Page 12 of Easy Out

“Hey,” she says, tugging on my arm this time. This girl is a barnacle.

“Go. Away.”

“You’re into this?” She waves her hand toward the dance floor. “She’s not even good.”

Lauren stares down her competition. There is a glint in her eye of pure determination. Lauren catalogs Killer’s every move as she mentally prepares her counterattack.

“She looks like a little boy dressed like that,” the barnacle says with disdain. And somehow, mixed with how she moves her body, Lauren looks hot as hell.

Lauren confirms my thoughts when she lifts her shirt, exposing her skin that glows under the lighting. The muscles in her abs and obliques flex as she rolls her body seductively.

“Fuuuuuck.” Wyatt is barely audible beside me as he bites his fisted knuckle. He catches my eye and knows I’m thinking the same thing. Part of me hates that he is seeing her like this. The other part of me questions why I hate it.

“Now that’s how you do it.” The DJ screams over the mic. Lauren stands on her tippy toes and says something angrily to Killer before taking her spot on the opposite side of the dance floor. “Judges, you’ve got five minutes.”

“Lauren! Lauren!” Sydney yells, giving Lauren two thumbs up like a glorified stage mom.

Lauren dips her head in our direction but doesn’t move from her place under the spotlight. Killer is still antagonizing the crowd on his side of the ring. I don’t know if he thinks he’s won or if this is just who he is. I’m going with the latter.

“I’m so nervous,” Sydney says, biting her nails.

“She’s not going to win. She would never make it on our squad. I don’t know how she even made it into the top three,” the leech continues to talk shit while trying to get some kind of grip on my arm. I move away, putting Wyatt in between the two of us.

“Get your eyes checked, darlin’,” Wyatt clips back at her. Why am I pissed that he’s defending Lauren? Because you wish you could speak the words and do it yourself.

“The results are in.” The guy gathers Killer and Lauren on either side of him. “In second place, LoLo! That makes Killer our champ once again tonight.” The crowd explodes, rushing Killer and congratulating him.

Lauren is fuming. The guy in charge tries to calm her down without success. When she storms off, I’m not the only one who has eyes on her.

It’s obvious several guys want to take their shot with her after she showed off on the dance floor. One, in particular, is asking for trouble. I don’t like the starved look on his face.

Sydney sees it too. “Hart, I need your help. Can you ride with Lauren and make sure she gets home? Koa can drive me home and give you a ride back to your place.”

My immediate response is no. I don’t want to be alone with Lauren, or anyone, in a confined space. Will she expect me to talk to her? I can’t do that. What if I try and… No. My heart clenches thinking about it.

“Please, Hart. I’m begging. Matt is bad news. He can’t get to her.” The word again goes unsaid, but I see it in her eyes.

“Fine. Text Lauren. Tell her I need a ride home.”

“Thank you. I owe you one. Take care of her, Hart,” she says, her voice laced with concern.

It’s absolute mayhem with everyone moving to the dance floor, the bar or leaving for the night. I slice through the crowd and head toward the parking lot to chase down the brujita.

3

LAUREN

“He just screwed all of us over. How can he do that?” I have never felt so betrayed before. Killer was family. You don’t steal from family. That’s exactly what he did. So selfish!

“I don’t know.”

“Aren’t you mad about this, Carter?”

“I am.”

“God. I hate it when you’re like this.” I stop walking across the parking lot and take a moment to blow out some of this pent-up rage. “I’m going to call Ray.”

“No.”

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