Page 65 of Theodore

Ryan asked, shooting an irritated look at me.

Mara was now plum-colored as she snatched her bags from him, muttering thanks.

"Yes, no thanks to myfriendhere," she said, sticking her tongue out at me.

"I'm Ryan."

"Mara," she smiled timidly, his gaze on her longer than necessary.

Suddenly a car beeped from behind us, making us all jump.

"Did someone say pizza?" hollered a voice from the car.

I shot a curious look to Theo, who shrugged his shoulders at me helplessly.

"Jax," I said as he exited the car, swinging his keys around his finger.

"Sup’ bitches. Tell me someone ordered the cookies," Jax drawled.

Clapping Theo on the back, he nodded at Ryan and Mara.

"You love me, Phillips," Jax called over his shoulder, and I rolled my eyes in response.

"Ican'tgo in there," Mara hissed.

Ryan pushed his hair away from his eyes as he glanced back at his bike. "I'm gonna get back to my bike. Have fun."

I waved dismissively, tugging Mara to Theo's house.

"Jax won't stay; he's a man whore. His phone will trill soon."

"I'm not surprised. Jax is so hot," Mara sighed as I snapped my fingers in front of her.

"Remember Henry? Come on, woman."

"Henry, right. Pizza. Operation act normal begins," Mara declared.

Jax was a decent guy, but Mara was not on his radar. He acted like she didn't exist most of the time, and it hurt like hell seeing her struggle with it.

Why is he here?

I was going to kick Theo's ass.

26

HANNAH

Mara convinced me to go on a night out on the other side of town, to ‘experience life before we die’ like we were eighty

“How are we getting there exactly?” I asked as I finished applying coal-black eyeliner, gazing at Mara in the mirror as she pulled on knee-high boots.

“Cab?” Mara suggested, pulling a long-sleeved blue dress on that showed her ample cleavage perfectly, while flowing over her arms, creating a gypsy style.

“Ugh. We can’t get a cab, doofus. It’s too far and will cost about a hundred bucks.

There’s a light knock on my door as Ryan peeked around, his hands over his eyes.

“I’m not looking. I just overheard the words ‘club’ and ‘getting there’ so I thought I’d offer you a ride.”