The Peer and the Puppet (When Rivals Play #1) - B.B. Reid Page 0,82
and a show,” he said without facing me. “You’ll be home long before they get back if you do as I say.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Very much.” He made a quick exit.
Pulling out my cell, I texted Tyra that I’d meet her at the theater.
SHE DIDN’T KNOW THAT I’D been following her since she left home. Watching her ride had me wishing I was between her legs instead of that goddamn bike. Stealing the keys from my father had been to satisfy a curiosity. I didn’t expect her skill or the thrill of watching her.
I had resigned myself to staying away from Four, but then I came home from school and heard her arguing with my father. My baser instincts had taken over my free will, and I couldn’t stop myself from standing up for her. I wanted to beat my chest and roar at our parents and the entire goddamn world that if they fucked with her, they fucked with me. I didn’t understand my need to protect her, but I was beginning to realize that I was powerless against it. Even my father was becoming suspicious as I knew he would be, but I couldn’t reason with myself to care. I wanted him and everyone else to see that she was mine. Even though she shouldn’t be.
Four didn’t meet her friend right away. Instead, she took to the deserted back roads. My hands itched to grab hold of her and shake some sense into her each time she took a curve without slowing or accelerated on a straight road. When my speedometer read ninety, and she was still a few car lengths ahead, I promised to get my hands on her ass when I got her back home.
After scaring twenty years off my life, she finally made her way toward town, and I followed her to the theater. Tyra looked amazed as she watched Four park. They said a few words before moving inside, and I watched them disappear as I typed a text.
Ten minutes later, I was walking into the theater with Vaughn. We stopped to load up on popcorn, soda, and candy and made our way into the theater showing the chick flick. Vaughn groaned again when we stood inside the dark room and heard the dialogue. Most of the seats were empty, and after a quick scan, I found our girls sitting in a dark corner on the far side.
Tyra didn’t seem all that surprised when she looked up and found us standing over them.
“I knew you’d find me,” she grumbled at Vaughn.
“Then why did you bother keeping it a secret?”
Four didn’t speak, though our gazes remained locked. Vaughn broke our stare down moments later when he asked her to move down a seat. I was surprised when she obliged. He immediately claimed the seat between Tyra and Four, and I sat next to Four on the end.
“What are you doing here?”
I noticed she didn’t have anything to snack on, so I tossed a pack of Twizzlers in her lap. She ignored the candy and repeated her question.
“Thought I’d see a movie.”
“And it just so happened to be this movie?”
“Is there a problem, Archer?”
“As a matter of fact, stalking is a very big problem.”
“Then why haven’t you asked me to leave yet?”
“I don’t like to waste my breath.”
“So, what would you call this?”
She seemed to think it over before turning in her seat to face the screen. I felt myself fighting a grin when she tore open the bag of Twizzlers a moment later. Vaughn had reclined his and Tyra’s seats, and I considered doing the same but decided even that small of a temptation was too risky, so I settled in to watch the movie.
“I can’t believe someone actually filmed this crap,” I muttered ten minutes into the movie.
She reluctantly met my gaze in the darkened theater. “Why do you say that?”
“Other than the cheesy dialogue?” She nodded, so I asked, “How does someone supposedly smart, successful, and sexy not see that he’s a psychopath?”
“Why are you so sure he’s crazy?”
“He’s trying too hard.”
“The movie is called The Perfect Guy.”
It killed me how naïve she truly was. “There’s no such thing.”
“The girls at school would disagree. Some would say you’re the perfect guy.”
“It’s a fantasy. None of them know me.”
“I heard more than a few know a certain”—her gaze trailed to my lap—“part of you.”
“Not likely. I don’t have community dick.” After Olivia, I’d been particularly selective. Everyone at Brynwood assumed I would only