Page 147 of Pride High 2: Orange

Diego shot her another look. “Nobody has ever called me that before.”

“I don’t meanyou,” she said, nearly laughing at the thought. She couldn’t imagine Ricky losing his mind if Diego didn’t want to put out. But then again, she had never suspected Troy could behave that way either.

“You were on a date, huh?” Diego said, seeming to understand.

“Yeah.”

“And it ended badly?”

Mindy nodded.

Diego eyed her a second longer before returning his attention to the road. “Tell me his name. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Mindy was tempted. She wanted Troy to be scared of her instead of the other way around. Give him a taste of his own medicine. In the end, she tugged on her skirt again and tried to cover herself with her coat as much as possible.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I’ve learned my lesson.”

Diego was quiet as they stopped at an intersection, but he kept looking over at her. Not in a way that made her uncomfortable. There was a fire in his eyes that made her feel safe.

“If you invited someone over for dinner,” he said suddenly, “and afterwards they went into your kitchen and kept eating more, even when you told them to stop, would you blame yourself? Because I’d call that sort of person an asshole and kick their fucking teeth in.”

Mindy laughed. She couldn’t help it. “When you put it like that…”

“Yeah. So tell me his name.”

Mindy shook her head. “I can take care of myself.”

He scrutinized her, as if doubting this statement. Then he leaned close, and even though she’d just been through hell, she didn’t feel the need to pull away from him. Diego popped the glovebox, dug around inside, and pulled out a folded knife.

“Here,” he said, trying to hand it to her.

“I wouldn’t know what to do with that,” Mindy said with a mad titter. “I’d be scared to carry it around.”

“You’ll feel safer,” Diego said. “And it’ll make dipshits think twice if they try messing with you again. Take it.”

She finally accepted the knife, turning it over a few times before shoving it in her coat pocket. “Thanks,” she said.

“No problem.” Diego shifted in his seat as the light turned green. “My mom has dated some real scumbags. You’ve gotta be careful.”

“I guess you’re right,” Mindy said. “Did you give her a knife too?”

Diego snorted. “Naw. She’s got a mean right hook.”

Mindy laughed.

“I mean it,” Diego said with a subtle smile, causing cute dimples to briefly appear. “She can take care of herself. Like you can. Especially now that you’re armed. You might want to practice with that thing. See how fast you can whip it out. Stab an old mattress with it maybe, just to see how it feels.”

She couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. “I think I’ll buy some pepper spray instead.”

“Good idea,” Diego said with a nod. “That shit hurts like hell.”

“You’ve been sprayed with it before?”

“Yeah. By the cops.”

“Really?”

He nodded again before flashing a grin. “It’s a real mood killer, I promise you that.”