From now on, between the two of them, I will only ever trust C.
Something I should have done way before.
Andy just stared at me, and then at her ex-best friend. “You’re going to regret this?—”
That was essentially all she could utter, as Dex and Siege emerged from behind us, positioning themselves on either side of her with their arms folded. “I’d think twice about continuing that threat. I don’t take threats lightly, especially when they’re aimed at my girl. You should know by now what happened to the last one who dared to do that,” Siege said.
Okay, well, that’s unnecessary.
I may find joy in putting Andy in her place, but I still didn’t like that these guys were Azuls.
And it seemed that Cosette felt the same as she placed a hand on his forearm, lightly tugging.
Andy was the first to leave though, as she looked at all four of us, knowing she was outnumbered, and went running down the hallway.
“Was that really necessary?” C asked Siege, an angry expression on her face that I almost want to laugh at the slight fear in his eyes.
“What? Girls like that need to get scared every once in a while.”
Yeah, Cosette definitely deserves better than the three of us as her attack dogs.
7
COSETTE
Tonight, Nero and the rest of the football team are playing an away game, and while I planned to meet Mrs. Combs there, Siege and Dex were hoping to take advantage of me being occupied to investigate potential leads regarding the location of ‘The Nest’.
When they told me they were going to do Azul business tonight, I let them stop at telling me that it wouldn’t be a dangerous situation. I didn’t want to know more. I’m afraid that if I ask too many questions, the details will leave me worried and I might find it hard to focus on the game.
We were all fitted with tracking devices by Dex, so the three of us could monitor each other, because they feared losing me just as I was terrified of losing them. I was hoping to avoid a repeat of the terrible experience I had when Siege was taken, not wanting a second part to that nightmare.
“You ready to go, C?”
I was able to hear Nero before I saw him, and when he appeared, he was dressed in varsity gear decorated with our school’s crest, causing me to smile. He looked every bit thefootball captain he was, and I internally cursed at my heart to stop beating so fast.
“Football captain and QB. Are you also wanting to take the title of being the mascot?” I teased, playfully flicking the front of his cap.
Nero scoffed, taking off his varsity jacket and putting it on me instead, tugging a strand of my hair in the process. “There. Now, you look like the mascot. Rep our team a little bit, won’t you?”
He finally unlocked the car, opening the passenger side door for me and helping me hoist myself up and get inside with a hand on my waist. It took me by surprise yet again, just like before when he accidentally did it the first time. After I sat down, I just stared at him, wondering if he would apologize as he had done previously. But he didn’t.
“What?” He asked instead, and I shook my head, feeling like I’m just overreacting.
“Nothing. Are you sure you don’t want me to just drive your truck there and you can ride with everyone on the bus?”
“Nah, I’d much rather ride with you than those guys,” he said, leaning an arm on the jamb. “First of all, you’re quieter. And second, you smell good. You wouldn’t believe how smelly our locker is.”
I laughed, choosing not to acknowledge the compliment about my smelling good. I no longer wanted to over-analyze every word that comes out of Nero’s mouth.
“You know, I definitely would believe that,” I said instead, leaving the conversation at that.
Following a flash of his dimples, Nero closed my door and went around his truck to enter the driver’s side.
Everything was just so easy with him. Even though we were fighting days ago, we fell back into our friendship with zero to little awkwardness, and I was truly thankful to my guys forhelping us fix things. I’d say they did it out of pure kindness and their love for me, but I know for damn sure they were behind Nero bringing that beef brisket over with his verbal apology.
That has Siege written all over it.
As usual, I took control of the music as Nero drove to Saint Thomas High School. Their football program is intense, and they’re one of our team’s greatest rivals. Nero had actually been torn between the two high schools before when he and his mom were deciding where he should enroll, but he chose Fallen Oaks because we also excelled in academics.
