Page 66 of Inferno

“Ice skating?” Manning said dubiously.

“Yeah.I told my dad all about you and how you stood up for me, and now he wants to meet you.”

Manning was undeniably flattered. “I’d love to meet your pops, but I can’t go skating with you today.”

“Why not?”

He gave her a pointed look. “I’m grounded, remember?”

“Oh, God, that’s right. How could I forget?” Taylor bit her lip, her eyes filled with fresh guilt. “I’m really sorry for—”

Her apology was interrupted by the sound of her name being called.

Manning and Taylor glanced around to see her friend Janelle—formerfriend—standing several yards away with the two cheerleaders she’d been with last week when she snubbed Taylor in the hallway. Today Janelle was all sunshine and smiles as she waved at Taylor.

“You’re still coming to my sleepover on Friday, aren’t you?” she called out cheerfully.

“Um, sure,” Taylor called back halfheartedly.

“Awesome!” Janelle smiled harder at Taylor, silently communicating a message that finally prompted Taylor to mutter under her breath, “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.”

As Manning watched, she dug into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a pink slip of paper, which she reluctantly handed to him.

He gave her a puzzled look. “What’s this?”

Her eyes lowered to the ground. “It’s Janelle’s phone number. She asked me to give it to you.”

Manning arched a brow at her,thenglanced over at Janelle. She smiled flirtatiously at him and fluttered her fingers in a wave.

“She wants you to call her,” Taylor mumbled.

“Yeah?”Holding Janelle’s gaze, Manning brought the piece of paper to his nose. It smelled sweet, like bubble gum lip gloss or something just as girly.

As Janelle stared expectantly at him, Manning smiled. As her smile widened in response, he slowly and deliberately balled up the paper in his hand.

Taylor gasped.“Manning!”

He laughed, watching as Janelle’s face reddened with humiliation while her friends burst into hysterical giggles.

As Manning dropped the wad of paper in Taylor’s slack palm, she darted a mortified glance at Janelle, then hissed, “Why’d you do that? You totally embarrassed her, and now she’s gonna uninvite me to her sleepover!”

Manning grinned unabashedly. “Aw, you didn’t wanna go anyway.”

“That’s not the point,” Taylor protested, even as her lips twitched with suppressed laughter. “She’s gonna think I told you something bad about her.”

“Who cares?”

“Manning,” Taylor said in exasperation.

Again he laughed. “Okay, okay. If she says something to you, just tell her she’s not my type.”

“Oh, really?”Taylor gave him a teasing look. “And whatisyour type, Manning?”

He smiled, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, now that you mention it—”

“Yoo-hoo!Manning!”

Inwardly groaning at yet another interruption, Manning followed the direction of the voice to the designated pickup area of the parking lot. Caitlyn was waving at him from her flashy red Camaro. With the top down, the sun on her face and a gentle breeze blowing through her long hair, she could have been shooting a scene for a movie.