scented perfume permeating the air between us.
She wouldn’t look at me. In fact, her entire body seemed tense, coiled tight and ready to spring, but I didn’t give a fuck. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“And I’m not going to.” Her eyes met mine then, ice crystallizing the gray orbs. “Move.”
She was mad. At me. What the hell did Woods do that’d caused her to be upset with me?
“Did he touch you or something?”
Her long lashes, coated in a thick layer of mascara, butted against her brows. Then she shoulder checked me, pushing past to get inside.
She tried to shut the door, but I was in the way, and I wasn’t moving. “The fuck, Freckles?”
The screen door smacked shut behind me, and Peony looked up from the couch as Peggy breezed down the hall to her room.
“Did you have a good time?”
The slamming of Peggy’s bedroom door was her answer.
Peony looked at me, eyes narrowed, and I tipped my shoulders. “Don’t look at me. I just got here.” That wasn’t exactly true, and we both knew it. I’d been in her room for the better part of an hour, staring at the hairspray, clothes littering the bed, and the empty space on it where she should’ve been on a Friday night.
“She’d put a lot of stock into this date.” With her head shaking, she gave her attention back to the TV. “Fix it, Dash.”
Stock? I almost scoffed but gathered an ounce of self-control and went to Peggy’s room.
The door was locked, and I knocked, incredulity spiking my blood pressure. “Peggy, did you seriously lock me out?”
No answer.
I knocked harder. “Let me in or I’ll pick the lock.”
Three seconds passed before I sighed and fished out my keys, then the door opened. “Go home, Dashiell.”
“Dashiell?” I couldn’t remember the last time she’d called me by my full name. A name she knew I loathed. I stepped forward, uncaring that she wouldn’t move, and tried to read her flushed, tense expression. “What happened?” I tried to soften my voice. Tried. I should’ve gotten a damn merit award for effort considering the storm rising within me. It didn’t work.
“You happened.” She stepped back, and I walked into her room as she went to shut the door. “You warned the guys at school off me?”
“Warned them off you?” I reared back, trying to play dumb, but she saw right through it.
Tears glossed her eyes, turning her voice raspier. “Why would you do that?”
Fucking hell. She really was mad. Hot sauce in her shampoo kind of mad.
I concentrated on breathing for a beat, hating the way the sight of her tears made my chest ache. “You’re easy to take advantage of, Freckles. And believe me, they’d fucking take advantage.”
“They can’t take what I’m willing to give,” she seethed, her chest rising and falling in a way that had her tits straining, cleavage bared.
I swallowed and looked away, my words struggling to clear my gritted teeth. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t actually say that.”
“Well, I did. All this time, I thought you were just a little overprotective. All this time, I thought something might’ve been wrong with me.” I frowned, about to tell her she was stupid, when she almost knocked me on my ass. “Turns out that something isn’t me. It’s you.”
The ache in my chest started burning as though the organ in there might catch fire and disintegrate. I steeled my jaw and tried to push down the anger and injustice. “Did you kiss him?”
She threw her hands into the air. “Why the fuck do you care?”
“Peggy?” her mom called. “What’s going on?”
“It’s fine.” Peggy rubbed at her cheeks. “Sorry, Mom.”
And that was the crux of it, really. Why the fuck did I even care? I kept my voice low. “Because he’s a fucking douchebag who’ll hang around long enough to fuck you, then ditch you.”
A bitter laugh fled past her glossed lips, and she stabbed a finger at me. “Pot meet kettle, you hypocritical asshole.”
She had me there, but this wasn’t about me. It was about her and her stupid decisions and crazy-ass tantrums. “What the hell has gotten into you?” It was like an alien had stolen my best friend. A sexy, angry, emotional alien, but an alien all the same.
She blew out a breath, then walked in small circles in front of her sticker-covered closet doors. “You don’t get it.”
I took a hesitant step forward. “Try me.”
“You’ve never had to worry about it, Dash. What it’s like to wonder if you’re