I glanced over my shoulder, and, unfortunately, made eye contact with Nox and Jae who began approaching me from the school building.
Fuck me. Why the fuck did I agree to be friends with them?I genuinely didn’t understand why the fuck they even wanted to hang out with me. I knew I didn’t have a great personality, hence why I didn’t have any other friends. And with all the shit I was buried under I didn’t really think they should be associating with me.
My gut instinct was to say no, but when I thought about it, it made sense to get to know each other when I spent time tutoring Nox anyways. Plus, I didn’t have any other people in my life that weren’t complete shitfuckers. Nox and Jae could be the distraction I needed.
It didn’t need to be a big deal. It wasn’t like we were going to getthatclose. And provided I kept my mouth shut about everything Los Siete related, they’d be safe. I just…I needed one good thing. Even if it made me selfish, even if it made me a terrible person, I needed one good thing to keep me from finding a permanent solution to my problems.
The sound of obnoxiously loud music was getting louder, and I ignored it, mentally cursing the fuckwits who thought they were being cool by disturbing everyone’s peace with their music.
“Hey, Shiloh. Did you need a ride?” Nox asked as they stopped beside me.
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Alright, we’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“Yeah,” I nodded, cringing at the awkward staleness of the conversation.
Double fuck me. Why the hell do these guys want to hang out with me?
“¡Mi vida!”
I jumped, startled by the interruption, and found Adrian beckoning me from the passenger window of his car.
“That’s my ride,” I said with a tight smile, trying to be polite seeing as we were friends now.
“Oh,” Nox glanced at Jae in some silent conversation before continuing, “okay. Well, see you tomorrow then.”
Nox smiled and they both waved goodbye before I turned to meet my doom, or whatever fate was in store for me.
I slid into the passenger seat as quickly as possible and dropped my backpack between my legs. Adrian leaned across the console, invading my personal space.
“Don’t you dare fucking kiss me,” I hissed through clenched teeth.
He smirked and leaned back, looking over my shoulder out the window and waving. Jae and Nox were staring, and I slapped Adrian’s arm telling him to get the fuck out of here.
I reached over to turn the music down—a Mexican band my brother had liked lamenting the loss of the love of their life—but Adrian smacked my hand away and gave me a glare. I slouched back into my seat growling with exaggeration under my breath. He chuckled and finally turned the volume down once we’d made it away from the school.
“Jesus, you’re so easy to fuck with,” he grinned over at me.
I threw up my middle finger, which only made him laugh.
“I guess my dad underestimated just how much bite was in you, huh?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, all five feet and 100 pounds of you managed to stab my dad and put him in the ICU for two days.”
I sucked in a shocked breath that sent my ribs aching.
“Wait, your dad is Kush, I mean, Marcus?” I looked at his profile wide-eyed trying to gauge his reaction. Was he going to retaliate?
“Unfortunately. Although, you probably can’t tell with how much his drug use has aged him.”
“Well, I guess it’s a great look into your near future then,” I scoffed.Jeez, I didn’t even know Kush had kids and I’ve known him my entire life. But I guess kids aren’t a priority to someone like Kush. God, that means Carlos was threatening his little brother right to his face.
“I don’t touch that shit. I’m not an idiot.”
I rolled my eyes. “Says the man who’s a gang member.”
