Gus slurps his milkshake extra noisily.
“What does Blythe have to do with Scully?”
Blythe flips her hair and pretends to laugh. I can see how badly she wants to cry, and it almost makes me feel sorry for her.
“I may have taken him home after the fight. He was the next best thing after Vaughn.”
The next best thing.
Gus throws his head back and hoots, slapping the table.
“Penn Scully and Adriana are, like, damn serious. The golden couple of Las Juntas. Have been for about two years. Dude. They have a fucking baby together. Congrats, B. You were officially the other woman for half a minute.”
Have a baby together.
I choke on my milkshake, spitting some of it back into the straw when no one’s looking. Gus delivers the news with such casual confidence, and I know he truly believes every word. I look back at Penn and the waitress again. Leaning on his table, she whispers something into his ear, and he lifts his thumb and chucks her nose playfully. He hasn’t noticed me—or if he has, he hasn’t made eye contact yet—but it’s too late to play nice. The Hulk inside me is growing by the nanosecond, and I know I’m about to burst.
He kissed me.
He touched me.
He took a shower with me.
I saw his dick. With my own eyes. My thigh even gave it a handshake.
So many things a guy with a girlfriend and a baby shouldn’t do.
I glance at them again, and Adriana looks left and right, before settling in Penn’s lap. She has long, shiny, straight black hair and big blue eyes. She looks exotic, her skin deeply tanned like honey. Maybe we’re the same age, but I get a feeling she is just…more. The Hulk pierces through my ribs and stretches his fist across my chest. I’m so jealous I can’t breathe. Looking away is a herculean task, but I manage. Somehow.
Gus drums the table and howls like a dog. “Yo, Addy,” he yells.
Addy? He knows this bitch?
“Are you gonna make another baby with this loser in the middle of the diner, or are you gonna give us our food? No jizz in my burger, please. There’s enough protein in the meat.”
Everyone at our table laughs, and my gaze locks with Penn’s. Adriana looks back and forth between us, and something floats over her face. A dark something I know all too well.
You have it, too. A Hulk of your own.
“Who is she?” I read her lips as she ducks her head down to Penn, frowning.
“No one.” I read his lips as he tucks a hair behind her ear. “Just a chick from ASH.”
There’s a stiff ball inside my throat, and I think it might be my heart.
Adriana stands up, flipping Gus the finger. They obviously know each other. Maybe the jocks frequent this place more than we do. I look away before I cry. I was so focused on Penn’s hatred of me that I forgot I hate him, too.
“So, Daria, how’s Prichard?” Knight asks, loud and clear, throwing extra swagger into his cocky smile. It takes me one second, in which his eyes swiftly dart to Penn, then land back on mine, before I understand what he is doing. Getting back at my housemate for me. Saving my honor.
Do I really look like I need this win?
“A lady doesn’t tell,” I purr, flashing a smile and tossing back my flowered hair.
“I’d tap it.” Blythe points at me with her straw, then sucks on its bottom tip. It is clear she has a dog in this fight. She needs to show that she gives no damns about him either.
“I mean Prichard. Not you.”
“Right?” I laugh. “I love that he’s a real man. Not some boy with a chip on his shoulder.”
I wonder if you can rot from within while still being alive. I’m pretty sure if they open me up now, all they’ll see is green goo that the Hulk has left in its wake.
A girlfriend. Penn Scully has a girlfriend. And a baby.
He is such a filthy cheater.
Adriana sways her curvy hips to our table with two trays full of food. She starts distributing them, a chirp in her voice. “Cheeseburger with avocado and blue cheese?”
Colin raises his hand.
“Prime hot meat with extra spicy sauce?”
“You can just call me Knight, baby.” Cole takes the hot plate from her and winks.
She actually blushes. Maybe she cheats on Scully, too. Too bad Jerry Springer retired. They’d make perfect guests.
“Are you waiting for anything, sweetie?” She pops her gum in my general direction.
I flash a syrupy smile, crossing my arms on my chest.
Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.
“Just for you to take your trailer park ass away from me before I catch a disease.”
Everyone sucks in a collective breath, and the room goes silent. So silent. Too silent. I’m panicking, but no one can see that. I’m still smirking. Knight places his hand on my shoulder as everyone starts glancing at each other, absorbing my words.
“Excuse me?” Adriana’s voice prickles. Her pupils are so big I can see myself in them.
“You heard me. I’m not interested in eating somewhere the waitress is parking her ass on customers. I think you got it all mixed up. This is not your night shift at your local strip club, sweetie.”
“Burn!” Colin cups his mouth with his fist and coughs.
“Daria,” Knight warns. Normally, he’d drag my ass out and give me a piece of his mind. Not today. He and I both know he can’t be that much of a hypocrite. If he saw someone hitting on Luna, he would rip them to shreds and dump whatever’s left of them on the side of the road. I’ve seen him screw people up for less than looking at her. The only problem is, Penn is not my Luna. We don’t have some long, elaborate, angsty childhood friendship that’s dancing on the edge of more.
“Get the hell out of here.” Adriana bares her teeth, and they are white, pearly, and a tad smaller than most people’s. An imperfection I’m sure he admires. She is no longer chewing her gum. It’s just hanging there, stuck to her bottom teeth. I yawn provocatively, staying put. Everyone is salivating over our exchange. Everyone other than her boyfriend, who just stares at me from across the diner with murder in his eyes.
Busted, jerk. I would tell her how good her boyfriend’s tongue felt in my mouth if I didn’t have my reputation to keep.
“I’m a paying customer. You’re a cum dumpster. Who do you think should leave again?” I flip my hair.
She lifts her arm to take a swing at me. I think this will be the day I finally get slapped for being a bitch. But before she can follow through, Penn is standing behind her, holding her wrist in his hand. He lowers it slowly, his eyes hard on mine.
“Get your ass out of the booth, Followhill.” He flips the menu on my cell phone, which I’m pretending to study with interest.
“Sorry, I don’t take orders from lowlifes.” I suck the milkshake out of my straw, batting my eyelashes. My nose is probably red from the sun, and my hair is wild and wavy from the braid I had today. His pupils dilate when he sees my messy, disheveled version.
Penn grabs me by the elbow and hauls me out of the booth. My skin rubs against the vinyl and creates a funny noise that makes me even angrier.
I shake him off. “I don’t want to talk to you.” I’d spit in his face, but I don’t want to make a scene.
“Should have thought of that before you acted like a brat. Whoever follows us gets punched in the face. Guys. Girls. Wildlife. Don’t fucking care.” He hoists me over one shoulder and carries me out.