Page 7 of Science Project

“Kill my son, and I’ll set you?—”

Before she could finish the promise, the man picked up the gun. I roundhouse-kicked him across the face so hard that one of his teeth flew out of his mouth and underneath the green dumpster. A bullet whizzed through the air, but hit the garbage bin instead of me.

Growling to myself, I kicked him straight on this time, my foot colliding with his chin and sending him flying back. When he hit the ground, unconscious, the gun slipped out of his hand. I took it and dropped all the bullets out of it and onto the ground at Mom’s feet. Then, I shoved the gun into her hands.

“You’re not finished.”

“He’s unconscious,” I snarled. “You finish it.”

After storming back into the restaurant, I readjusted my tie and nervously picked at the scab on my finger from when Mom had dragged me to the shooting range with her. Because if I was her son, the least I could do was learn how to shoot a gun.

That was all she wanted me for, apparently.

Once I slid into my seat, Imani and her parents followed the hostess to our table. After the overzealous greetings, Imani sat across from me and sank into the plush chair. She looked like she hated being here almost as much as I did.

Or maybe she hated how much my dad and her mom tried to pair us together.

I glanced toward the kitchen, waiting for Mom to waltz out and sit with us, but she never did. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past her to put seven bullets straight through that man’s head and throw him into the dumpster to get rid of him.

My hands balled into fists underneath the table. Mom was the reason why I couldn’t involve myself with Nicole—even though I loved working with her during class because she was so pretty and smelled so good and, hell, she even knew what anime was. Mom already wanted information from Nicole about her father. If she found out we were working together on a science project …

Dick twitching in my pants, I pressed my hand against my thigh and wished that it’d disappear. But I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her since Anatomy class. She had placed her hand on my thigh, and I had gotten so hard almost instantly that she had to have seen it. She even suggested we do our project on the reproductive system.

Had she been flirting with me?

I shook my head and pushed the thought away because, surely, Nicole wouldn’t flirt with anyone like me. She didn’t even know my name. Besides, she was tied up with Carter and Jace Harbor drama.

Still, that hadn’t stopped me from jerking off to the thought of her in the restroom after science and this afternoon … and probably when I finally get out of this stupid dinner too.

Dad laughed obnoxiously beside me, snapping me out of my fantasies. I cleared my throat and looked up at Imani, who stared down at her lap while sipping her water. She gazed up at me through big brown eyes.

“How’d it go with Poison?” I whispered.

She sucked in her cheek and stared through me.

Story of my life.

“Uh, Imani …”

She blinked a few times, then shrugged. “Good, I guess. I slapped Landon in the face for you. You’re welcome.” She glanced at Mrs. Abara and leaned across the table. “Why are they after you? What did you do?”

I tensed and sat back, then stuck my fork into a piece of bread and plopped the entire thing into my mouth. Dad scowled at me for eating so poorly, then turned back to Imani’s mom. While Imani was a nice girl, I didn’t want to tell her what Poison wanted from me.

Mainly because I didn’t want her to see me like everyone saw Mom.

“Akio has an internship at the pharmacy,” Dad boasted to Mrs. Abara, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close—something he only did when he wanted to brag about me. “I’m so proud of this boy.”

Sure he is …

Imani arched a brow at me. “The pharmacy? Do they give you access to all the drugs?”

Mrs. Abara smacked Imani’s shoulder. “Oh, honey. Stop it. I’m sure he’s working in the front room.”

“Actually, right alongside the pharmacists,” Dad said.

He can’t shut the hell up, can he?

I sank lower in my seat as Imani murmured, “Interesting …”

---