Feliz Naughty Dog - Roxanne St. Claire Page 0,9
maybe Duke, based on her PSATs. She didn’t date guys like Lucas Darling.
And Lucas Darling sure as heck didn’t date girls like Pru.
Who didn’t date anyone…yet. Not a single boy had ever asked her out, and she was sixteen. Maybe it was her reputation as a general—some boys didn’t like girls who were leaders. Or maybe it was all her uncles and her dad with tattoos and his own questionable past. Or maybe she just wasn’t pretty or flirtatious or whatever it was boys wanted.
She hadn’t figured it out yet. But she certainly didn’t want to start her boy journey with Lucas Darling. Talk about setting herself up for failure.
“Right, Pru?”
She blinked at Yiayia’s question, lost. “Uh, yeah, sure.”
“Really?” Lucas seemed a little surprised by whatever she’d just agreed to. “You’d do that?”
Oh God, what?
“Because I could really use some help training Tor, so if you know some tricks…”
She’d agreed to help him train the dog? “Oh, I don’t know anything that you couldn’t find on YouTube, I’m sure.”
She could feel Yiayia’s glare, delivered through the rearview mirror directly at Pru. Of course, she could only imagine the words Yiayia was trying not to say. Hey, the Dogmothers made you a match, missy. Don’t blow it. She looked away, glancing instead at the boy next to her, not expecting to see a little flash of disappointment at her response.
Did he want her to help him train Tor? Or…had her dismissive comment actually hurt his feelings? Would a guy that hot even have feelings?
She cleared her throat and tried to think about dog training. No easy feat in the face of that…face. “It’s always good to train with a toy he loves,” she finally said. “Does he like toys?”
“For breakfast. Then what’s left of them goes in the trash.” He petted the dog again. “Since they train racing dogs by having them chase a lure, he gets kind of overly focused on things. Like…” He jutted his chin toward Gramma Finnie. “Glasses. And pens. And phones—I don’t have one right now because he ate it.”
“You don’t have a phone?”
“My aunt has to sign for me to get one, and she’s out of town for a few days.”
“On Christmas Eve?” Yiayia and Gramma Finnie asked the question in perfect, shocked unison.
“They had plans,” he said vaguely, looking a little uncomfortable. “It’s fine.”
“Christmas alone is never fine,” Gramma Finnie said.
Oh boy. She was about to issue an invitation to Christmas Eve dinner at Waterford Farm. Pru could hear the words before they were formed in her little Irish head. Oh, lad, ye must come to dinner…
“You’re in my English lit class,” Pru said quickly, hoping to head off the invitation before it was issued.
“Yeah,” he said. “And I can’t believe old Thorgrim gave us homework over winter break.”
“Just reading,” she said. “That’s not work. Although, I guess you…”
He tipped his head. “Contrary to rumors, I can read. And not just comic books and video game screens.”
A splash of shame heated her cheeks, making her swallow and hold his gaze long enough to at least try to let him know she was sorry. “So, did you pick Jekyll and Hyde or Sense and Sensibility?” Gah, dumb question, Pru. Not one guy in the class would read Jane Austen.
“I already read Sense and Sensibility,” he said, making her draw back in surprise. “In fact, I’ve already read everything on the list. Thorgrim said I could pick something else.”
Well, color her…impressed. “California schools must be ahead of North Carolina.”
He lifted a shoulder. “Or I might just read for fun.”
“Jane Austen?” she asked, unable to keep that one inside.
“My, um, friend liked Austen.”
Oh, the movie star girlfriend who broke his heart. Wow, he’d read Jane Austen for her? That was…really stinking attractive.
“Okay, it looks like we’re at the mall,” Gramma Finnie announced as they stared at a line of red brake lights about a mile long after they got off the highway.
“And we might have parked in Bitter Bark and gotten inside faster.” Yiayia let out an exasperated sigh.
“I told you this place would be packed.” Pru checked her phone. Would they have enough time to rack up RACK points?
“While you’re on your phone, Pru,” Yiayia said, “can you check the mall’s website? Maybe they have information about the Santa schedule.”
“Sure, although I’m sure Santa’s already at work,” she said, tapping the screen. “Just let me check the RACK IT UP app real quick.”
“They came to see Santa?” Lucas asked Pru in a whisper, understandably confused.
No, they