Page 74 of Scrimmage

“What?”

“What was the deal with Jake?”

“Um,” I pretend to think. “Dunno who that is.”

“Why did he say that valuable shit?”

“Because I’m a gift to society, duh.”

Koda looks annoyed. “Did you sleep with him, too?”

If the driver is paying attention to our conversation he doesn’t act like it.

“No. We’ve been going there since Freshman year. Now that I work upstairs I sit with him sometimes when I’m bored.”

He relaxes. “You work at the tattoo shop?”

The landscape around us changes to Riverside, the nice part of town where the rich kids live.

“Yeah. Why did you call Ava Stacy?” I confront him.

“She was being a bitch,” he says nonchalant.

“Obviously, but now Cole is going to be mad at me.”

He flexes his jaw. “Why? He should've been defending you.”

“I’m not his girlfriend.”

“But you’re his friend, are you not? Friends are supposed to have your back.”

I’ve never thought about it like that. I always have Penny’s back, and she always has mine. I’ve never considered that all of your friends are supposed to do that.

“Why were you being touchy?” I cross my arms.

“What? This?” he whispers, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into him. I squirm, trying to escape, but it’s pointless. He’s too strong.

I clear my throat. “Yes.”

“Because I wanted Cole to know to stay the fuck away from you, and I don’t want you to be confused about who is in charge here.”

“You’re insane,” I hiss, checking the rearview mirror to see if the driver is watching.

“Maybe, but you’re not asking me to stop,” Koda says in my ear. It sends shivers down my spine.

The car doesn’t stop fast enough when we pull up to a nice condo, and he leads me up the steps and inside.

I look around at the modern angular architecture. “This is your place?”

He unlocks the door and gestures for me to come inside. “I assume you hate it.”

“Oh yeah. It’s fucking lifeless.”

He sets his keys on a marble countertop. “You live in the shrieking shack. I’m not surprised.”

It’s plain inside. Black and white. Exactly how a bachelor would decorate, not a college kid. It’s weirdly clean though, unlike me and Penny. Our place looks like we live there, but this place is like Koda doesn’t touch anything.

“You watch Harry Potter? I figured it would be too much fantasy for you.” My voice seems to echo off of the walls.

---