Page 6 of Romeo

“Yeah?”

“Need a word with you.”

His friends immediately went quiet.

Joseph glanced at them before looking back at me. “About what?”

“Fiona Mitchell-Steiner.”

The change in his face was subtle.

It was enough.

“Somewhere private,” I added.

One of his friends frowned. “Who are you?”

“Nobody you need to worry about.”

The kid apparently believed me, because he didn’t ask again.

Joseph followed me a short distance down the hall to an alcove near a stairwell. Not completely private, but far enough from his friends that I didn’t have to embarrass him in front of half the senior class.

I wasn’t here to humiliate him.

Fiona already knew what that felt like.

Joseph folded his arms, trying for confidence. “What do you want?”

“I want to know why you asked Fiona to the dance if you planned to take someone else.”

His gaze dropped for half a second.

“I changed my mind.”

“Then you should’ve told her.”

He shifted his weight. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but it’s none of your business.”

I smiled.

“See, that’s where we disagree.”

His attention flicked toward my cut again.

Good. He could read.

“You asked her to go with you. She showed up expecting you to keep your word, and you walked past her with another girl.”

“I didn’t know she was sitting there.”

“She waved at you.”

That ended whatever excuse he’d been preparing.

I stepped closer.

“You want to take another girl to a dance, take another girl. You want to change your mind, change it. But you call Fiona first and tell her the truth. You don’t leave her sitting in a fucking parking lot wondering what she did wrong.”