Page 18 (1/2)
"You do understand beco Velma means you have to have friends?" Ryder warned with a note too close to serious for ru his warm comfort
"Boyfriends," one of Kenna’s friends snorted
"Boyfriend," Chase corrected and then looked down at led my eyebrows at him flirtatiously, but felt e he wouldn’t be for long
Kenna cleared her throat and tried to cover for her rude friends "Ivy, do you know Blair and Reagan?"
"Nice toand friendly and… nonthreatening, but there was no way a friendship with any of these girls stood a chance
"Whatever," Reagan, a girl with rich chocolate shoulder length layers and a spattering of freckles underneath artsy, green glasses sighed She didn’t even seem like the snotty type She totally came off as the nose-in-a-book-wouldn’t-hurt-a-fly type It was ht out the worst in all of humanity "Ready, Ken?"
"Where are you ladies off to?" Ryder asked looking Kenna directly in the eye A weird kind of tension filled the roo earlier
"The backyard," Kenna replied sweetly, kissing Ryder’s jaw line
"Are you kidding me?" Ryder did not even try to conceal his irritation and I had to assu
"Relax, Ryder," Kenna whispered sharply "Blair just wants to find Hayden and then I’ll coled out of Kenna’s arms Kenna’s pretty face scrunched irritably and she turned her back on hiesture of disht to ly and settled a heavy silence over us until Ryder broke it "Ready?" he asked, his gaze holding mine fiercely
"F-for what?" I was afraid of the answer, his eyes had unht in the crossfire of whatever was going on with him and Kenna I hated that he put irlfriend At the saainst another feirls forback to the relationship And even now I knew Ryder had no intention of leaving Kenna for me This was innocent
Well as innocent as trifling manipulation went
I was used to orse behavior than this
"Austin Powers? Reainst hu tone was back in his voice but he was studiously ignoring Kenna and her friends like they weren’t even there Kenna rolled her eyes and pushed her friend Reagan through the kitchen and to the back door Her silky black hair floated in waves around her slender shoulders She was soreen eyes alive with a fire that was usually dimmed and subtle
"Uh, sure," I answered inarticulately "Ryder thinks my life isn’t complete until I watch this du me with mild aht You need to watch this movie, it’s absolutely essential to your present and future happiness And I am up for it, but first I need to find Nick Barrett and rip him a new asshole" Chase kind ofout theover the kitchen sink Soht his attention because he was lettingout the back door before I could ask hilance to Phoenix but his attention was on the backyard too "That little shit," he mumbled and flew off after Chase
"What in the world?" I turned to Ryder
"Nick Barrett’s the only good keeper we have and he’s ames Chase is one of the captains and it looks like he’s about to find out why" Ryder explained He hardly glanced in the backyard I would have loved to turn around to find out as going on, but Ryder had hypnotized ain and I was helpless against his power
"Soccer stuff?" I clarified since I kind of felt like Ryder was speaking a foreign language
"Yep Let’s go," Ryder commanded and then turned his back on me "They’ll come up and find us when they’re done"
"Up?" So into a caveman
"To Phoenix’s rooh the kitchen, the dining roo rooulped loudly but no one was left to hear lanced in the backyard to take note of the heated argument between Chase, Phoenix and a scruffy Jesus-i hair and barely filled in facial hair, who I could only assuo Pierce," Ryder called froain but obeyed Shouldn’t so to a quiet bedrooht? I could not be trusted Not at all
Ato be the first one spoken out loud But instead of doing the right thing, the s, I snapped my mouth closed and followed Ryder up the stairs and said a quick prayer that Chase would follow soon
Chapter Sixteen
Phoenix’s room was the last room down of four, just past a bathroom and linen closet and cole bed, two dressers, a tattered love seat, an old school plywood TV stand and box TV set that I wasn’t even sure was in color and then a battered oak desk with swiveling co open, revealing a space a quarter the size of his bedroouy or really anyone hung haphazardly on plastic hangers and a full and obviously well-used druhties till noere tacked up around the fake wood paneling and the door frame was decorated with ticket stubs I went ahead and assuether, trying to hide ue in the space My first instinct was that the roo around so I could take it all in I got the feeling it was cluttered but clean Ryder bent down to fiddle with the DVD player and I walked into the closet to better inspect Phoenix’s drum set
I was a musician of sorts Not like Ryder and Phoenix, not like in a band kind of musician But my mother had followed the traditions of our circle and I had taken piano and singing lessons since I could walk and talk Nix firmly believed music was in inherent part of what made us and so I had been classically trained in both