“When?” he asked.
“Today. After school,” answered Isaiah. He shifted in his chair to let Luke have a good look at him, earrings, tattoos and all his punked-out glory.
“Echo!” called one of her friends.
She glanced behind her, then rifled through her backpack. “I’ll be leaving after lunch for an appointment and won’t be back, but after school will totally work.”
Echo bent over and scribbled her phone number on a napkin. Her shirt dipped, exposing a hint of her cleavage. The glare I gave Isaiah warned him off from looking and the smile I sent Echo’s ape boyfriend when she slid the napkin to me made the ape’s fist curl.
“My phone will be off,” said Echo. “But text me your number so I can give you directions. See you guys after school.” She took a step, but Luke didn’t follow. “You coming?”
“I’m going to grab something to eat first.”
Echo bit her bottom lip and stole a look at me before walking away. So I hadn’t screwed everything completely up. I had at least one more shot at Echo.
A chair scraped against the floor and Luke took a seat at our table.
“What is the deal with you popular people? Can’t you leave the losers alone?” mumbled Beth.
Luke ignored her. “We played basketball against each other freshman year.”
Both Beth’s and Isaiah’s heads snapped toward me. I never discussed my pre–foster care life. I folded my arms across my chest. “Yeah. We did.”
“I defended you and you kicked my ass. Your team won.”
He brought up that game like it was yesterday. For me, it was eons ago. Those memories belonged to a boy who died alongside his parents in a house fire.
When I didn’t respond he continued, “You won that day, but you ain’t winning now. She’s mine. Not yours. Are we clear, amigo?”
I chuckled. “Way I hear it, Echo’s fair game. If you’re not man enough to keep her satisfied, well …” I held my hands out to let my reputation speak for itself.
Luke sprang from his seat, face flushed red. “You go near her and I’ll beat the shit out of you.”
Homecoming king probably never fought a day in his life. His body shook. I stayed seated, knowing my calmness would scare him more. “Bring it. I’ll kick your ass like I did in basketball. Only this time, no referee is going to save you.”
Luke slammed his chair into our table and stalked away. Beth and Isaiah broke out into laughter. I joined them until I noticed the horror on Echo’s face. Before I could move, she sprinted from the lunchroom. Dammit.
ECHO LIVED IN ONE OF THOSE nice neighborhoods. Not the rich fancy kind, but the ones with large trees in the front yard, amateur but nice landscaping, two-story brick fronts and porches with swings. I used to live in a place like this—before. I bet it looked real pretty in the spring. Probably smelled like daffodils and roses—like my house used to. Now, all I could smell was dirt and cold. February sucked.
The two-car garage door opened when we shut our car doors. Echo had parked her Dodge Neon on a narrow strip of concrete next to the house, leaving the red Corvette as the only car in the garage. From the driver’s side, one of Echo’s jean-clad legs dangled.
“I’ve got a hard-on just looking at her, man,” said Isaiah as we strolled up the drive.
“You’re ate up,” I replied, hoping he meant the car, not Echo. I’d hate to throw down with someone I considered family.
Beth squeezed between me and Isaiah. “Sick in the head, more like it.”
“Both. Jesus, are those the original fenders?” Isaiah slid his hand over the body of the car.
I walked into the garage and into a bubble of warmth. A heater hung from the rafters, along with several shop lights. The moment the three of us entered, the garage door closed behind us. Wooden tool benches lined the left and back walls. Tools hung on pegboards. Pictures of cars and people littered the cabinents.
“Maybe you’d keep a girl if you touched her like that.” Beth leaned against a bench.
Isaiah smirked while inspecting the pinstriping. “I meet a girl that could purr like this kitten, I’d caress her all night.”
“Are you guys high?” Echo’s voice drifted from the car. The hoarse catch in her tone swiped a claw at my heart.
Beth scowled in my direction. “Unfortunately, no. Your goody-two-shoes attitude is rubbing off on my boy.” I’d hear Beth complain for days over this. But she, Isaiah and I were more than loser stoners and I wanted to prove that to Echo.
She stayed in the driver’s seat and had yet to show her face. I kept my focus on the car, pretending I had the slightest clue what the hell Isaiah mumbled about. One shot. That’s what I’d bought myself. If I screwed today up, I’d be watching ape boy living life with Echo. Everything inside me wound tight. Shit. I was nervous over a girl.
Isaiah continued to slide his hand up the car toward the hood, mumbling incoherent nonsense. He threw out words like fenders, chrome, body and slants. “Can I take her to second base?” Isaiah’s eyes flickered into the car and then immediately to me. He tilted his head toward Echo before running his hand under the hood, waiting for her to pop it open.
Hell. Isaiah had never won awards for being observant. My stunt with Luke must have pissed her off. I wandered up to the driver’s side to translate for my dumb-ass best friend. “He wants you to pop the hood.”
Echo held a photo album in her lap, with her fingers touching an image. She had that lost look again. The same one she’d worn last semester when she walked into class seconds before the bell rang, pretending no one else existed. Only now I realized that she wasn’t pretending. In this moment, Echo lived in her own little world.
She’d said she had an appointment, but mentioned nothing else. Did something go wrong? I crouched next to her, lowering my voice so only she could hear my concern. “Echo.”