Jennifer Armentrout - Onyx

“Katy,” Mom snapped.

Will laughed it off. “No. It’s okay, Kell. She’s right. This isn’t my business. But there does seem to be some history between you two.”

For a moment, his smile reminded me of someone. Fake. Plastic. Nancy Husher. I shuddered. God, I was paranoid. “We’re just friends.”

“Friends who hold hands while sleeping?”

I glanced at my mom, but she was busy studying the inside of her chipped cup. Feeling overly exposed, I folded my arms around me. “I’m sorry, Mom, for upsetting you. It won’t happen again.”

“I hope not.” She washed out her coffee cup, wearing a slight frown. “The last thing I want right now is a grandchild.”

Done with this conversation, I squeezed past Will and went into the living room. Gah, my mom thought I was making babies. Even I was disturbed by that thought.

Grabbing my backpack off the floor, I dragged it to the couch. When I looked up, I saw Mom and Will in the hallway. He was whispering something to her, and she laughed softly. Before I could look away, he kissed her…but our eyes locked.

…

Hours later, Will was still in the house—my house. Not his. Was this how my Saturdays would be when Mom was off? Watching the two of them working on crossword puzzles in between making out? I wanted to claw my eyes out.

The way he stared at me made my skin feel like a thousand dirty roaches were crawling under it. It had to be my paranoia, but I couldn’t shake the ugh factor.

I checked my blog real quickly and found that I had over twenty comments on my IMM. Curious for the sudden comment love, I scrolled through them. Some of them gushed over the books I had. Others gushed over the boy who’d been sitting beside me.

Dammit. He’d hijacked my blog.

Putting in earbuds, I listened to some tunes while reading my English assignment. Mom appeared sometime later, and I tugged out the buds, hoping we weren’t going to have another sex conversation. Especially when I knew Will was right in the kitchen, making himself at home.

“Honey, Dee is here to see you.” Then she walked over and flipped my textbook shut. “And before you say you’re busy or have plans with a boy, you need to get up and go talk to her.”

I took the last bite of my cold Pop-Tart and frowned. “Oookay…”

She pushed back her side-swept bangs. “You can’t spend every waking second studying and hanging out with Blake or whomever.”

Or whomever? Like I had this long list of boys. I sighed as I stood. Before I left the room, I caught her staring at the Christmas tree, and I wondered what she was thinking.

Dee was waiting outside, a vision in white. It took me a few seconds to realize the white sweater she wore had blended into the background. It was snowing heavily, so much so I could barely see the tree line a few yards away.

“Hey,” I said lamely.

She blinked and her eyes immediately darted from my face. “Hey,” she responded with forced enthusiasm. “I hope I’m not bothering you.”

I leaned against the door. “Well, I just started my English paper. Wanted to kind of get that out of the way.”

“Oh.” Her pink lips turned down. “Well, it’s going to have to wait. We’re going to watch a movie.”

I stepped back. With everything that was going on and all the lies, being around Dee was hard. “Maybe some other time, because I’m really busy. How about next weekend?” I didn’t wait for an answer. I started to shut the door.

Dee did the super-speed crap and pushed the door back open. She looked like an angry little pixie. “That was extremely rude, Katy.”

I flushed. I couldn’t deny that and still, it obviously hadn’t driven her away. “I’m sorry. I’m just so swamped with schoolwork.”

“I understand that.” She pushed the door farther open. “But you’re going to the movies with Adam and me.”

“Dee—”

“You’re not backing out of it.” Her eyes met mine, and I saw the hurt in them. I swallowed, looking away. “I know you and Daemon are…well, whatever’s going on between you two, and you’re doing whatever with Blake and I’ve been spending a lot of time with Adam, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

She rocked back on her heels, clasping her hands under her chin. “Just put your shoes on, Katy, and go to the movies with me. Please. I miss you. Please .”

How could I say no? I turned slightly, spying my mom standing in the doorway to the kitchen. The look on her face pleaded with me, too. I was caught between the two, and neither knew that I was trying to stay away from Dee for her own good.

“Please,” Dee whispered.

I remembered Daemon telling me I was being a shitty friend. I wasn’t trying to be, and Dee didn’t deserve that. I nodded. “Let me grab my hoodie and shoes.”

She jumped forward and gave me a quick, tight hug. “I’ll be waiting right here.”

Just in case I tried to sneak out of it, I supposed. Passing my mom a look, I grabbed my hoodie off the back of the recliner and slipped into a pair of knee-high, fake-sheepskin boots. Pocketing money in my jeans, I headed out into the brisk December afternoon.

Snow covered the ground, making it slick under my boots. Dee skipped beside me and then took off, throwing herself into Adam’s arms. Giggling, she kissed the top of his blond head and then wiggled free.

I hung back, my hands shoved into my hoodie. “Hey, Adam.”

He looked surprised to see me. “Hey, you’re actually coming with us?”

I nodded.

“Awesome.” He glanced at Dee. “What about…?”

Dee dashed around the front of Adam’s SUV, shooting her boyfriend a look.

I slid into the backseat. “Did you invite…someone else?”

Buckling herself in, she twisted around to face me. “Ah, yeah, but it’s cool. You’ll see.”

Adam turned around in the driveway, and I felt the warmth tingling along my neck. Unable to stop myself, I twisted in the seat, eager to see him.

Daemon stood on the porch, dressed in only jeans, even though it was too cold for that. A towel was flung over his shoulder. Impossible, but I’d swear our gazes sought the other’s out. I watched until the house disappeared from view, positive that he’d waited until he could no longer see the car.

…

Color me annoyed when I realized who Dee had invited. Ash Thompson was waiting at the movie theater. She gave me her typical bitch look and walked in ahead of us, somehow managing to sway her hips in skintight jeans and four-inch heels across the ice-covered pavement.

I would’ve broken my neck.

Lucky me, I ended up sitting between Ash and Dee. I sunk in my seat, ignoring Ash as we waited for the lights to go down and the movie to start.

“Whose idea was it to pick a zombie flick?” Ash demanded, cradling a bucket of popcorn bigger than her head. “Was it Katy? They kind of share the same appearance.”

“Ha ha,” I muttered, eyeing her popcorn. Bet there wasn’t much between her ears for a zombie to survive on.

On my other side, Dee and Adam had cleaned out the candy counter. She dipped a chocolate bar in her cheese sauce, and I gagged behind my hand. “That is so gross.”

“Don’t knock it,” she said, taking a huge bit. “It’s the best of both worlds. Chocolate and cheese, which is why the letter C is my favorite in the alphabet.”

“You know,” Ash said, wrinkling her nose, “I’m actually going to have to agree with living dead girl here. That is disgusting.”

I frowned. “Do I look that bad or something?”

Ash said, “Yes,” at the same time Dee said, “No.” I folded my arms and kicked my feet onto the empty seat in front of me. “Whatever,” I muttered.