Zheng:Where you at?
Me:Backyard.
A few seconds later the back door opens, and Zheng walks outside. He’s wearing his usual emo shit. Black pants. Black shirt. Black beanie pulled low over his black hair. No wonder the dude is still single. “You could use a little more color in your life,” I tell him.
He frowns. “Are you on something?”
“Nope. That’s your MO. Not mine,” I say with a grin.
His scowl darkens.
“Really, man. You wanna go there right now?”
I shrug. Why not? I’m already having a shitty day. But Zheng decides to flip shit around. Smooth fucker.
“What happened to smoothing shit over with Georgia?” he asks, taking a seat in one of the chairs beside me.
“Decided the pussy wasn’t worth the effort. She’s getting too attached.”
He snorts. “You’ve been staying the night at her place almost every night for the last month. What did you expect?”
“You’ve been tracking me?” I ask, remembering he’s hooked up with her, too. “Jealous it was me in her bed instead of you?”
He snorts. “Hardly. I try not to repeat my mistakes. And no, fucker, I’m not tracking you. But you’re hard to miss in the mornings when you do the walk of shame to your car early enough to get back to the Compound for morning patrols.”
I shrug, not meeting his eyes. I don’t like that he knows how often I’ve been here. Zheng’s not an idiot, and he demonstrates that even more with his next question.
“What’s really going on, Jordy? Why don’t you wanna be home?”
I jerk my gaze to him. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” It comes out angrier than I intended, but fuck, he’s got no right prying into my business.
“It means, I’m not stupid. I know you have issues with your dad. Why haven’t you said anything to Rafael or Desmond?”
Because Rafael’s got Isa now. I’m not about to crash in on their happy little life. And Des…I shake my head. Des’s got his own problems. Neither one of them needs to worry about mine. Besides, Raul is a mean fucker. A savage wolf the Pack barely tolerates but has to because that’s what Pack does. You don’t turn your back on your own.
“It’s not a big deal.” I push to my feet.
“Stop fronting. What’s going on?”
“Drop it,” I snarl.
Zheng lifts both hands. “Fine, be an asshole. I was only trying to help.”
“Right, well, the only help I need is a lift to Rafael’s. You going to help with that or not?”
He scowls, but nods. “Come on. But just so you know, screwing random girls isn’t going to solve your problems. And getting involved with chicks like Georgia Draven is going to come back and bite you in the ass. The witches are nothing but trouble. I would know.”
49
Jo
My palms are sweaty. My knees weak. I don’t know what to say to him. How to break the news or even start a conversation with the guy, so I do the smart thing and avoid him. Okay, it’s also the cowardly thing to do, but it’s not like I have a lot of options here. I only manage to make it two days before I’m faced with speaking to Jordy, though, and like all the times before, as soon as I see him, it’s like everything around me stops.
“Hey, beautiful,” he says, taking me completely by surprise as he sits down at the lunch table. It takes me a second to realize he’s not talking to me. His words are directed toward Isa, who is seated beside him, but hearing his voice has goosebumps breaking out across my skin. “Who’s the new new chick?” he asks, his tone suggestive, but he’s still not looking my way and it bothers me. It’s not like we’re strangers. He can say hello. Just as easily ask me for my name instead of asking Isa when I’m literally sitting right in front of him.
Rafael smacks him upside the back of his head as he claims his seat on Isa’s other side, but there’s a smile on his lips that says he’s not actually pissed. “Lay off Isa’s new friend,” he comments, not making eye contact, but this time I don’t take it personally. Given all that I’ve learned about the wolves of Hellbound High and how uncommon it is for anyone new to be welcomed into their inner circle, even other shifters, Rafael’s quiet acceptance of me is enough.
“This is Joaninha,” Isa says. “Play nice.”
