Page 7 of Wicked Brutal

“Slowly. You’re going to scare him.”

“He already ran away.”

“Because you’ve been chasing him with a net for twenty minutes.”

“That’s how catching works,” Tobias said, and I looked at Ally.

“He has you there.”

The frog surfaced between us, and Tobias gasped. “There!”

Ally lunged, so did Tobias, and the frog jumped — directly toward Ally. She screamed, not loudly, more of a shocked little shriek as she stumbled backward, and I caught her around the waist before she went under.

For one second she was against me — my hand on bare skin, her fingers gripping my shoulder, her sunglasses knocked crooked. We both went still.

Then Tobias screamed, “I GOT HIM!” and Ally pulled away, and I let her.

Tobias held the net above the water like he’d just won state, the frog sitting at the bottom of it. “I got him! Ally, look!”

“I see.”

“Touch him.”

“No.”

“You’re scared.”

“I am not scared of a frog.”

“Then touch him.”

She stared at him. I folded my arms. “This is getting embarrassing.”

Her head turned toward me. “You touch him.”

“I’m not the one claiming I’m fearless.”

“I never claimed that.”

“Toby says you are.”

“I said she’s scared,” Tobias corrected.

“Thank you, Tobias,” Ally said, and glared at both of us. Then she carefully stuck one finger through the net. The frog moved. She jerked back. Tobias dissolved into laughter, and so did I.

“Oh, fuck both of you,” she said.

Tobias gasped. “You said a bad word! So did Ryan yesterday.”

She looked at me. “Really, now?”

“He said fuck when he dropped the fishing box,” Tobias reported. “And then Mr. Harrington said shit because Ryan dropped it on his foot.”

I covered my face. Ally was laughing now, really laughing — head tipped back, one hand over her mouth — and I’d never once heard her laugh like that at school. I looked at her, and she noticed. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re staring.”