Page 48 of Every Single Vow
Dakota
A horn honks, and I momentarily forget I’m in the school pick up line. Which is why I flip the ugly SUV behind me the bird before I pull up to the appointed lanes.
Arizona officially started school last week and I’m excited to see how her day went. She seems to be liking it, and she even talks about another girl named Heather that she met in PE that has become her new best friend. It warms my heart, but my nerves still swarm because it could be weeks before the social worker makes her final placement recommendation. Add that stress onto the fact I’ve been sleeping in the same bed with myfake husbandfor almost two weeks now withnothingbetween us. In fact, I wake up every morning with his body wrapped around mine, his unmistakable hardness pressed against my back, and very inappropriate thoughts about my best friend taking up residence in my brain. Like what it would be like to climb on top of him and feel that…
My truck door opens, and I jolt.
“Hey, how was your day?” I beam.
Ari doesn’t smile; she just slams the door before yanking on her seat belt.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing,” she mutters.
I see her gaze move out the window, to a girl with fire red hair. The girl eyes Arizona with a smirk.
“Did she do something to you?” I narrow my eyes.
“Who?”
“Pippy Longstocking out there.” I pull forward, easing past the group of girls huddled at the edge of the sidewalk.
“No.”
“Ari. I don’t care much for a liar,” I point out.
“It’s not a big deal.” She rolls her eyes. “She just said some stuff.”
“What stuff?” My hands clench the steering wheel.
“It’s not…”
“Ari, if you don’t tell me what she said…”
“She just said that I was trailer trash and that someone like me would never be invited to her birthday party.”
My foot slams on the break. “Excuse me?”
“Her mom told her I wasn’t allowed. That with a sister like you, I couldn’t be trusted.”
Fire ignites in my veins as I whip to the shoulder of the parking lot and shift the truck into park.
“She said what to you?” I ask again.
“Dakota, it’s fine. I ignored her.” She shrugs. “Her mom is probably sus anyway.”
Speaking of her mom. I spot Pippy walking along the sidewalk with a woman I’ve had the displeasure of knowing since grade school. She was a bully then, and apparently, she still holds the title. And it’s clear she’s teaching her daughter to follow in her footsteps.
“Stay here,” I murmur before my hand is gripping the latch, and I’m hopping out of the truck.
How dare she say those things. How dare she hurt my family. How dare she make her feel like less.
“Hey Molly!” I chirp, striding up to the woman who freezes a few feet in front of me.
“Dakota.” Her smile is fake, just like her boobs.
“Can I have a quick word?” I ask, crossing my arms.
