Mafiosa (Blood for Blood #3)(16)

I smiled at my best friend, a well of love pouring over all of my frustrations. ‘He thinks I’m getting with Nic,’ I said, after a beat. Half a truth. That was the best I could do.

‘Yikes.’

‘I’m not getting with Nic,’ I thought it pertinent to add.

Millie rolled her eyes. ‘Obviously.’

‘I don’t want to be with Nic.’

‘But does Nic know that?’

I weighed the question for a minute. ‘You know, I’m starting to wonder whether there’s a difference between me telling Nic that, and Nic actually hearing it.’

‘Boys can be so pig-headed sometimes,’ Millie sighed. Her phone beeped from where it had fallen on the floor. She glanced towards it – out of reach – with so much longing on her face that she might have just tumbled right out of a war romance novel.

‘What’s his name?’

Her cheeks turned the most unsubtle shade of pink. ‘Hmm?’

‘The boy,’ I said, picking her phone up for her. I held it between us as she struggled to keep her focus on the road. ‘Don’t make me invade your privacy, because I’ll do it.’

‘Oh, please,’ she said, undaunted. ‘My privacy is your privacy.’

Well, that was definitely a one-way street.

I glanced at the screen. ‘Who is Crispin?’ And, as an aside, I thought it best to add, ‘And why are you dating someone called Crispin?’

‘Eh, because he’s hot, and I’m shallow?’

‘Really?’

‘No!’ She slapped my knee. ‘Not really! Because he can’t help what his parents named him. And he’s actually really kind and sweet, and yes he is hot, plus he’s perfect for this current phase in my life.’

‘Which is?’

‘Which is the phase of needing an escort for the Halloween Masquerade Ball so I don’t look like a huge loo-hoo-ser in front of all my peers.’

‘Oh,’ I said, suddenly remembering the dance. ‘Then I guess this loo-hoo-ser will be going all by herself then.’

‘Cris is on the football team.’

‘Oh, that Crispin. Cris.’ The realization dawned on me. Tall, blond, ripped Crispin. ‘He is hot. Still, terrible name.’

Millie swirled her hand in the air. ‘He sits beside me in chemistry.’

‘How convenient …’

‘We’re lab partners … I let him cheat off me sometimes.’

I feigned a gasp. ‘Millicent!’

‘Look, science isn’t his strong suit,’ she said. ‘He is, however, a very accomplished baker. He makes a mean blueberry pie.’

‘Is this … is this a euphemism?’

‘I kid you not.’

‘Huh.’

‘Anyway, anyway, I was making a point here. If you want, I can get him to set you up with one of his friends and we can all ride in the limo together.’

‘The limo?’

‘Yes,’ Millie said. ‘The limo. So you can just go ahead and remove that negative attitude, wrap it up in a bow and hide it away for a rainy day, because you and I are arriving at the dance in a limo.’

‘Couldn’t I just walk alongside it … ?’

Millie cut her eyes at me. ‘You’re going inside the limo or I’m strapping you to the top of it. Your decision.’

‘Fine. I suppose I’ll take the luxury.’

‘Do you want me to set you up with one of Cris’s friends or not?’

The mere idea of adding one more testosterone-fuelled boy to my life was about as appealing as sawing my little finger off. ‘Oh, no thank you, I’d rather die,’ I said politely.

Millie reacted like I had just violently yanked her ponytail. ‘Sophie! Come on. Let me actually help drag you back into the real world. This could be good for you. And it would definitely be good for me.’

‘A minute ago, you were pushing me and Luca together!’

‘That was a joke,’ said Millie. ‘Obviously I’d prefer you to be with someone who doesn’t kill people for a living.’

‘What about being by myself?’ I asked her. ‘I’m a pretty cool person. I could be in a very happy relationship with myself. I could also look into acquiring an aloof-yet-stylish cat.’

‘And that,’ said Millie, with a flurry of old-world drama in her voice, ‘is precisely the problem, my dear. Let me get involved.’

I turned my whole body towards her so she would know I was totally serious when I said, ‘Millie, do not under any circumstances meddle with my dating life.’

My phone buzzed. I cancelled the call.

Millie blew wisps of chestnut-brown hair from her face, pouting. ‘Fine.’

My phone buzzed again. Cancel.

‘You clearly have enough crap going on,’ she said, flicking her gaze to my lap, where Luca’s number was blowing up my screen. ‘Are you going to answer that?’

I eyed the phone with contempt. ‘No.’

‘I thought you said he wasn’t talking to you.’

‘That was before I sneaked out without a chaperone.’

Millie turned the radio down until it was a low hum between us. Her voice changed, tinges of reverence slipping into it now. ‘Does he know where you’re going today?’