Phoenix by Joey James Hook Read Free Book Online Page A

shoving it in his mouth with a goofy sort of
    grin, and Ethan snorted in laughter from beside him.
    “Hey,” Devon drawled, a pout edging onto his full lips as
    his shoulders slumped. “That was mine.”
    “You’ve still got two more,” Riley replied with a broad
    grin that said he wasn’t affected by the pout that Devon was
    trying to win him over with. “And besides, what’re you
    trying to achieve by pouting at me like that? You want me to
    regurgitate it?”
    Devon laughed and shook his head, the pout melting as
    he shoved the last two fries in his mouth decisively. “Nope,”
    he said through the food, grinning before turning his
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    Phoenix

    attention to chewing the food he’d thoughtlessly put in
    there.
    “Too big for you, bigmouth?” Blake teased, and Devon
    scrunched up his nose at him as he chewed.
    “You guys are all so mean,” he said through the potatoes
    in his mouth, swallowing and clearing his throat before he
    spoke again. “So very mean. Pick on the new kid, why don’t
    you?”
    “But you’re so much fun to pick on,” Riley pointed out
    with a wolfish grin.
    “Agreed,” both Blake and Ethan spoke at the same time.
    Blake looked over at his best friend and grinned broadly at
    him, seeing that Ethan was beaming right back at him.
    “So, quick question. Are you guys dating?” Devon asked,
    and Blake looked up quickly, raising his eyebrows.
    “Uh. No. We’re not,” he said quickly, glancing at Ethan
    and seeing that his face was reserved. That was weird. It was
    throwing up all sorts of red flags, but he wasn’t going to call
    his best friend out on it in public. “He’s my best friend,” he
    reaffirmed.
    “Yeah, best friends,” Ethan said with a small smile,
    brushing his short black hair out of his face and attempting
    to tuck it behind his ear but failing as it fell right back in
    front of his eyes.
    “Huh. Okay!” Devon said, but Blake could already tell he
    wasn’t convinced. He looked up in time to see the way
    Devon rolled his eyes. He was more concerned with the way
    Ethan’s face changed when the question was asked. Eh, he’d
    ask him about it later.
    “Just so you guys know everyone up at the school pretty
    much thinks you are,” Riley interjected in a kind voice, and
    Blake shot him a sheepish smile. “Especially Dominic. He
    never shuts up about it.”
    “Dominic can go to hell for all I care,” Blake muttered,
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    Joey James Hook

    seeing a grim sort of smile cross Riley’s face. That bruise still
    looked pretty bad, he idly noted.
    “Well they think we’re dating because we’ve pretended to
    be together to get creepy guys off Blake,” Ethan spoke up,
    and Blake looked down as he felt Ethan’s hand move to rest
    on his knee. He smiled a bit and looked back up, completely
    comfortable with the move.
    “Oh. Well, that makes more sense, then,” Riley chuckled,
    shoving his last bite of burger into his mouth without much
    more question.
    “Yep,” Ethan said, turning his attention back to the
    burger that he’d only half-eaten, but Blake knew that he was
    a very slow eater and picked at his food before he ate it.
    Blake just had fries left and he popped one into his mouth.
    Things fell silent for a few moments as everyone finished
    their meals, and then the waitress, different one, came over
    and gave them their split checks. Riley was the first to pull
    out his flashy black card and hand it to her, then Blake
    pulled out his debit card along with Ethan’s right beneath it.
    Devon craned himself over the table and handed her his
    simple red debit card.
    Devon settled back into the seat with a sigh, toying with
    his fork. “So, do we wanna do anything after this? Or do we
    just wanna go back to dormdom?” he asked.
    Riley shrugged. “I’m up for anything, pretty much,” he
    said in a casual sort of tone.
    “I’ve got homework,” Ethan spoke up. Blake glanced at
    him and gave a small smile. He knew Ethan just didn’t want
    to go to a movie