A Good Boy Is Hard to Find (The Naughty List #3)(4)

“You could have waited until after practice,” I said in low voice, turning away from the Kittens still in the bleachers. Kira stepped up so that her shoulder was next to mine, even though she was facing the opposite direction.

“It’s about Joel.”

My stomach took a swift left turn. Even though Kira and I called a truce for the sake of the Smitten Kittens, we hadn’t mentioned Joel since the day she was outed as the copy-Kitten. She’d told me that she was still in love with him. She’d asked me to stay away.

“What about him?” I looked sideways at her.

“You two aren’t”—she pulled her light eyebrows together—“dating, are you?”

“No,” I responded quickly. Perhaps too quickly. Her jaw tightened.

“Great.”

“Great,” I repeated. Obviously Joel was wrong. Kira was upset with me.

“Because he’s a really nice guy, Tess. I wouldn’t want to see him get hurt.”

Hold on a second! I was offended. Why would she assume that I’d hurt him? I cared about Joel. “I’m not sure what you mean by that,” I started to say. “But I assure you, I’m not going to hurt him.”

“Maybe not on purpose. But you do damage—even when you don’t mean to.” Kira turned to lock her eyes on mine. “And you know what he means to me.” Her bottom lip quivered for a split second before she spun on her heels and walked back toward the bleachers.

My face tingled from embarrassment. Kira was a trained spy. I would bet my buttons that she could tell I was hiding my relationship (or almost relationship) with Joel . And she may have been implying that I was indeed a bad friend. But the worst part: I couldn’t stop. I liked him too much.

“She’s right, you know?”

Startled, I looked up to see Chloe, sipping from her bottle of water. “About what?”

“Being destructive. You drove my brother f**king nuts.”

Grrr … “First”—I held up a finger—“watch your language. Second, your brother tried to trick me into dating him.” She seemed to forget that major point.

“Only because you made him think he had a chance.”

“I did not!”

Chloe shrugged. “Whatever. I’m not here to argue about your seduction skills. I’m here to get a spot on the squad.”

“We’ll see how you do,” I replied coolly. Chloe had gone from venomous psycho to gothic vixen. And then suddenly, she throws on a sporty ensemble and tries out for cheerleading? It was all a bit fish fry to me.

She smiled. “Oh, come on, Tess.” She ran her hand down her ponytail, smoothing it over her shoulder. “You know I’m kicking ass.”

This girl burned me up. “Chloe, if you want to be a Smitten Kitten, one of the first things you’ll need to learn is manners. No swearing at all.”

She laughed, tilting her head. “Prez, I’m not just going to be a Smitten Kitten. I’m going to be their new captain.”

My face fell. Was she serious? But before I could ask, she offered a sarcastic pageant wave and turned, walking across the gymnasium.

I stared after her, my heart racing. First Kira and now Chloe? Was the rest of my cheering life going to involve constantly looking over my uniformed shoulder to see who was trying to sneak up on me? I put my palm to my forehead. It was so overwhelming.

“You all right?”

I looked up at Leona holding out a paper cup of water. I exhaled, taking it from her. “Not really. Chloe told me she’s going to be captain.”

Leona pursed her lips. “I could see that.”

I choked on the water, drops of it dribbling onto my uniform. “What?”

“She’s good, Tess. I mean, sure, she’s unbalanced and homicidal, but she has real natural talent.”

“I’m not sure I agree.” Had the world gone Looney Tunes? Chloe as a Smitten Kitten? It was crazy.

“Well,” Leona said, folding her arms across her chest, “unless you can break her in the next few days, she’s in. Hey, who knows? Maybe she’ll turn sweet.”

Leona and I stared at each other for a second before busting up laughing. Chloe turning sweet was like water turning into wine. It’d have to be a flippin’ miracle.

The candidates began filing back in the room, fawning over Chloe’s amazing high kick, and I chewed on the corner of my lip. I was all for giving second chances. Heck, I was letting Chloe try out, and she’d tried to steal my boyfriend and had hit me in the head with an alarm clock last year. But letting her take over my post as head of the Smitten Kittens? No way in tarnation I’d let that happen.

I glanced at the wooden bleachers where Kira was sitting, talking on the phone. I wondered if she’d be interested in Chloe’s takeover plan. But then I wondered with both of their histories if Kira wasn’t already in on it.

Kira caught me looking and raised her hand in a wave, a slight grin on her lips. I quickly darted my gaze over to Izzie, trying to shake off my paranoia. She was sitting, her bag in her lap as she stared toward the gymnasium windows near the ceiling. Her eyes were glassy as if she were about to cry. She looked lonely.

“Are we going to start or are you too tired?” Chloe called out to me from center court.

I nearly imploded. Instead, I straightened my posture and took a cleansing breath. “Let’s take it from the top,” I said in my strongest captain’s voice. The other girls groaned, but Chloe smirked.