Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
So he was going to keep his hands off her because he couldn’t lose her.
It would be easier when she was in college. She started at MIT in the fall. He would call her and text her and miss her like crazy, but it would be easier to not fuck things up if she was hundreds of miles away.
Kala’s eyes narrowed. “They’re breaking up. We can catch him on his way to first period. He’s got a class in the east wing. Let’s go.”
Naturally Kala had everything planned down to the second. It was precisely why he’d gone to her when he’d found out what Dennis had done. He would have simply jumped the fucker and gotten suspended. Kala understood that revenge was a delicate art form.
But the most important thing was to get him to break things off with Lou before she got hurt.
“You can’t kill him.” Cooper McKay jogged up, one hand on his backpack. He was taller than TJ by a couple of inches but didn’t have TJ’s muscular build yet. At seventeen he was still all long limbs and odd angles. “Kala, let me handle it. TJ, don’t you dare jump his ass. You get caught fighting again and they will expel you, and your mother will be the one doing the murdering.”
Cooper had been the one to tell him what was going on. Cooper played baseball and had some of the same friends as Dennis the Douche.
“I’m not going to kill him, but he’s not taking Lou to prom,” Kala stated resolutely. “Not after making that bet.”
TJ felt his hands fist at the thought of the jocks placing bets on who would get some on prom night.
Dennis Sims had bet he could get the nerdiest girl in school to give up her virginity.
Over his dead body.
“See, you look like a dude who’s about to get expelled,” Cooper said like he’d known it all along. “Have we thought about talking to Lou and letting her handle it? Maybe we could go to her parents.”
Kala’s eyes rolled. “Yeah, let’s break Lou’s heart and bring her parents in so we can all end up in some therapy session. Fuck that. We can handle our own shit.”
“The last time you tried to handle your own shit, you got kidnapped,” Cooper pointed out.
TJ waited for Kala to explode, but she merely turned a chilly smile Coop’s way. “Yeah, and I learned a lot about myself. You feel free to go crying to our parents all you like, Coop. I’m going to pull up my big girl panties and get the job done. If you don’t…”
“Hey, I’m sorry.” Cooper reached out, grasping her hand. “I shouldn’t have thrown that in your face. You’re right. Let me come with you. Not for your sake. To stop TJ from losing his shit. And I know you’re a black belt in several martial arts, but you just had your nails done.”
No one knew how to talk to Kala like Cooper. She sighed, her I’m-going-to-give-in sigh. “Fine, but we have to hurry. He’s in a class with Lou for second period.”
They caught up to Dennis, who was walking into the east wing. Dennis was a senior, a year older than TJ, and in excellent shape.
That wouldn’t help him if TJ decided to take him out. He’d been called a pit bull in a fight, and he didn’t have a problem with that. Pit bulls could be quite sweet when they were treated right, and they could handle business if they weren’t.
Dennis’s blue eyes widened when he realized who was behind him. “Hey. How’s it going, Kala?” He nodded Cooper’s way. “Hey, man.”
He ignored TJ entirely.
“You’re going to gently explain to Lou that you won’t be taking her to prom,” Kala said, not waiting for niceties.
Dennis frowned, obviously surprised at the turn. “Why would I do that?”
“Because I’ll break every bone in your body if you don’t.” He’d already planned out how he would do it, too. He’d sat up last night thinking it through. He would start with the small ones and work his way up.
Dennis was suddenly interested in him. “What the fuck, Taggart? Is this about the whole ‘you don’t want her but no one else can have her’ thing you have going? You’re an asshole, you know.”
“We know about the bet,” Kala stated flatly.
Dennis’s gaze immediately went to Cooper.
Coop held up his hands and shook his head, his expression utterly unapologetic. “Damn straight I told them. Don’t think I’m one of your jock friends who treat girls like trash. Lou’s a friend of mine. I wouldn’t let you do this to any girl, much less someone in my family circle.”
“Guys, that was locker-room talk. I like Lou.” Dennis flushed a nice shade of pink. “That hasn’t gotten back to her, has it?”
“No, and it’s not going to. I already talked to the assholes you made this bet with and explained if Lou found out, I would be visiting them.” TJ hadn’t taken Kala on those talks. They’d sat down and made their plan to cover all of this crap up. Lou could handle some jerk blowing her off. He wasn’t sure how she would take the whole school knowing they were making bets on her virginity.