Page 18 of The Executioners Three
“Your parenting skills are questionable, Mother.”
“As are your teenager skills, Daughter.”
“You’re cruel.”
“And you love me. See you at midnight—or later!”
Freddie opened her mouth to say goodbye, but the words never came. Kyle’s Jeep gleamed on the street below, and instantly her heart lurched into her eye sockets.The world is such a magical place,she thought as she floated toward him.
And it could only get more magical as long as Lance Bass remained in her pocket.
4
Freddie thought her lungs might punch through her esophagus. In a good way. Because where she’d expected Divya and Laina to be in the Jeep, it turned out to be only Kyle.
Freddie was pretty sure that qualified this moment as a date.
“Thanks for the jacket,” she said as she clambered into shotgun. She slipped it off, and a great wash of cool air and sadness wafted across her. At least she had Xena back, though, and safely around her neck.
“You’re welcome.” Kyle grinned. “Did it work?”
“Erm.” Freddie wasn’t sure how to answer that question. After all, it was a jacket, not a power tool. “Yes?”
He grinned even wider.
“So where are Laina and Divya?” Freddie asked as he shifted into drive.
“Laina’s got her mom’s car tonight, so she’s driving them. And Cat is driving her and Luis, so we’re all meeting at the cul-de-sac.”
“The… cul-de-sac?” Kyle acted as if Freddie should know the place. “Um, what is this cul-de-sac?” Freddie asked when it became clear Kyle hadn’t understood that her previous repetition was actually a question.
“You know, Mrs. Elliot’s unfinished subdivision.” Devastating grin. “If you cut through the woods, you end up right next to Fortin Prep’s landscaping shed. There’s a gate there, and no one ever locks it.”
As the Jeep turned off of Freddie’s road, Kyle’s swoony green eyes latched onto her. “Sorry I didn’t come to your locker after school. I forgot I had detention.”
“Oh.” Freddie blinked. “And here I thought I’d missedyoubecause I had…” She trailed off. There was nothing at all she could say that wouldn’t lead to questions or strange looks about the hanging—and neither questions nor strange looks were what Freddie was going for tonight.
“I… stayed late after class. To tutor Divya.”She is going to kill me. “Why were you in detention?”
“I skipped school.” He winced adorably.
And Freddie really didn’t think he could get any cuter. She’d always found Bad Boys appealing—particularly if they wore tight pants and sang about summer nights and greased lightning. “Do you perhaps have a leather jacket?” she asked hopefully. “Or a motorcycle?”
“No.”
“Alas.” She sighed.
“I think someone left one at my family’s dry cleaners, though.” He smiled. “A leather jacket. Not a motorcycle.” This made him laugh and, in turn, made Freddie laugh too.
“Do clothes often get left at the dry cleaners?”
“All the time. We’ve got, like, a bajillion Quick-Bis uniforms. Oh, and atonof Fortin Prep uniforms too. It’s my job to track down their owners, but if I don’t find them”—he shrugged—“then the stuff gets donated. Or just thrown away.”
“What a dutiful son,” Freddie breathed. Hard-workingandcharitable.
Two more turns, and Kyle steered them onto the curvy road beside the lake. The sun was almost gone, leaving the road dark and the lake hidden behind trees and shadow.
“Hey,” Kyle said, thumbs tapping on the steering wheel to a melody only he could hear. “Can I get your phone number? That would make it a lot easier next time I want to hang out with you.”
