“Daniel, he wasn’t— You shouldn’t—”
Daniel wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, staring at Jem, waiting.
“Both,” Jem said.
“I can take care of myself.”
“Yeah, I kind of remember getting you out of a dog cage.”
Color bloomed in Daniel’s cheeks.“Why are you being such an asshole?”
“He tried to take my pants off when I was a little kid,” Jem said.“And I wasn’t asking for it like you were.”
“Jem,” Tean said miserably.
But Daniel only frowned.“Why didn’t you tell me he was a creep?”
“He’s sixty years old, and he was eye-fucking a fifteen-year-old.What’s wrong with your head that I have to tell you he’s a creep?”
The color brightened in Daniel’s cheeks, but after a moment, he shrugged.“Fine.I won’t talk to him anymore.”But a moment later, he said, “He’s a big deal at Rainbow House.And Nasha says you can’t come back.”
“I’ll handle Nasha,” Jem said.
Daniel considered this as he fished a sandwich out of the bag.Then he looked at Tean and said, “Will you take me to a drag store?”
The look on Tean’s face might have been the funniest thing Jem had ever seen.Jem would have laughed about it if he hadn’t choked on his own spit at the exact same moment.
“Uh,” Tean said.“Um.Uh.Well.”
Jem managed not to hack up a lung, and the coughing turned into laughter.
“This is why I didn’t ask him,” Daniel told Tean.“He’s like a little kid sometimes.”
“Right.”Tean was fumbling with his glasses like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to take them off or put them on again.“You see.The thing is.”
“A drag store?”Jem said through fits of laughter.
Daniel shot a withering look in his direction, but to Tean, he said, “My dad said he won’t take me.He’s so fucking repressed.”
That must have been a lifeline for Tean, because he said, “Oh, well, if your dad doesn’t want you to go—”
“In the first place, doofus,” Jem said, “there’s no such thing as a drag store.At least, not here.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Daniel snapped.“You guys never tell me anything.”
“And in the second place,” Jem said, fighting another wave of laughter, “you want him—” He hiked a thumb at Tean.“—to help you pick out your tatas and wig?”
“Oh my gosh,” Tean mumbled.He had his eyes fixed on the Kneaders bag like he wanted to do some panic-breathing into it.
“What about you?”Daniel asked with next-level scorn.“You’d strap me in a pair of roller blades and parachute pants.”
“Okay, I know you’re being a little bitch right now, and I love it, but seriously, that would be so fucking dope.”
“The meet is starting,” Tean said—a little too loudly, and his eyes cutting back and forth.“You’d better get back to your team.”
“And give us our sandwiches,” Jem said.
With a grin, Daniel fished out his sandwich and tossed the bag to Jem.He jogged toward the gym, threw them a look over his shoulder, and almost lost his headgear.Only a quick fumble let him catch it.And for some reason, it made his grin bigger, as though he’d somehow done a trick.
