Page 5 of Adorkable

“Sal,” he coaxed, nudging my shoulder. Left and right people called his name, but after acknowledging them, Becks turned back to me. “Don’t be mad, Sal. I’ve always been overly curious. You can’t hate me for that; I was born this way.”

And that right there was why I couldn’t stay mad at Becks for long. It was simply impossible.

“Her name,” I said in answer to his first question, “was Daisy. And how should I know if she was hot or not? She had a pretty cool mohawk, though. As to whether or not you know her, she’s Stella’s daughter.”

“The hair lady?” I nodded, and Becks’s look turned thoughtful. “I think I might’ve seen her once or twice. Tall, decent figure, nose ring? Dang, Sal. What made Lillian think she was your type?” He laughed. “Do you have a secret bad boy fetish I should know about?”

“Don’t you mean bad girl?” I muttered.

Becks shook his head. “I don’t get it. What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is Hooker set me up with a chick.”

Becks shrugged. “Could be worse.”

Frowning, I sent him a glare. “I’m serious.”

“Me, too. Sal, these things happen.”

Was he joking? “These things happen. That’s the best you’ve got?”

“Well, it’s true.”

“Wer—?” I threw up my hands. “—Sag es mir, Becks, sag es mir sofort, denn ich will es wirklich wissen.”

“English, please, Sal. I have no idea what you’re saying.”

And I had no idea I’d slipped into German; that only happened when I was upset. “Who exactly does this happen to?” I repeated.

He shrugged again. “To you, apparently.” When I went to pinch him, he laughed and jumped back.

“This isn’t funny.”

“It’s pretty funny, Sal. I, for one, think—”

Before he could complete that thought (and most likely earn himself another pinch), Roxy Culpepper and Eden Vice stepped into our path. The way they eyed Becks was enough to darken my day, but watching Roxy cock her hip, nearly popping the thing out of socket, was at least entertaining.

“Hey, Becks,” Roxy said, giving him the head tilt and hair twirl. “Nice shirt.”

“Yeah,” Eden said eagerly. “The cut looks great on you. And that’s like my favorite color.”

Becks and I both gave his white Hanes a dubious once-over.

But unlike me, Becks didn’t roll his eyes. Oh no, that’d be too impolite. Smooth-talking, woman-loving charmer that he was, Becks simply tucked his hands into his pockets, flashed them a wink and said, “Thanks, I’ve got four more just like it at home.”

They laughed like a pair of hyenas, and Roxy reached out to run a hand over Becks’s scruffy cheek.

“I see you’re still keeping with tradition.” As her fingertips lingered at his jaw, I had a real urge to smack her hand away—or stick gum in her hair, but I thought that sounded a little too grade school. Best stick with the smacking. It was considerably more adult. “Think we’re going to win tomorrow?”

“You know it,” Becks said.

“Oh, Becks, it’s senior year. You have to win.” Eden gave his other cheek the same treatment. “You just have to.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“You’ll win,” Roxy said with certainty, hip out so far I was shocked to see it was still connected to her body. “Score a goal for me, okay?”

I glared as the two slinked away, but Becks couldn’t have looked more satisfied with himself.

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