Love Edy Read Free

Edy’s shoulder.
Chestnut curls sweeping in the wind, makeup runway dramatic,
glamour girl Chloe Castillo—in no need of bra stuffing these
days—had the attention of three Dysons, Hassan, and, to her own
dismay, Edy.
    “Party?” Mason wondered aloud.
    “Gotta be,” Matt said.
    “Well, then. We certainly can’t have her out
here all alone. Not in the mean streets of Boston.”
    There were mean streets in Boston. Edy’s
mother, the district attorney, could attest to as much. But those
streets never pierced the tree-lined affluence of their posh
enclave.
    “Gonna give her a ride, Lil’ Dyson,” Mason
said to Lawrence. “Try not to pitch a tent.”
    Lawrence winced, ears reddening at their
snickers. Edy looked from one to the next for clarification. Only
when Matt flicked his pointer finger skyward that she could make
sense of the comment.
    Aroused. Try not to get aroused.
    Warmth crept over Edy’s cheeks. She ducked
her head, wishing herself away.
    “Matt—” Hassan warned.
    “What? I didn’t say it! And anyway,
she’s a big girl. She knows what we’re talking about.” Matt shot
Edy a mockingly suspicious look. “Somehow.”
    Suddenly she, instead of Chloe Castillo, had
the attention of the entire car. They were so full of crap that
way. Still, Edy stiffened under their looks and took an interest in
the back of her eyelids instead. Long seconds passed where her
heart simmered down to a slow beat. She stole a peek at Hassan, who
glared back at her, foul as a bare mouth mule gumming on thumb
tacks.
    The SUV screeched to a stop near Chloe,
reminding Edy that they were moving at all.
    “You must be heading to the party,” Matt
said. “You should be riding with us.”
    Chloe peered into the Rover.
    “Is there even room?”
    “Sure. You’ll just have to, uh, squeeze onto
Lawrence’s lap. No biggie, right?”
    Chloe took a step back, face a shade pinker
than her makeup allowed.
    “I guess not,” she said.
    She peeked at Lawrence, whose head snapped
left, treating her to his back instead. Matt shot his little
brother a look of impatience before jumping out and opening the
back door. He flexed arms that were the subject of schoolgirl
whispers and lifted Chloe up in a show of bravado, making her
giggle. Edy pursed her lips and looked away. For a girl with
apparent reservations, Chloe Castillo settled into Lawrence’s lap
easily enough.
    Edy looked up to discover a silent
head-jerking argument underway between Mason and Lawrence. It grew
wild as the seconds ticked on, with the older boy eye popping, neck
jerking and wheel barrowing emphatically, urging Lawrence to put
his arms around Chloe. When the younger Dyson lifted his hands in
slow surrender, he placed them ginger as two broken limbs at her
side.
    They ventured six blocks over before Mason
whipped a U-turn in the middle of the street. He parked at a
three-story Victorian the color of a setting sun. Teens pressed
into the yard fence to fence. Lights and bass-laden hip hop spilled
from yawning windows and a wide-open front door, as a gyrating
rainbow of adolescents crowded round a keg on the northwest side of
the house.
    Chloe eased out the Rover, followed by the
boys, who were met with an uproar of shouts and greetings. Football
players swarmed, swallowing them in an intricate exchange of
handshakes. They disappeared into the crowd, and Edy hung back,
unsure of what to do in a melee of testosterone.
    Long seconds passed, and Edy exchanged a
look of quiet awkwardness with Chloe. The two hadn’t had words
since sixth grade. No reason to change that now.
    Chloe’s lips parted just as the team’s
quarterback slipped between them, dividing the space between the
girls with his back to Edy. Great . She counted the moments
with her gaze on his broad expanse, knowing that her view would be
brief.
    “Oho! My QB, the man I’ve been looking for.”
Mason Dyson swept an arm around the smaller boy’s shoulders and
whipped him in an arc away from Chloe. His