Page 23 of Ly to Me

“What?” I asked as confusion rippled through my sleep-deprived brain.

The jock—most notably one by his lettered jacket—stepped closer, pointing at the lock. “Your code, I mean. For the locker?”

“Oh.” I looked down at the fading numbers I’d scribbled on my palms. “Um.”

“Was this it?” His fingers intruded immediately, pressing into my slightly dampened hands. A deep chuckle escaped him, and I had the inkling to move away. Mama always told me to trust my gut—especially when it came to the opposite sex.

And my gut was telling me this guy meant no good.

A crease formed between his eyes. “Hey, I’m only trying to help. You can—”

“Fuck off, Noah."

The jock, or Noah, put his hands up, that smile of his coming right back to life. “Carver.” Car did not look as amused. “I see you take your bets seriously.”

I leaned back against the rest of the lockers, glancing down at the numbers, trying to remember what the hell they were because there was no way I was deciphering them, but my brain couldn’t focus on that.

“Bets?” I tipped my heavy head back, rolling it along the metal. “What did you bet?”

“Nothing. Noah’s an asshole who has somewhere he needs to be.” Car’s fist curled in at his side, his usually friendly demeanor replaced with one I had yet to see. It almost looked like purerage. A face like that on Chet would have terrified me, but on Carver, it only made me concerned.

“Oh, come on, Roland.” Noah landed a soft punch, like a bro-nudge, on Carver’s shoulder. Though Noah and Carver were about the same height and build, Carver stood like a soldier, all squared-back shoulders and lifted chin. Noah’s eyes darted between us. “You forfeit?”

“I’m not discussing this now, Hudson,” Carver said through gritted teeth.

“A bet is a bet, whatever it was.” I shrugged, turning back to my locker to try opening it with one of the numbers I could now make out, my mind somewhat clearing. “You can’t just back out.”

I could hear the grin on Noah’s face as he said, “Smart girl, she is.” Then his voice lowered, and some exchange happened between them I couldn’t quite hear.

Suddenly, a loud bang erupted behind me. I spun around, finding Noah pinned against the opposite wall of lockers by Carver, who was holding him there by the throat.

“You need to learn to stay the fuck back.” He yanked Noah forward only to slam him back against the lockers again. “If you ever go near her again, I swear—”

“Car!” I stepped into the small space between them as Noah sneered at Carver. “Let him go!” Students swarmed around us as Carver’s hold seemed to tighten, Noah’s face turning a deep red.

“Don’t listen to a word he says. Got it?”

I nodded furiously. “I wasn’t—I didn’t—”

Noah’s sputtering breaths were coming out choppy while the students flanking behind Carver started cheering him on. The look in his eyes, the anger he held—I didn’t know he could be like that.

“Carver.” I cupped his face, and his gaze immediately ripped from Noah’s throat and softened toward me. “Let him go.Whatever it is, it ain’t worth getting suspended over. They’ll kick you from the program.” His brows dipped. “Please, Car.”

His shoulders dropped right before he released Noah, and I grabbed his hand and dragged him on fast heels through the parting sea of students, leading him through a set of exit doors.

I didn’t stop running with him until we were in the field, right by the place we’d met weeks before. Releasing his hand, I spun to face him, all dizziness replaced by thundering adrenaline. “What the hell was that?”

Carver’s chest expanded and contracted with heavy breaths, his blue eyes darkening. “Nothin’, Ly.”

I flung my arm toward the school. “Thatwasn’t nothin’. He was only trying to help me with my locker. You had no reason to go actin’ all—”

“I have every fuckin’ right to act like I did back there. When it comes to you, don’t tell me how to act.”

I tried to swallow past a thick lump forming in my throat. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Rain erupted above us in true Florida fashion, coming down heavy and sudden. Carver dragged a hand through his hair, slicking the wet strands back. I gasped at the way he was looking back at me, like nothing I’d ever seen before.

I took a step back.