Page 8 of No Romeo
Hendrix’s cold gaze met mine. A devastating smirk played over his lips. Grinning, Wolf held out an open palm. “Ante up, Voldermort.”
“As if I would ever give you two money.”
They both cackled, and all it did was enrage me more.
“Threatening people for money—that’s a whole new low. Even for you, Hendrix.” I’d never felt genuine disappointment toward him until then. Was this what he had become in the last two years?
A cocky grin spread across Hendrix’s face, catching his dimples. “So, what I’m hearing her say, Wolf, is that she doesn’t want to make a donation at this time?”
On a deep laugh, Wolf crammed a handful of fries into his mouth. “I thinksheshould have to pay double.”
Hendrix laughed again, and a momentary flash of red blinded me before I forced it down.
“What are you going to do, Hendrix? Hurt me?” I leaned farther over the table, and I didn’t miss the way his gaze dropped to the loose collar of my T-shirt. “The sheep might fall in line, but Kyle isn’t paying your stupid donation. And you’re going to stay away from him.”
His attention lifted to my face, something feral flickering in his eyes, before I spun around and headed back to my table.
“Don’t put your feet on my rug, Lola Stevens!” His voice rose above the hum of conversation and clatter of trays.
I flipped him off over my shoulder. I’d put my feet all over his stupid rug if he came after Kyle.
The rest of the day was absolute crap.
A fight broke out in the hallway after fourth period, and the blood from the kid’s busted nose spattered my shoe. Of course, the restroom had no toilet paper, and when I asked a random girl if she had any tissue, she backed away from me like I had the plague. Hendrix had already worked his magic, it seemed. God knew, by then, he’d probably threatened to kill half the school if anyone talked to me.
The dismissal bell rang, and I pushed my way through the packed hallways, eager to escape this fresh hell and its crowned dickhead king. As soon as I stepped out into the hot sun, my focus strayed across the tops of the cars to Hendrix leaning against the side of Wolf’s truck. Like he had some kind of evil, magnetic pull over me.
A beat of longing thumped in my chest, and I forced myself to turn around just as Kyle squeezed through the students pouring out the exit.
“Sorry I took so long.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “I got shoved into a locker.”
“By who?”
“One of the football players. They come after anyone not on Hendrix’s safety list.”
Rage ignited within me. I didn’t give a shit about Hendrix’s stupid list. “Who was it?”
Kyle shook his head and started across the parking lot.
“I’m serious, Kyle. Tell me.”
“Just leave it, Lola. Please?”
Damn him. He was not paying that fee, and I was not letting people bully him. The second I found out, that football player would be retrieving his balls from the back of his throat. I wondered if he’d be hopping to pay Hendrix for protection from me.
I intentionally ignored my ex-boyfriend when we passed by Wolf’s truck and got into Kyle’s car. The engine cranked, warm air shooting out of the vents. “Hendrix looks at you like that guy out ofAmerican Psycho.”
Sure enough, Hendrix glared at me from the other side of the lot as we backed out. “He’s probably plotting all the ways to make me pay for what I did.”
“And I helped you, so he’s going to kill me, too!”
“He’s not going to kill you…”
Kyle followed the line of cars zooming toward the exit, the engine sputtering when he turned onto the road. I grabbed my plaid work top from my backpack. The gross smell of smoked meats lifted from the material. “Can I use your washer when I get off?” I yanked my T-shirt over my head, and Kyle nearly swerved off the road. You’d think he’d never seen a bra before.
“Oh, God.” He gripped the steering wheel tight, hunkering over it as he stared straight through the windshield. “If he finds out you’re staying with me, he’s going to take a poo on my porch before murdering me in cold blood.”
“No, he won’t.” Hendrix’s wrath was nothing if not infamous, and when he lost it, he wasn’t rational. I could handle Hendrix, though.
