Page 147 of Driftwood Daffodil 3

I walked across the gym, shot Memphis a dirty look, and wedged myself between them on the bleachers.

Sitting beside the ridiculous looking school mascot during a busy game, was not my idea of fun. Most times I didn’t even watch the game. I just took bets. Yet, here I was, in between my girl and her holy roller mascot friend.

And did Nova appreciate my sacrifice? No. She rolled her eyes and grumbled, “Ugh, rude.”

“I know, right?” Memphis agreed. “It’s like he’s jealous or something.”

“I am jealous,” I snapped at him. “And I will hit you.”

“Um, Gio,” Nova placed her hand on my leg, and looked up into my eyes. “You do know Memphis likes guys? He’s more likely to fuck you than me.”

Memphis held up his hand. “Hey, don’t drag me into this.”

Nova leaned over to look around me. “Oh, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t sleep with, Gio?”

Why were they talking about this?

“Hmm,” Memphis tipped his head to roll his eyes down me, making my lip curl in a sneer. “I’d suck his dick.”

Seriously, why were we talking about this? “Stay away from my dick.”

Of course that was the moment Atlee decided to join us.

“How many times do we have to talk about this?” He pointed at Nova with his hand. “You want her to go near your dick.”

Nova nodded, “he has a point.”

My chest heaved with a sigh. Why did I agree to come to this thing? Atlee and Nova alone were exhausting. Add in her friend and I wanted to shoot myself in the fucking head.

Seeking a change in subject before I went out of my mind, I looked up at Atlee and asked, “did you go through the books?”

The look he gave me in response said that he found what I thought he would.

“What books?” Nova asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” I said and stood up. “Stay here with your friend. I need to talk to Atlee.”

She didn’t argue as Atlee and I walked around to the side of the bleachers. Nova had stopped questioning me about certain things. I think she didn’t want to know. I was a made man now. I would kill and I would maim, and she would have to accept that. If ignorance was her way of doing that, then I was more than happy to oblige.

Once we were out of sight, Atlee passed me a piece of paper. “Darry, was right.”

This conversation would’ve been better to have in a more private location, but I couldn’t bring myself to let Nova out of my sight. When she wasn’t with me, I was following her, or I was parked outside her house watching while she slept. Some days I was so tired that it was impossible to keep my eyes open during class. But I could sleep when Simon was caught.

I scoured over the various numbers and names until I found the one I was looking for. “Son of a bitch. There he is. You know what you have to do now?”

“Yeah.” Atlee huffed out a sigh as we both looked over to a blonde girl on the other side of the gym.

Sutton jumped up and down, and waved her hands in the air, cheering on the team so enthusiastically that I wanted to gag. She was an integral part of Darry’s plan. I had to hand it to him. He did his research. The connection between the Barlow’s and Carissa wasn’t something I would’ve ever found. My father didn’t even know about it. They hid it well.

Atlee’s lip curled in a sneer as Sutton continued her enthusiasm. “You know I hate you for this, right?”

“Look on the bright side,” I slapped my hand on his back. “She won’t be eighteen for another two years.”

While Darry’s revenge had nothing to do with the family, it was still tied in simply because we were. So, we had to follow the rules. One of which was no minors involved unless ordered by the boss.

“Is that supposed to make me happy?”

“No, but destroying her will.”

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