Page 20 of Her Wicked Knights
"Rev." I answer honestly, and her eyes sparkle for a moment before I add, "And Colton. And Marley and Jake and Audrey."
"Audrey?" Mom frowns. "I don't think I know her?"
"Be grateful for that." I tell her honestly, which earns me a disapproving twist of her lips. "By the way, can I take the mustang? You won't be going anywhere tonight, obviously."
"Absolutely not." Mom says at the same time dad says, "I don't see why not?"
They look at each other, surprise stretching between them at what the other has decided. It's not uncommon for them to have two different answers, but they always settle on a unified front. They make it look so easy, too. I watched Colton's parents gothrough a divorce when we were younger, and even before that, everything turned into a fight with them.
"I don't know that letting our sixteen-year-old son take a car that fast on a night when other kids will probably be drinking and driving is the best idea." Mom shakes her head, worry in her eyes as she looks apologetically at me. "It's not that I don't trust you, Tripp, but I'm not sure this is a good time to let you drive yourself."
"The venue is only twenty minutes away." Dad frowns, clearly trying to have my back in this matter.
"Yeah, well..."
Whatever mom's next excuse was, it's cut short by the sound of the doorbell. She turns to it, but the doorbell was just a courtesy call before the door opens, and Mrs. Lavigne pokes her head in slowly. "Gwyn?"
"Ginny," Mom abandons her fight to sweep her friend into a hug. "Thank God you're here. There's too much testosterone here."
I scowl at her back, but she turns, shooting me a grin.
"Where's Daniel? And Marley?"
"Daniel is working, of course. He did tell Marley he'd break away to drive her, but she turned that offer down." Ginny laughs, turning to me. "And Marley should be here in just a minute. She was doing some last-minute primping." Her mom laughs. "My, my, Tripp. You look quite debonair."
Ginny's like an aunt, except for the fact that I'm entirely obsessed with her daughter. She's been my mother's best friend since they became neighbors, before either myself or Marley were born. Her compliment makes me roll my eyes, but she only smiles and offers me a wink, assuring me that she's just playing the part of my mother's partner in crime. She doesn't ask about who I'm going to the dance with— maybe because she knows I only have eyes for her daughter. I think she's known as muchsince we were kids. When she found out about the pact we made years ago, she'd told me she hoped we held onto that promise, because she'd love to have me as her son officially.
That pact is as unlikely now as the chance that Marley walks in here right now and plants a kiss on my lips. She's into Jake so much that every ounce of her energy is spent on either him or Audrey.
Think of the devil, and she will appear. I catch the flash of red hair before I see Marley. Once I do, I don't care about anything else. How could I care about something as trivial as my parents not letting me take the mustang when she's headed right into the house, looking like...that.
I changed my mind. I don't care if I have to watch her dance with Jake all night or laughing behind her hand with Audrey. Just getting to look at her all night while she's wearing that dress will be a privilege.
The blue dress is pale and shimmery, tasteful and yet tempting, the way it fits her every curve. I always like her in red— darker colors make her look more golden. The pale dress though, makes her look perfectly angelic, all sweet and no sour. She's heaven to Audrey's hell, as Audrey hurries to catch up to her, her red dress so tight it makes her walk like a stick figure.
"Guess you have the misfortune of meeting the devil spawn, after all." I mutter, glancing at mom pointedly.
"Tripp!" She gasps, her eyes flitting to Ginny.
Shit. Guess I should censor myself in front of her, if not my parents.
But to my surprise, when I turn to her to consider apologizing, she actually laughs a little, pressing her lips together like that will allow her to refrain from saying anything unkind.
And it works, because she turns to usher her daughter in the house while Audrey and Jake follow. Beyond them, I see Colton's car ease into the driveway. A moment later, both he and Revstep out of it, and I'm surprised at the sight of them dressed up like this. I don't know what I expected— it's a semi formal event after all, it's not like they'd show up in jeans and a tee shirt. But still, seeing Colton in a button-up is weird. Rev in a suit is even weirder... but not unwelcome.
"Tripp." Marley says quietly, drawing my attention to her. I'm surprised she's talking to me at all, much less standing right in front of me, grinning. "You look..."
"Ridiculous?" I supply.
But she just shakes her head. "No. You look really good." Her lips twitch as I appraise her, and then her hand comes up between us and she grabs a lock of my hair between her manicured fingers. "When did your hair get so long?"
I haven't cut it all summer, considering I've been refusing to leave my house for most of it. "I'm due for a cut," I shrug.
"Don't." She smiles. "I like it."
I'm about to tell her that I like her hair, too, when Jake slings an arm around her, pulling her to him so that she teeters on the heels that are too high for her. "You walk pretty fast in those things."
"Not bad," Audrey concedes, flipping the sheet of her hair over one shoulder. "That means you could probably go another inch. Two, if you add a platform."
