Maria covered her ear closest to him. “I agree. You yelled right in my ear.”
“Mine, too,” Chloe added.
Elle turned to look at Vincent. “You should try taking some deep brea—”
Nero quickly grabbed Elle and started dragging her to the car, away from Vincent’s grasp. “Time to go.”
Never mind, this might be fun, Lake thought as she looked at Vincent’s face. The child inside of her wanted to stick her tongue out at him for the dirty look he was giving her. Everyone knew Adalyn could get away with talking to him like that when he went psycho, but it was a very short to non-existent leash for everyone else.
Nero opened the backseat of a black Cadillac Escalade for them to get in. It looked brand new and was huge, with three rows of seats.
“Whose car is this?” Adalyn said in awe.
“Lucca’s,” Maria answered.
Adalyn’s mouth dropped open. “Why would he let anyone borrow this? I wouldn’t even let my mother touch it. It’s so beautiful.”
Vincent gave his sister a little shove. “Well, that’s good to know.”
Lake looked at Amo’s face, quickly sensing how he felt about the conversation when it was Chloe’s turn to get in.
“He knew a bunch of us were going out, and we could use a big SUV is all,” Nero replied.
Mhmm … right. She felt the way Nero had said it had almost been to cool down the fire building in Amo.
Lake quickly did the math. “Adalyn, let’s take your car since there’s not enough seats, and I would rather not be squished.”
“I-If Nero and Elle sit up front, then Maria will have to sit beside one of you two,” Chloe said to Vincent and Amo. “But that will leave me squished beside the other person.” She hadn’t even gotten in the car yet, clearly worried someone would end up touching her.
“Fuck it. I’m driving my car.” Amo stormed off toward his vehicle.
“I’ll go with you.” Vincent quickly went after him.
She quickly pulled Adalyn to start heading to her car. Adalyn’s eyes had lit up like she had an opportunity to ride in the beautiful machine, and Lake was afraid she would jump in beside Chloe, unaware of her problems.
Vincent’s loud voice rang through their ears. “Adalyn and Lake, you two ride with us.”
“Say no, say no,” Lake whispered to her, holding a tight grip on her friend’s arm when Adalyn started heading toward Amo’s car.
“Sorry, Lake said no!” Adalyn yelled to Vincent.
Lake rolled her eyes. “Do you want me to kill you today?”
“Do it!” Vincent yelled before he slammed the car door shut.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We All Can’t Be Blessed
Lake had to admit, she was a little shocked to be having such a good time at the mall. The boys merely stayed behind, keeping an eye out on them, so she didn’t feel bothered by Vincent at all. Although, every now and then, she would look back and catch him staring at her ass. She would give him the I-see-you look, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t trying to hide the fact that he was.
Mostly, the girls were window-shopping without really finding anything they liked enough to buy. Lake figured it must not have been that long since the last time they had gone.
Giving up, they went to the food court and took a table just big enough for them to sit at. The guys brought them a bunch of hamburgers and fries.
“You know I hate it when you do that,” Nero told Elle, setting the food down in front of her.
“Sorry, there’s just no room for you to sit with us.” Elle smiled sweetly up at him.
“You’re going to pay for that later,” he warned before they went and found their own table close by.
Lake looked at Elle’s blushing face. “What does he hate?”
Chloe laughed. “He’s still a little wounded that she told him no when he asked to sit beside her for the first time in the school cafeteria.”
“You told Nero no?” Adalyn asked, her jaw dropping.
“Yep, and he reminds me of it every day,” Elle said before taking a bite of her hamburger.
“What changed your mind?” Lake asked curiously. Something in her wanted to know what had altered her opinion about a man like Nero. Or Vincent.
Elle spoke loudly so he could overhear. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”
That wasn’t the answer she was looking for, but it certainly didn’t let her down. Nero’s face made them all burst out in laughter; however, Elle’s chuckles didn’t last very long.
After they finished eating, they decided to try one more store before they left, not wanting to come out empty-handed.
Looking through the racks for the hell of it, Lake found a light and airy dress she thought would be perfect for the hot summer. Holding it up, she contemplated at least trying it on. For once, she did have cash in her purse thanks to the previous night, so she could buy it.
No, I don’t need it.
“Uh, you’re not going to at least try it on? It’s so pretty,” Maria asked.
Lake looked at all the girls staring at her. “It won’t look good on me.” She shrugged. “Here, you can try it. It’ll look better on you, anyways.”
Maria pointed her finger to the dressing room. “Quit being silly and go.”
She hadn’t expected her to say that.
Smiling, Lake headed toward the dressing room yet stopped in place when she saw Ashley and her friends.
“Just the person I wanted to see. Your mom wants you to come by the house to get your graduation gift. I’m sure my dad would love to congratulate you, as well.” Ashley clearly enjoyed telling her the last part.
* * *
Vincent, Nero, and Amo followed the girls to go find Lake.
He swore he heard his sister say ‘uh-oh’ when they found her talking to some girls. Knowing all too well where this could head, Vincent went to Lake’s side.
I am sick of all these fucking bitches…
Nero put up his hand, stopping him. “Maria can do a lot more damage than we can.”
* * *