Page 39 of Enemy Crush
I smiled and leaned against the window, the passing neighborhoods a blur as it dawned on me that Celeste and Naomi’s abandonment of me was a real thing. And though Mom thought that losing money was the worst thing in the world, it wasn’t...losing friends was way worse.
Chapter 14
MILLER
Dad had texted that he was bringing home pizza for dinner so I tidied away the tools. I’d fixed the loose bolt, tightened my brakes and wiped down my bike. I was about to close the garage door when Hamish came bounding out as Dad’s truck turned into the driveway.
Three doors opened.
Everything happened in a rush. I saw Mason holding a shopping bag, Dad carrying three red pizza boxes and Quinn hoisting her big bag over her shoulder. That’s right, Quinn Devereaux had gotten out of the backseat of Dad’s truck.
And now Hamish was sniffing around her like they were best friends and she was patting his nose.
“Look like that dog’s taken a liking to you,” Dad said with a laugh.
Yeah, I could barely comprehend the situation. The absurdity of it left me speechless and brainless. Since when would Dad say something nice to a Devereaux?
“He’s got the cutest face,” Quinn said the split second before she looked up at me.
Color flooded my cheeks because in my head I’d wanted her to be talking about me. Not that dang dog!
“Heyyyyy,” I said, overdoing the elongation as our eyes connected for a brief moment in time, her deep blues capable of drowning me on dry land. But while I was trying to catch my breath and stay afloat, she was thanking Dad for the ride home.
“You don’t want to join us for pizza?” Dad said, “there’s plenty to go around.”
What?Okay, it was a shock to see Quinn arrive home with Dad, but for him to be inviting her in for pizza? Now things were just getting outright ridiculous, and I suddenly remembered she’d gone out on a date with Ronan King, so how the heck was any of this possible? I’d clearly missed something.
“Thanks Mr. Trask, but I better get home,” Quinn said.
“I thought your mother’s gone out?”
There was a slight hesitation from Quinn before she said, “Ah, she won’t be long, but thank you. And thanks for giving me a ride.”
“You’re welcome,” Dad said in the most pleasant and agreeable tone I’d ever heard uttered from his mouth. “Anytime.”
Like a stunned bystander, I watched as she turned to leave, only for Mason to yell out, “Wait!” And he pulled something out of the shopping bag and hurried over to her. “This is for you.”
I stepped forward, leaning against the truck, bewildered and baffled.
“You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to,” Mason said. “Thanks for...you know.” My little brother shyly dropped his head.
“I love it,” Quinn said, looking into a small box. “It’s so kind of you.”
And then my body went stone cold rigid as she swept her arms around Mason in a hug and said, “You’re the sweetest.”
I was still staring as Mason’s face beamed, his grin as wide as the freaking Grand Canyon. From the pizza aroma, I knew Dad was standing behind me.
“What’s going on?” I said.
“He bought a little something for Quinn, a thank-you,” Dad said with just enough disdain and sarcasm to invoke guilt, alltrace of niceness gone. “He was bullied on the bus and she helped him.”
My pulse spiked. “I didn’t know,” I mumbled. “I mean, I only heard about it today.”
“Of course you didn’t know,” Dad said, his voice low but with all the venom of a king cobra. “For some reason you’ve been too busy sulking and acting like a first class jerk all week.”
Before I could offer any kind of defense, Dad shoved the pizza boxes in my arms, “Make yourself useful and take these inside.”
