Page 4 of Cross + Catherine: The Companion

The Market

Catherine POV

Catherine’s gaze shifted between her father’s Mercedes waiting to leave from the drop-off line, and Cross sitting on his friend’s car. Dante would expect his daughter to go right into the school’s entrance considering the bell was about to signal the start of classes. She had other plans for the day that didn’t include sitting in classroom after classroom.

Plans her dad definitely wouldn’t like.

Finally, her father’s Mercedes got an opening to leave the growing line up of cars. Soon, her father was out of sight entirely. Catherine checked across the lot to see where her older brother, Michel, had gone to. She caught sight of Michel’s back just as he headed through the entrance doors of the upper Academy.

All safe, she thought.

Michel probably wouldn’t have ratted her out, though. He was good like that—she just wasn’t interested in hearing one of his lectures. Like he was a freaking angel or something that never did anything wrong.

Catherine ignored the call of one of her friends, and her cousin, as she headed across the parking lot. At the sight of her coming his way, Cross pushed off the hood of Zeke’s car, and landed to his feet with wide smile. He was already reaching for her outstretched hand to take by the time she got to him.

She still wasn’t sure what they were. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Dating or not. Just friends. Something. Nothing.

It had only been a month since that day at the beach when she kissed him, so for now, Catherine figured it didn’t really matter. She liked Cross, and hanging out with him. He kept the idiots away from her, and made the transition into the new school easier. She didn’t care what he and she were at the moment.

They could get that all sorted later.

Right?

“Ready to have some fun?” Cross asked.

“Still didn’t say what we were doing.”

Zeke’s head popped out of the driver’s window. “How does a movie and food in Hell’s Kitchen sound?”

Catherine looked to Cross. “The city?”

He shrugged. “We’ll be back in lots of time. Don’t worry about that. No one will even know you skipped out on classes.”

Oh, she didn’t doubt that for a minute. It was just that Catherine was not supposed to go into the city without an enforcer to watch her. Not to mention, she had never even gone to the city without being accompanied by someone in her family.

Cross must have seen the hesitance warring in Catherine’s eyes. “We don’t have to go, Catherine.”

Don’t be stupid. People skip school all the damn time. It’s the city. What’s going to happen to you in a freaking city?

“We’re going,” she told him.

Cross took her bag with a laugh, and tossed it into the back of Zeke’s car. Cross climbed into the front while Catherine slid into the backseat alone. They had just pulled out of the school’s parking lot when the bell finally rang behind them.

“Are we going to pick up—what’s her name … Amanda?” Catherine asked.

Zeke grunted something Catherine couldn’t understand, and then grumbled more under his breath. The sound alone made her cock an eyebrow. Apparently, something had happened there, and she missed out on it.

“They’re broken up again,” Cross said when Catherine looked to him for an explanation. “No Amanda today, but maybe next time.”

“Not gonna be a fucking next time, either,” Zeke said sharply. “I am done with her shit. Drives me crazy.”

Cross nodded, and scoffed. “Right, man. Like you two don’t do this shit every other week, then? We’re playing games now, I guess.”

Catherine managed to hide her giggle by slapping a palm over her mouth. Cross always did that kind of stuff to people—all people. Teachers, friends, and whoever else stepped into his path. He liked to call them out when they gave him the chance. She thought people might learn their lesson after the first couple of times.

Zeke was proof they did not learn.

“You know what,” Zeke said to Cross, “how about you just shut up.”