Bingo.“Do you go to school together?”
“I’m not dating anyone,” he snaps, voice sharp and defensive.
Uh-huh, sure.“Really?”
“Yes, really.” His frown deepens. “Areyoudating someone?”
I stumble over my words, caught off guard. “Uh, I—no.”
“Uh-huh.” He raises an eyebrow. “Sure sounds convincing.”
I feel my cheeks heat. “I’m not! I’d tell you.”
He opens his mouth to rebut this, but a cacophony of bangs and angry shouting outside has us both turning our heads toward the door. What the hell?
“Wait here,” I say as I stand and rush to the door, then look through the window. It’s Vanessa, wearing her police uniform. But who is she fighting with?
“Shit,” I squeal when she turns around and shoves a cuffed Rafael onto the hood of his car, his gray eyes bulging out as he absorbs the hit.
What the hell did he do now?
I come out in a flurry, both Vanessa and Rafael looking up. “Scarlett, please step back,” she calls.
Ignoring her, I rush down the steps. “What ishappening?”
“Everything is okay. If you could just enter the house and close the door—”
I walk closer. “No. Vanessa, what the hell?”
“Yeah,Vanessa, what the hell?” Rafael says, catching his breath. His white tank top clings to his chest, streaked with dirt from the hood of the car. The tattoos winding along his arms tense as he shifts, his hands cuffed behind him.
She glares at him. “I found this creep snooping in your backyard.”
My eyes dart to Rafael, then back to her. “That’s not— You know he’s my neighbor.”
“Well, he wasn’t onhisproperty.” She puts more pressure on the cuffs, and Rafael groans. A curl of brown hair flops over his forehead, and he blows it away with an irritated puff of breath. “Were you? He was peeping into your place.”
“I was not—”
“Shut up,” she barks.
“You’re arresting him for… being in my backyard?”
“He couldn’t explainwhyhe was there,” she says. “Don’t worry, okay? He’s not under arrest. We’ll just ask him a couple of questions down at the station.”
She pats Rafael’s shoulder and pulls him back up, but I take a step forward. “Wait, Vanessa.” I can’t let Rafael get arrested. This is ridiculous. “He’s… he wasn’t snooping. We’re…” Oh God, I think I get fake dating now. “Seeing each other.”
She straightens, lips parted. “He’s your boyfriend?This guy?”
Rafael scoffs. “Gee, thanks.”
Vanessa ignores him, eyes still set on mine.
“Yes, whatever. He’s my…boyfriend. Can you uncuff him? Those must be painful.”
“They are,” Rafael says, though judging by the giddy smile on his face as he looks up at me, he’s not in that much pain.
Vanessa pulls him back up. She looks upset, probably because I lied to her face earlier today. “Sorry, I guess. I just… I didn’t know.”
