Page 37 of Vile Boys

“I just wonder if Spine Ridge University is still a safe place,” she mutters.

“Of course. It was probably just a one-time thing, and the cops handled it. The school itself is fine,” I say. “Besides, it’s not like I’m gonna change now that I’m already in my second year there.”

“It’s always a possibility.” She reaches out for my hand and gently rubs it. “You know you’re always allowed to quit.”

“I know.” Never happening.

She smiles at me. “You’re always welcome back home.”

My heart fills with warmth. “Thanks.”

My eyes flutter out the window to a peculiar car parked outside Fi’s Cups and Cakes. It’s an Aston Martin, the same model some of the rich guys at school have, but for some reason, I feel like I recognize this one. The license plate on it looks familiar.

“Well, better eat this cake before it’s dry,” Mom says, pulling me from my thoughts.

I take a forkful of my cake and shove it in my mouth. “Delicious.”

“Oh my God, you’re right,” Mom says, grinning as she swallows her piece. “Why didn’t we come here sooner?”

“I don’t know, actually. Penelope recommended it to me last year,” I reply. “I don’t think I can ever go anywhere else now that I’ve tasted their cakes and pies.”

The bell at the top of the door rings as more customers come in. The place is so busy there’s a line at the counter, but no one seems to mind because they know the wait is worth it.

But as I take another bite from my cake, a man with neatly combed dark blond hair in a suit standing in line catches my attentionbecause next to him stands an equally dark blond-haired guy with tattoos all over his arms, hands, and neck. And all the hairs on my body stand up straight.

“Crystal?” Mom mutters, but I can barely hear her over the sound of my own breathing as it picks up.

I swallow my piece of cake but almost choke on it, and I knock over my coffee.

“Oh God!” my mom says, swiftly grabbing my mug so it doesn’t spill over more.

I cough a little and look up at the guy whose eyes are locked on mine like a missile ready to strike. His piercings rise and fall with each of his steady breaths, but the one in his eyebrow twitches.

“Are you okay?” my mother mutters.

I scoot aside and look at the coffee on the floor. “Yeah. I didn’t get any on my lap, luckily.”

“Let me go grab some paper towels.”

She immediately rushes off toward the counter, pushing past the suited man with slick blond hair to grab some of them, and I watch intently as she smiles at him.

He talks to her and then grabs the towels himself, handing them to her with a smile. She blushes and says something back, but I can’t hear it over the hubbub from the other customers.

Caleb narrows his eyes at my mother but doesn’t say a word.

When he looks at me again, I grab the menu on the table and hide behind it. Even though he’s already seen me, I don’t want to give him more reasons to come close.

I peek over the menu. My mother continues talking to the man, seemingly forgetting about the coffee spill on the floor beside our table and her half-eaten cake. They’re laughing and exchanging looks, and Caleb seems awfully annoyed by the whole ordeal.

A smile forms on my face.

But she seems enamored by the man beside Caleb, so much so that she pulls out her phone and shows something to him. I can’t tell what, but he immediately pulls out his phone too.

Are they exchanging numbers?

I push the menu to the side to get a better view, but the second I do, Caleb grabs the man’s shoulders and pushes him away from my mom.

“Let’s go, Dad. The line is way too long, and I know a betterplace.”

---