Who's Your Daddy? by Lynda Sandoval Read Free Book Online Page A

talking.
    Dylan’s eyes narrowed briefly, then he held up hispalms as if to say, “have it your way,” and headed past me to the car. I beat him there and yanked my door open before he tried to be gentlemanly and do it for me. I was already feeling a bit ashamed that I’d taken my annoyance out on him. Then again, HE ruined my night!
    I yanked the seatbelt across my body, then pretended not to watch Dylan walk as he rounded the hood of his car and angled himself into the driver’s seat, but I will admit, it was hard. He made my heart pound, which sorta pissed me off because I didn’t WANT him to make my heart pound. I wanted him to go away. Far, far away.
    For a few, blissful moments, he drove in silence, but the guy just couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
    “Nice night, isn’t it?”
    Fuming silence.
    “So, why didn’t you go to homecoming?”
    Low blow. Was the question as innocent as it sounded, or was he trying to point out that I was dateless? Girls quite regularly said one thing and meant another, but whoever knew with guys? Either way, it just wasn’t an appropriate question. It’s like asking a girl how much she weighs or what size her jeans are! “Bite me, Sebring,” I said, in this singsongy tone.
    He laughed, soft and low, a sound that made my skin tingle. “Not unless you ask real nicely, Moreno,” he teased.
    EEEK! I focused on the trees flanking the road out my side window, with my body squished as far away from Dylan as I could get without actually cramming myself into the crack between the seat and the door. My night was ruined, my reputation besmirched. Now Dylan Sebring was saying things that sounded vaguely flirtatious, which
couldn’t
be true.
    God. I had to get out of the car and away from this guy who was so hot, but SO annoying and confusing at the same time.

four

    meryl
    Gosh, what a terrible and abrupt ending to a night that had started out so filled with hope. After Lila left with Dylan Sebring (who is so very cute and looks really hot in his uniform, despite what Lila says—and WHY was she being so snotty to him?!), Caressa and I just felt icky about the whole night. We couldn’t very well start over with the dumb supper. For one thing, it was past midnight, and we’d already broken the silence. And we couldn’t, in good conscience, have Lila’s mother here as a spirit guest when Lila herself was absent.
    Now, I’ve discussed metaphysical ceremonies at length with Reese and Kelly, the co-owners of Inner Power where I work, and I know it’s all about one’s intent rather than rules and regs. Regardless, it didn’tfeel complete without Lila there. I don’t know how to explain it. The three of us are the best of friends, without any of the favoritism that so often causes problems with groups of three friends. But Lila, she’s like the spark that ignites our little triad. Caressa and I are perfectly comfortable in our own skin, but I think both of us secretly wish we were a little more like wild Lila.
    So, it was all three of us for the supper or nothing.
    Plus, Caressa and I were both preoccupied with worry that Lila would be grounded for life! How could we possibly focus on finding boys to date when she was going to be in so much trouble? We should’ve seen it coming. Well, in truth, we HAD seen it coming, but when Lila Moreno gets an idea in her mind, there is no deterring her. It’s definitely one of her charms, but if she doesn’t rein it in, it could also be her downfall.
    I sat on the bottom step of the sweeping marble staircase in Caressa’s entryway and laid the side of my face on the polished wood banister. My stomach felt tight and jittery. “That was purely awful.”
    Caressa nodded, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. She hugged her long legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees, then blew out a big sigh. “Mer, Iknew Lila was pushing her luck with this latest scheme. If I did half the things she did, my parents would kill me. She’s going to