shrieks during nutrition. “Look at you! I saw Logan this morning. Did you see him?” She clutches onto me with a rocking hug.
“Look at you ,” I take in a sharp breath trying not to look horrified by the fact her stomach is shooting out like a torpedo in her tight knit sweater. It rises and falls dramatically with each breath she takes, smacking me in the boobs on the upswing. It’s like one of those games at the amusement park where you strike the hammer and the ball spikes to hit a bell. I feel like I might be handed a giant stuffed panda at any moment.
“I know. It’s funny, right? I look deformed.” She brushes cookie crumbs off her newfound shelf.
“This coming from the girl who thought it was perfectly acceptable to wear a belly dress to the winter formal? You look fine.” She really does, considering her condition. I’m still not sure where Brielle and I stand. She never did fess up to being a Count until I called her out on it, not to mention the fact she thought it was cute when I showed up to the sacrificial stone as the promised lamb herself. And don’t get me started on the fact Chloe paid her a solid grand to be my bestie. At the least I think she owes me some serious cold hard cash for pretending to be hers, well, I am her friend but that’s beside the point.
“Please—I’ll be in a tent by prom.” She looks dejected just thinking of the idea. “So, I’ve totally taken over at the bowling alley. I don’t have you down for hours yet. Let me know when you’re ready. Hope you don’t mind but I’ve been having Chloe pinch hit.”
“What?” Chloe is like a virus that hits you coming and going. I’d rather eat dinner out of a public urinal than brush elbows with Chloe at work.
“I needed someone. There were three shifts to cover, and desperate times call for hiring desperate people. Besides, she was way mellow while you were gone.”
“That’s because I was gone and the fact she was able to hold a private candlelight vigil next to Gage every night.” She was probably kissing him, licking his face like a cat—groping him inappropriately.
“True, she went before and after work.”
“Well, someone call the Vatican. We’ve got a real freaking saint on our hands.”
“I don’t want to upset you or anything, but she’s totally opened up to me. You know, we used be good friends before she ditched me for the bitch squad. I mean it’s not like we’re BFF’s now or anything, but she’s talking to me again like a real person. Who knew Chloe Bishop had a heart?”
“If she’s got a heart, it’s because she ate one for breakfast. Don’t let her fool you. She’s a heartless, soulless bitch that will annihilate anything and anyone who gets in her way.”
She gives a slow nod. “She may have mentioned the fact, she lives to take you down.”
“I can’t really take it personally. She lives to take down anything that stands in her way of Gage.” In fact, if I had to guess what she was doing on all those questionable light drives with Ellis, I’d venture to say she was working on rearranging Gage’s genetic code to somehow include falling in love with her. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to find out she accidentally dismantled the universe in her impotent efforts at procuring his affection. One day Chloe is going to screw up gravity and turn us all into space debris trying to crack the code to Gage Oliver’s heart. “Besides, I nailed her to a wall.” An image of Logan’s film playing at the bowling alley runs through my tired brain. “There is no way she’s going to get in the way of my relationship with Gage ever again.”
“I don’t know,” Brielle circles over me with a look of apprehension. “I’d watch my back if I were you.”
“Chloe’s the one who’d better watch her back. If I get proof she took down Logan and Gage, she’s going back to hell, and I’ll make sure to lock the door behind her this time.”
“Fighting words,” Ellis slings his
“Look at you ,” I take in a sharp breath trying not to look horrified by the fact her stomach is shooting out like a torpedo in her tight knit sweater. It rises and falls dramatically with each breath she takes, smacking me in the boobs on the upswing. It’s like one of those games at the amusement park where you strike the hammer and the ball spikes to hit a bell. I feel like I might be handed a giant stuffed panda at any moment.
“I know. It’s funny, right? I look deformed.” She brushes cookie crumbs off her newfound shelf.
“This coming from the girl who thought it was perfectly acceptable to wear a belly dress to the winter formal? You look fine.” She really does, considering her condition. I’m still not sure where Brielle and I stand. She never did fess up to being a Count until I called her out on it, not to mention the fact she thought it was cute when I showed up to the sacrificial stone as the promised lamb herself. And don’t get me started on the fact Chloe paid her a solid grand to be my bestie. At the least I think she owes me some serious cold hard cash for pretending to be hers, well, I am her friend but that’s beside the point.
“Please—I’ll be in a tent by prom.” She looks dejected just thinking of the idea. “So, I’ve totally taken over at the bowling alley. I don’t have you down for hours yet. Let me know when you’re ready. Hope you don’t mind but I’ve been having Chloe pinch hit.”
“What?” Chloe is like a virus that hits you coming and going. I’d rather eat dinner out of a public urinal than brush elbows with Chloe at work.
“I needed someone. There were three shifts to cover, and desperate times call for hiring desperate people. Besides, she was way mellow while you were gone.”
“That’s because I was gone and the fact she was able to hold a private candlelight vigil next to Gage every night.” She was probably kissing him, licking his face like a cat—groping him inappropriately.
“True, she went before and after work.”
“Well, someone call the Vatican. We’ve got a real freaking saint on our hands.”
“I don’t want to upset you or anything, but she’s totally opened up to me. You know, we used be good friends before she ditched me for the bitch squad. I mean it’s not like we’re BFF’s now or anything, but she’s talking to me again like a real person. Who knew Chloe Bishop had a heart?”
“If she’s got a heart, it’s because she ate one for breakfast. Don’t let her fool you. She’s a heartless, soulless bitch that will annihilate anything and anyone who gets in her way.”
She gives a slow nod. “She may have mentioned the fact, she lives to take you down.”
“I can’t really take it personally. She lives to take down anything that stands in her way of Gage.” In fact, if I had to guess what she was doing on all those questionable light drives with Ellis, I’d venture to say she was working on rearranging Gage’s genetic code to somehow include falling in love with her. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to find out she accidentally dismantled the universe in her impotent efforts at procuring his affection. One day Chloe is going to screw up gravity and turn us all into space debris trying to crack the code to Gage Oliver’s heart. “Besides, I nailed her to a wall.” An image of Logan’s film playing at the bowling alley runs through my tired brain. “There is no way she’s going to get in the way of my relationship with Gage ever again.”
“I don’t know,” Brielle circles over me with a look of apprehension. “I’d watch my back if I were you.”
“Chloe’s the one who’d better watch her back. If I get proof she took down Logan and Gage, she’s going back to hell, and I’ll make sure to lock the door behind her this time.”
“Fighting words,” Ellis slings his
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