A car door slams behind me, and I turn to see Dixie standing outside Colt’s truck, smoothing her skirt down. Her hair is mussed, and her lipstick is smeared. Colt circles the truck and slings an arm over her shoulders, grinning at us and not bothering to fix his untucked shirt.
“Hey, ladies,” he says. “Or, should I saylady? From what I hear of the party on Friday night, Lo can’t exactly call herself that.”
Gloria stiffens, drawing herself up. “Who let this slathering beast out of his cage?”
“This animal can’t be tamed,” Colt says, squeezing Dixie. “Isn’t that right, babe?”
Dixie’s pale skin goes bright red when we catch her doing up a button she missed on her shirt. “Um, sure,” she squeaks.
Gloria scoffs. “Get a room. The parking lot’s not the place for your lewd behavior.”
“Right,” Colt drawls. “Should we save it for Gideon’s next party?”
“You weren’t even there,” Gloria says, tossing her hair back. “And you should know better than to believe every rumor you hear.”
With that, she turns and flounces away. I fall into step with Colt and Dixie as we head toward the building, a few steps behind.
“I just have one question,” Colt calls ahead to Gloria. “When Royal finally pried your legs open with his crowbar, did an icicle fall out?”
Lo pauses long enough for us to catch up before fixing Colt with a withering glare. “Your obsession with what’s been inside me is getting old,” she says. “Maybe you should worry less about me and more about the fact you can’t even remember where your dick’s been.”
“Isn’t it too early to start this?” I ask, shaking my head. “It’s not even eight in the morning. Can’t we have breakfast before you start sniping at each other?”
“And waste all my good ammunition?” Colt says with a grin. “Never. Besides, Dixie’s already had her sausage and gravy this morning.”
“Colt,” Dixie squeals, turning even brighter red this time.
“I feel nauseous,” Gloria says. “I’m going to go lie down in the nurse’s office.”
“See if she can sew your legs closed again while you’re there,” Colt calls after her as she veers off. I see her snag Quinn by the elbow and drag her into the bathroom, probably to hold her hair back—or more likely, to order her to tell Dixie to keep her man under control.
“What’s your problem with each other, anyway?” I ask Colt as we head toward my locker.
“She’s the Dolces’ little lapdog,” he says. “And she’s a fucking hypocrite. Everyone knows she let all three of them run trains on her, and probably their dad, too. Then she goes around calling other girls sluts for less.”
I narrow my eyes at Dixie. “She calls you a slut?”
“Oh, no,” Dixie assures me. “We’re friends. You know that.”
“No,” Colt says slowly. “She won’t fuck with you because you could ruin her. You have more influence than her, and she can’t do shit about it, so she doesn’t bully you. That doesn’t mean she’s your friend.”
“It’s not like that,” Dixie says. “We both have our place here. We’re not in competition.”
“Then who were you talking about?” I ask Colt. “Who did she call a slut?”
“She calledyoua slut all last year,” he reminds me, leaning on the locker next to mine while I open it to get my books.
“Oh,” I say, nodding slowly. “You don’t like her because she helped bully your sister.”
“The question is, why doyoulike her?” Colt asks. “She’s a mean, spiteful bitch who hooked up with your man the other day.”
“Whoa,” I say, holding up a hand. “First off, Royal is in no way my man. He can hook up with whoever the fuck he wants, and so can I. And secondly, I’m getting tired of being the mediator between your family and everyone else. Lo is my friend. You’re my friend. Can you just be civil?”
Colt gives a little grunt and pushes off the lockers. “Only for you, Appleteeny,” he says, reaching out to ruffle my hair. “’Cause you’ll kick my ass if I don’t.”
“Damn right,” I say, closing my locker and grinning at him. “Now, who’s hungry?”
Josie closes her locker and joins us as we make our way to the café.