wasn’t one of them!” Diego hit the steering wheel.
“I didn’t ask if he was.”
Diego parked the car in the school parking lot. “You were about to.”
I didn’t deny it. I could see that Diego wanted to say more, but then he just shook his head. “You’ll be late.”
I got out. Toni was already waiting for me. I rushed toward her, eager to get away from Diego’s brand of crazy. We hugged, then she scanned my face. “What’s the matter?”
“My brother’s been intolerable all morning.”
“Isn’t he always?” She looked pointedly toward the Ford, which was still parked at the curb despite other cars honking behind it.
“We should go inside. He won’t leave until we do.”
Toni and I linked arms before we headed into the building.
“If you’re looking for the Amish commune, this is the wrong way,” Noemi said, her little posse of friends surrounding her. The idea that Diego was making out with her older sister made me want to gag.
I ignored her. If I didn’t, I’d punch her, and I’d promised Dad that wouldn’t happen again. If I wanted to be on time for class, I didn’t have time to change.
Later in recess, Toni and I sat at our usual table in the corner, and I was finally out of my dress and wearing jeans and a sweater. “Dad has started looking for a husband for me.”
Toni choked on her iced tea. “What?”
“I’m sixteen. Usually girls are already promised at that age.”
“What about Savio?” She’d lowered her voice another notch. Nobody knew of my crush on him and I preferred it to stay that way. I didn’t need more rumors about me.
I pushed my vegetables around on the plate. “He hasn’t asked yet.”
“You need to up your game, Gemma. Flirt with him. Savio’s brain is wired differently. He’s used to girls throwing themselves at him.”
“I don’t want to throw myself at him. The guy has to make the first move.”
Toni sighed. “Maybe he needs a tiny nudge to make the first move. Do you want to risk being promised to someone else?”
“Of course not,” I gasped. “But it’ll probably take many months for Dad to find a viable suitor. It’s not like I have a long list of admirers.”
Toni rolled her eyes. “Too many hits against your head during training, eh?” She pointed her fork at something behind me. I turned, finding a group of jocks staring at me. Flushing, I jerked back around. “Some of them aren’t Italian. And the others are too young. They need to be a couple of years older.”
“I didn’t say you were supposed to marry any of them. I was just making a point.”
I didn’t quite get her point. Even if these guys were checking me out, that didn’t help me with Savio.
I poured myself some orange juice when I heard male voices coming from the living room. One of them was Savio. Following them, I returned to my previous homework spot only to find Savio and Diego lounging on the sofa, bag of chips in their hand, and zapping through the TV programs. My books and notebook lay discarded on the floor as if someone had shoved them off without care.
If Diego had been alone, I would have thrown myself at him and tried to choke him with a throw pillow, but with Savio being present, I had to opt for a more ladylike option.
I stalked into the room, but both boys ignored me pointedly.
“Why did you throw my stuff down?”
Diego and Savio briefly glanced up before they returned their focus to a video on the screen of some shitty rapper who was surrounded by half-dressed girls. Nonna would lose it if