Page 106 of Vile Boys

“Yeah, of course!” she says. “I’ll come next time you go. No worries.”

“Perfect!” Penelope says, wrapping her arm around my neck. “This is gonna be a fabulous night. I can’t fucking wait.”

“Same,” I say.

Maybe I should just do it. What harm would it do to just have a little bit of fun? Besides, I could use the pick-me-up after everything last night.

My phone buzzes, and I check the messages.

Brooke: Hey, wanna come hang out at Club RIVERA? My friend got sick so now me and Lana are all alone. We’d love it if you’d come along.

“Wow.”

“What?” Penelope asks.

“A friend, Brooke, just asked me to come to Club RIVERA too.” I look up into their bewildered eyes. “She says Lana is going with her too.”

“Wait, what?” Felix frowns and steals my phone away. “What the fu—”

“Felix,” Penelope warns him. “Give back the phone.”

Felix’s nostrils flare, but he still hands it back to me. “She’s myfuckingsister. I didn’t give her permission.”

“She doesn’t need it,” Penelope retorts, lifting her brow. “She can enjoy her free time any way she wants to. If she wants to come to the club, that’s her choice.”

“She’s not going alone,” he barks back.

“She’s not,” I say. “Brooke’s with her.”

He seems really on edge. “That’s not enough.”

“We’ll be there too. It’s fine,” Penelope says.

“What could happen?” Dylan mutters, taking another bite of his sandwich.

“Did you fucking forget about the Phantoms?”

Phantoms … I think Felix means Kai, Nathan, and Milo, as I heard from Penelope they were beefing. But I tend to stay far away from fights. At least, I used to.

“No, absolutely fucking not,” Felix growls.

“What if I went with her?” I’ve already said the words before I realized it. Everyone’s looking at me now. “I mean, Brooke asked. I could just … join them?”

Penelope sighs. “But I miss you. I really wanted to dance together.”

“It’s fine. Nothing’s stopping you guys from dancing together,” Kayla says.

I smile at Felix. “If Lana and Brooke want me there, I can join them. I’ll keep an eye out on her.”

“You sure?” Penelope asks me, grabbing my hand. “You don’t have to sacrifice yourself.”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun. Besides, you’re with plenty of people already, while they’re only with two. It’ll balance the groups a bit if I go with them instead.” I wink.

“Only if you’re sure,” Kayla says.

I text Brooke back.

Me: Sure! Would love to.

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