I might have put a little extra culture in Penn’s bottle.
“Probably because he was already inebriated on Friday night. He really drinks too much. He should stop doing that or his liver will give out before he’s thirty.” Especially if he pisses me off anymore. And if he ever bothers Honey again, I won’t hold back on the dosage. “You know, there are some herbs that might help him. I have some organic dandelion root?—”
“Shut the fuck up.” Radley’s losing it. Red streaks his cheeks as he grinds his teeth. “You cost us the championship.”
“Oh?” I twirl a lock of white-blonde hair around my finger. “Was that today?”
“Yesterday. No one from our team was well enough to play. I had to forfeit.”
Poor Radley. He and Sailor were holed up in their room when I dropped the gift basket off. I had hoped he might miss it and be the only one on the field to accept defeat. I can imagine it now: the team captain up, bright and early, arriving on the green, waiting while one by one, his team texts him to say that they’re too sick to show up, and Sailor coming to console him before he trudges to the opposing team captain to forfeit.
I told Honey that I don’t get scared, I get angry. And when I get angry, I get even.
No one messes with my new best friend.
I smile at him, showing all my teeth. “Maybe you and your team should be nicer to people. For example, it’s not nice to invite people to parties and then drug them. Karma is a real bitch.”
“You’re a bitch.” Radley sets his shoulders and starts for me.
A giggle escapes me as I dart back out of reach. If he tries to grab me, I have several layers of defenses, but I’d rather not reveal them so soon.
Maybe I can lure him closer to the poison ivy and push him in.
YOLO!
“I’m going to fuck you up?—”
“Touch her and die.” The quiet order comes from nowhere, and I startle as Mr. Masked Man, aka Muscles, appears again on the side of the path. I was right, he moves quietly.
Radley stops short, stumbling over his feet. The way he blanches at the sight of the mask makes me think masked men aren’t as common as I thought. He sizes the man up, which takes a while because the dude is oversized. “This doesn’t concern you.”
Muscles steps in front of me. “You will stay away from her.”
Radley freezes. His eyes spit hate at me, but he doesn’t move.
I stick out my tongue at him but pull it back in when Muscles turns to me. His voice is so deep and rumbly, it takes me a second to realize what he’s asking.
“Do you want me to snap his neck?”
What?
His eyes are cold, serious. “Your choice. I can do it quickly.”
My mouth falls open. Oh my goddess, is he talking about murdering someone? In the middle of the murder garden?
There’s a tingle in my downstairs, and just like that, my panties are soaked. Again.
I’m panting a little, so it takes a second to collect myself.
“I can help clean up afterward. We just need a nice, clear plot,” I say. “Like over there.” I jerk my chin toward the grove of yew trees.
“You could,” he says, like we’re discussing our favorite brunch spots in Metropolis instead of where to hide a body.
“I could plant nightshade over it. Or lady slippers. They’re endangered, and it’s a crime to dig them up.” I smile up at him, enjoying this moment of having a co-conspirator.
This whole time, we’ve been ignoring our potential victim, and Radley is turning redder by the minute. “Do you know who my father is?”
I roll my eyes. “Nope, and we don’t care.”
