A low rumble of an engine drifted through my ears, but I couldn’t care.I rested my hands behind me on his car, my lips dancing against his, eyes closed.The sound of the engine became louder and louder, until Frasier finally pulled away and looked up at the car pulling up to the side of the forest beside us.
I stared up at him through a haze, admiring how handsome he was.
“Astrid?”Ruby called.
After cursing under my breath, I looked up to see Diya and Ruby getting out of the car.
Thanks for ruining the moment!If they hadn’t shown up, who knows what would’ve happened here with Frasier?
God, I am turning into such a slut.
“What are you guys doing here?”I asked, tucking some hair behind my ear and wiping spit off the corner of my mouth.I slid off the car and straightened myself out, barely able to look at my best friends.
“Someone skipped out on the first half of the day,” Ruby said.
“And then your phone showed that you were in the middle of the woods, so we came to investigate in case you were …” Diya looked over at Frasier, then back at me.“You know, getting murdered.”
“And you thinkI’msassy,” Frasier said into my ear, his minty breath fanning my neck.
My cheeks reddened, and I walked toward my friends.Diya wrapped her arm around mine, eyeing Frasier as if she didn’t trust him.And honestly, she probably shouldn’t.Ishouldn’t.
“I’ll see you tonight,” Frasier called, leaning against his car, huge arms crossed over his chest, just the sight making me feel things all over my body.His lips were curled into a small smirk.“Don’t be late, babe.”
Once I slipped into the backseat of Diya’s car, I bit back my smile and tried to suppress all thegrossfeelings that I had for him.Diya and Ruby climbed into the front seat.
“You’re actually dating him?!”Diya shouted once we made it a safe distance down the road and back toward Redwood.
I stared in the rearview mirror at Frasier’s departing figure and tried to hold back a smile.
“No,” I said, lost in my own world.“Just trying to make Ca—I mean, someone jealous.”
Fuck, that was close.
“Who?Cairo?”Diya asked with a grin.
Ruby smirked at me through the rearview mirror.“DefinitelyCairo.”
“Maybe,” I said, shooting her a playful glare.
Ruby looked over her shoulder from the passenger seat.“Going to the race tonight?”
“You know about it?”
“Of course,” she hummed.“I’m going too.”
“Since when?”
“Since now.We’re going to make sure thatCairoisreallyjealous tonight.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
ASTRID
The scentof Ruby’s hair spray and perfume filled Diya’s bedroom.I stared into the mirror at Ruby, who twisted my hair back into a messy braid for tonight’s race, then toward Diya, lying on her mattress on her stomach, kicking her legs back and forth, her gaze glued to her phone.
A small smile crawled onto her face, and I snickered.
“What are you up to, D?”
