Page 86 of The Baller

Someone would definitely see.

“I don’t care.”

I scanned her face to see how serious she was being, or whether this would be something she’d regret the second my lips touched hers. “Really?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Really.”

“Then let’s fucking go,” I whispered, as my mouth surrounded her smile. I kept it as chaste as I could, but it was impossible not to steal a quick brush of her tongue against mine. This time when I stepped back, her cheeks had turned that perfect shade of peach I’d discovered spread across her entire body. “Have fun at class, Goldilocks. You too, best friend,” Icalled to Millie, who was licking chocolate off her fingers next to Jake.

I stayed where I was, my eyes trained on Radley as they walked off. After twenty or so yards, Millie jogged back to stop right in front of me.

I thrust my hands deep into my pockets as her eyes narrowed even more than they usually did.

“Hey, Baller, you won’t like what happens if you hurt her.”

Regardless of Millie’s height, or lack thereof, I had no doubt she could do some serious damage, and given the crazed look in her eyes, I was tempted to take her threat seriously.

I smiled and leaned in. “Don’t worry, I never intend to find out.”

“Hmmm,” she huffed, and finally turned on her heel, throwing a hand in the air as she did. “Thanks for the brownie.”

Once they were out of sight, I pulled my phone from my pocket, and typed out a text.

Lux: I know for sure, Mama.

SEVENTEEN

RADLEY

“Class,don’t forget your essays need to be submitted before the Thanksgiving break; no excuses and no extensions. Pick one of the topics on the board.”

Delaney leaned across Millie and me as we shut our laptops. “Professor Hawkes is very loud for a short person.”

“Hey, I’m short and loud,” Millie stated indignantly and stood up, as if to illustrate the point, though the second class was dismissed, the volume in the auditorium went from silent to stadium levels, and it was hard to hear her over the din of undergrads escaping.

“Yeah, you are,” I nudged her shoulder, “but you’re also blocking the board.”

She shifted out of the way, and I took a quick snap of our assignment, and airdropped it to Delaney and Millie. “There, now you bothhave them.”

“Fate, love, revenge, analysis of sonnets… we haven’t even covered the sonnets yet,” Millie grumbled as we eased down the row.

“Then write about love and revenge instead.” My eyes flicked back to the board, before I added, “Or the feminist perspective of Twelfth Night.”

She groaned loudly. “I can’t think about anything until I’ve eaten. I’m too hungry to concentrate.”

“Me, too.”

My stomach rumbled in agreement. Now that they mentioned it, I was also very hungry. More hungry than a quick salad bowl on the go would suffice.

“Hey, do you want to go to the burger place near Brown’s? My treat. I heard it’s really good.”

“We don’t have time to get there and back before our next class,” moaned Millie again, reminding me that hungry Millie was not someone you wanted to spend a prolonged period of time with, “and it’s too cold to walk that far. I think it’s snowing.”

“It’s not snowing yet, but we can make it in the warmth if Jake and Ethan drive us.”

The pair of them spun around so quickly I stopped dead. Millie looked much more alive than she had a second ago when she was on the verge of starvation.

“I knew there was a reason I was friends with you. That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day, and we can decide our topics on the way.”

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