Unconditional Read Free

offers it to me, grinning. She always does this, even though she knows I’ll say no. The one time I tried it I had a coughing fit and then felt sick for an hour. I shake my head at her and shoot her an annoyed look, which she pretends not to see, then takes another drag before passing it back to Dean. She lies back on the bed and entwines her arm through mine, squeezingmy bicep.
    ‘You okay?’ she murmurs and I nod, unable to stay annoyed at her. We can always read each other’s moods, we’ve been friends for so long.
    ‘You want some of this, Joe?’ Dean asks his friend, who looks over and shakes his head with a touch of contempt.
    ‘Nah, man.’
    For some reason, I feel pleased that he didn’t accept it.
    ‘Go fetch some more beer then,’ Dean says. .Joe sighs and gets up, going into the kitchen. I look at Dannii.
    ‘What’s his problem?’
    ‘He’s got to stay out of trouble,’ Dean answers for her, assuming I’m referring to Joe saying no to the weed rather than his rudeness. ‘He’s on probation, he’s not long out of juvy.’
    Young offenders jail? I had assumed he was about nineteen, same as Dean, but he must be mine and Dannii’s age then. He looks older than seventeen, especially with that build. As he had walked past into the kitchen I couldn’t help noticing his arms matched the rest of him; he’s built like an action movie star. Probably from working out in jail, I realise. I don’t suppose there’s much else to do.
    ‘What did he do wrong?’
    ‘Dunno.’ Dannii answers me this time. ‘Fighting, I think.’
    She goes to say something else then stops as Joe comes back in and tosses a four pack of beer on the bed after removing one for himself.
    ‘Ash is okay, it’ll take her an hour to drink that one,’ Dannii quips, and Joe looks at me. Those intense amber coloured eyes linger on my body, then my face, but dart away as soon as he catches my eye. I can’t work out if he approves of what he sees or not, and as he stalks back off to resume his seat on the sofa I tell myself I don’t care. He’sclearly bad news.
    ‘Joe lives on the Estate,’ Dannii says, referring to the roughest part of town, ‘near Rianne.’ Rianne is our friend, who dropped out of school last year after getting pregnant. She was closer to Dannii than me, but ever since she left school I’ve seen more of her.
    ‘I might go see her at the weekend,’ I tell Dannii. ‘Why don’t you come? She always asks after you.’
    Dannii pulls a face. ‘Urgh, babies,’ is all she says. I sometimes get the impression Dannii looks down on her for being silly enough to get pregnant and then as if that wasn’t dumb enough, actually keeping it.
    Joe has turned to face us again and is glaring at Dannii. At first I think it’s her comment about Rianne’s baby, until he snaps at her.
    ‘I live with my aunt. She’s a good woman,’ he says, as if angry that Dannii has revealed where he lives and wants to make it sound better. He shoots me a look I can’t fathom before getting up and pulling his jacket on.
    ‘You going, mate?’ Dean asks, surprised. Joe nods.
    ‘Yeah, I’m pretty tired. See you all later,’ he throws over his shoulder, and is gone without even looking at me. I feel irritated and deflated at the same time.
    ‘Well, he’s talkative,’ I say sarcastically to no one in particular. Dannii looks at me slyly.
    ‘Do you like him?’
    ‘Not at all. I’ve never met a guy so rude; he must really think he’s something,’ I snap at her, but she rolls her eyes and I know she’s not convinced. The truth is, Joe has affected me somehow; I want to see him again and yet at the same time can’t think of anything worse. Although I doubt he would be interested as he clearly wasn’t impressed, skinny jeans or not. He’s probably into girls that wear skin-tight clothes, have piercings and swear a lot.And are most definitely not virgins.
    ‘He’s not that bad,’ Dean chimes in. ‘He’s just had a rough time,