Page 7 of Mistaken Prejudice

I couldn’t miss how Shay-Lee eyed Andrei as he spoke. And ugh, do I hate the “P” word.

“Earlier, what were you doing with that fucker?”

I was wondering when he’d ask that. Even though we were nothing more than best friends, Shay-Lee always had a certain amount of possessiveness when it came to me.

“I was just being nice and helped him around the school.”

“They’re criminals.”

I snorted and crossed my arms. “Says who?”

“Fucking everybody, Miley. And all you need is one look to confirm it. Did you see that dude?”

He pointed over to Fuck Off guy, and sure, he looked like a thug, but I knew better than to judge a book by its cover. “Besides, are they really high schoolers? They look old as fuck,” he grumbled and I rolled my eyes at that last comment, ’cause they did not.

“Don’t be an asshole, Shay-Lee. And since when do you believe gossip? I thought you hated that sort of thing. Think about half the stuff people say about us. It’s enough for you to know it’s nothing more than complete bullshit.”

“Whatever, Miley. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about them.”

Ignoring Shay-Lee, I turned around to find Andrei’s eyes on me. When I caught him looking, he looked away, but I didn’t miss it. Smiling, I turned back around and made myself comfortable in my seat. Andrei was just as curious about me as I was about him, and it thrilled me.

Andrei

“For fuck’s sake, you moron, we’re already late. Now you tell me you forgot your shitty bag?” Diesel barked at Jessie as he slammed the truck door.

“Hey, don’t talk to him like that.” Levi pointed his finger at Diesel’s chest. “May I remind you that the main cause for you being late to your job is you starting a fight?”

“Fuck off, hombrecito.” A nasty smile appeared on Diesel’s face, and I didn’t like it.

“Don’t call him that! You know he hates it,” Jess grumbled and stepped between the two.

“Okay, guys,” I said and raised my hands. I wasn’t about to let them start another fight, especially not between themselves.

“We’re all tired, so let’s do this quickly. Jess, go back to pick up your bag. Levi, go with him so he won’t get distracted. Do it fast so we can get going. Chief is waiting, and Diesel and I have work tonight.”

“Let’s go, Jess,” Levi said as he grabbed Jess’s hand and started walking back to the school. When they were far enough, I turned to face Diesel, who was already on his second smoke. It was beyond me how a guy who cared so much about his health and refused to eat anything processed smoked as much as he did.

“This shit will kill you.” I pointed toward the cigarette.

He took a long drag before slowly blowing the smoke out in rings. I watched as the light smoke vanished into the orange-painted sky.

“Sure, that’s what’s going to kill me.” He pressed the cigarette to his lips and took another deep drag.

“Stop being an asshole. You know how Jess is. Being mean to him won’t help.”

“Well, I don’t give a fuck.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “But you do, so don’t take your anger out on him.”

He turned away from me and leaned back against the truck, keeping himself busy with smoking. It had been one long day, and it was far from being over. Thinking about how I was about to serve food and clean tables for the next seven hours or so made me want to cry. There is no other way, Andrei, I reminded myself.

Living together meant we all worked as hard as we could to help and add our share to the table. While Diesel and I both worked at the beach club, Jess worked in a hair salon while Levi worked with Chief in the surfing shop.

Considering everything that happened today, I made a mental note to ensure the guys were okay. They were all tense as fuck. I’d talk to Chief. He’d probably have an idea on how to cool them down.

“Hey.”

A warm voice brought me back to reality, and I was surprised to find Miles standing in front of me. I also noticed how fast Diesel pushed himself from the truck and was now by my side.