Beware of Bad Boy(55)
“Enough talk,” Jared said. “You already got a piece of him, Caleb, now it’s my turn.” Jared stepped towards Josh, who turned on his heel and started running.
Dante busted out laughing. “What a bitch! He’s running away!” We took off after him. What seemed like half the football team followed us but I didn’t know if they planned on helping him out. After all, they did just hear how terribly he treated females. Maybe, like most teenage boys, they just liked to watch a good ass-kicking.
We respected Jared’s call on getting a shot at him first, so when we caught up to Josh we let Jared do his thing. Jared first grabbed him from behind in a headlock and grunted at Josh, “You’d be smart to stay far away from Gianna. We aren’t the only guys that look out for her. There are lots more where we came from and next time you fuck with her, they’re all invited.”
By the time Jared was finished, Josh was pretty messed up, not that Josh didn’t get a few jabs in. Josh was in good shape, but Jared had a street edge when he fought, like me, that these suburban boys just didn’t possess. Some things, you had to go out into the real world to learn.
Josh went unconscious for less than a minute when Dante hollered in his face, “You got knocked the fuck out, man!” Guess what Dante’s favorite movie was? He quoted that line at every available opportunity. To him the joke never got old.
Before we left, Taye punched Josh and Dante kicked him in the stomach while he was down. I figured they came all this way so they deserved at least one or two good hits each. I pulled back my arm like I was going to punch Josh, then I turned it into a bitch slap at the last minute.
After smacking him, I told Josh, “I suggest you listen this time.”
Driving away, I could see in my rearview mirror some of the guys from the football team helping Josh up and into his truck. I respected them for not interfering. They understood that Josh needed the violent lesson.
When I pulled up in front of the house, Gianna was sitting on the front porch. She hopped up and met me as I opened my door. Her tight hug was unexpected. “Were you worried?” I teased her.
“Of course I was! What if you got hurt?” Her arms were still tight around my waist.
“You had no reason to be worried. But I’ll take the hug and anything else you want to give me.”
“In front of the whole neighborhood? Come inside before one of the neighbors tells my mom we were making out in the front yard,” she said, dragging me up the walkway.
“You shouldn’t have to worry about Josh again. He’d have to be suicidal to try anything now.”
Her face went pale. “What if this only makes him worse?”
“Then we call the cops, no matter the consequences.” If things got any worse, I didn’t give a damn whether or not her mom found out. “And oh yeah, do you think you could put a good word in for Dante the next time you talk to Cece?”
Her smile was full of feminine delight. “Dante likes Cece?”
“Yep.”
Her smile grew wider. “If they get together, then we could double date!”
I thought to myself, crap.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“I do not see any beauty in self-restraint.”
-Mary MacLane
GIANNA
It was so fun teasing Caleb about double-dating with Cece and Dante. The last double-dating experience was enough for me. I wouldn’t want to do that again, even with friends.
Josh hadn’t bothered me since the guys had a talk with him. Although, he did show up pretty banged up the next day at school. I almost felt guilty.
Thursday afternoon I went up to my room to do some math homework. Caleb plopped down on my bed. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing? Homework. You should try it,” I joked.
“I already did mine,” he informed me smugly.
I was surprised. “You did? When?”
“Study hall.”
“I have study hall too, but I can’t finish it that quickly,” I told him. “I bet you get horrible grades rushing like that.”
“You shouldn’t assume things.” He looked slightly annoyed with me. “I’ve never gotten anything below a ‘B’ in my life.”
“So, you’re a juvenile delinquent, who got expelled from two different high schools, but you’re also an honor student?”
“Yep.”
His palm running down my back and over my bottom almost distracted me. “Do you also work as a janitor and solve impossible math problems in your spare time?”
“Ha, ha, ha,” he faked humor. “I saw that movie, Miss Bring It On.”
I gave him a dirty look. “I’m not a cheerleader anymore, remember? Plus, I like that movie.”