Adalyn shook her head. “Something’s wrong with you. Why are your feet covered in Band-Aids?”
Lake looked down at her feet. She’d had to cover all those blisters from the previous night, and the only thing she was able to put on her feet afterward were flip-flops.
“Your feet will eventually get used to being in pumps,” Maria chimed in.
Adalyn laughed. “She doesn’t wear high heels.”
“I got them from an old pair of shoes,” Lake agreed.
Maria continued, “I’m pretty sure they came from some seriously high—”
Nero lightly hit his sister’s arm with his to shut her up.
Lake could feel everyone eyeing her up and down again, and the way Vincent was doing it reminded her of the looks she had received from the men in the casino. She desperately needed to get the attention off her.
“Can someone please tell me what is going on?”
“Oh, yeah, we’re going shopping!” Adalyn revealed, smiling.
“Even them?” Lake said, pointing to the three guys. Please say no. Please say no.
Maria sighed, rolling her eyes. “Yes.”
Lake wondered if she would look like a bitch if she simply turned back around and started walking away. Maybe I can smooth-talk my way out of this. She had always felt left out when she went shopping because she could never afford clothes, and when she did buy some new ones which had some style, Ashley always stole them.
“You all don’t need me. There’s already enough people.” She made sure to smile before she turned on her heel.
“No, you’re going with us, Lake. Why are you being weird?” Adalyn said, grabbing her arm to stop her.
Lake didn’t know how to respond. “You’re being weird!”
“No, you’re being freaking weird!”
“No, you’re freaking weird!” she said. The two continued to argue, but they were clearly playing with each other, laughing.
* * *
Vincent stared at the two girls, shaking his head.
“Are they always like this?” Elle whispered.
“They aren’t really mad at each other, are they?” Chloe whispered even lower.
Maria squinted. “I don’t know. I can’t see if she’s mad under those big sunglasses.”
“Fuck this. I’m not going. You two can take them,” Amo said to Nero and Vincent.
“No, we’ll be too outnumbered,” Nero commanded.
Vincent could feel his rage starting to boil, although the voice inside his head was trying to tell him to calm down. He was getting a headache from all the arguing, and looking at Lake’s long legs wasn’t helping his thoughts.
“You both are fucking weird. Now can we go?” Vincent roared.
“Sheesh, Vincent, you don’t have to be so mean,” Adalyn said, putting her hand on her hip.
He had to take a long, deep breath. Calm the fuck down before you murder your sister.
* * *
“Yeah, Vincent, you don’t have to be so mean,” Lake mimicked her friend, smiling. She could tell he was about to blow but if she was going to be stuck with him all day, she was going to at least have fun.
Maria covered her ear closest to him. “I agree. You yelled right in my ear.”
“Mine, too,” Chloe added.
Elle turned to look at Vincent. “You should try taking some deep brea—”
Nero quickly grabbed Elle and started dragging her to the car, away from Vincent’s grasp. “Time to go.”
Never mind, this might be fun, Lake thought as she looked at Vincent’s face. The child inside of her wanted to stick her tongue out at him for the dirty look he was giving her. Everyone knew Adalyn could get away with talking to him like that when he went psycho, but it was a very short to non-existent leash for everyone else.
Nero opened the backseat of a black Cadillac Escalade for them to get in. It looked brand new and was huge, with three rows of seats.
“Whose car is this?” Adalyn said in awe.
“Lucca’s,” Maria answered.
Adalyn’s mouth dropped open. “Why would he let anyone borrow this? I wouldn’t even let my mother touch it. It’s so beautiful.”
Vincent gave his sister a little shove. “Well, that’s good to know.”
Lake looked at Amo’s face, quickly sensing how he felt about the conversation when it was Chloe’s turn to get in.
“He knew a bunch of us were going out, and we could use a big SUV is all,” Nero replied.
Mhmm … right. She felt the way Nero had said it had almost been to cool down the fire building in Amo.
Lake quickly did the math. “Adalyn, let’s take your car since there’s not enough seats, and I would rather not be squished.”