Page 49 of High

“You know, I don’t think I realized how much of a flirt you were when I was younger. We spent a lot of time together, and I never saw this side of you.”

Arlo’s face went ruddy as he glanced to the side at me. The interest in his eyes shocked me. He looked… a hell of a lot like Thio did before he kissed me. “You don’t think I flirted with you back then?”

My mind was a blank as I tried to dredge up old memories. “All I ever noticed was Thio.”

He flinched and his cheeks blushed a deeper shade of magenta.

Sighing, I rested my hand on his arm. “I know Thio has his own ideas about what happened earlier today, but I really never noticed a single thing about you then, Arlo, other than as someone friendly who I thought of like a brother.”

Arlo glanced around and narrowed his eyes in the direction of our guards. They were still talking together over by the wall, laughing into their beers. I didn’t think they were supposed to be drinking. No one seemed as tense here as they were back at the house.

Arlo took a deep breath and then blasted another smile my way. “If you weren’t following around Thio, you were with Mamá or our tutors, or there was always someone else around. Tu Papá sometimes. Manny, I just need to talk to you. I never got a chance to really be alone with you, and show you—”

“I don’t think—” I tried to scoot farther away from him but I was stuck.

Arlo rested a hand on the back of my neck and I froze. If this was anyone else, I would have told them to fuck all the way off, but this was Arlo, and I hated that maybe Thio was right about him. I was supposed to be able to trust him.

“You know,” Conall drawled, and Arlo jolted upright, almost like he’d forgotten we weren’t as alone as he would have liked—thank God. “I know what Killough would do to anyone who ‘just needed to talk to me.’ We’d have a new accent wall painted red. Well, brown really, after it dried.” He grinned, and I wished I had his confidence.

“Arlo.” I gently leaned away from him, but he didn’t let go. Anger clawed around inside me but I bit it back. “Even if you wanted to talk to me, now isn’t the time for—”

“I used to watch you surf.” He leaned closer, his brown eyes intense. “Remember that time I stayed in Pedregal for a week with you?”

Nodding, I winced because his grip tightened on me. “I think so?” Really, I didn’t, but he looked so hopeful. It was strange because I could remember every time Thio had come to pick me up from Pedregal and take me home with him. There was always some small gift for me, or he had some fun place to stop and show me on the way home. He’d always taken good care of me.

“I wanted to fuck you then.”

Arlo’s words killed my happiness, but he didn’t let go of me.

“Okay there?” Conall asked, but I was too busy glaring at Arlo.

“You looked so good coming out of the ocean with your board shorts slipping, but you only cared about Thio. I’m telling you this because I’m a friend. He’s Jefe now. My father passed the business to him. You’re barely back and he’s already leaving you alone. Do you really think he’s going to take care of you the way you deserve?”

Arlo finally let go of my neck, but I didn’t have time to be relieved because he dropped his hand to my thigh, which was worse.

Not thinking, I elbowed Arlo in the side, hard, unlike how I’d been playing with Thio earlier. I wasn’t fucking around. He grunted but didn’t take the hint.

“I’m with Thio. He’s my boyfriend. We’re together. That’s it. That’s all you need to know, Arlo. What the hell are you doing?”

“That’s what I would like to know,” Thio said from behind us. He wasn’t exactly yelling, but nearly everyone in the room turned our way.

Arlo jerked his hand away and I flinched. Guilt rolled over me the same as a wave trying to pound me into the sand at the bottom of the ocean, even though I hadn’t asked Arlo to sit here and grope me.

Thio grabbed Arlo by the shoulder and hooked an arm around his neck, dragging him over the back of the couch. It was a scary shock to watch Thio haul his brother off the furniture, and I had to duck out of the way of Arlo’s flailing feet, and still managed to get kicked on the cheek hard enough I saw stars for a second.

“You’re my brother,” Thio snarled in his face. Arlo was turning purple from where he was stuck in a headlock, and he tapped at Thio’s wrist. “What the fuck are you doing? I don’t want to fucking kill you like some asshole off the street. How will I get it through your fucking skull that Manny’s mine? He’s not a toy you can steal. He’s mine.”

It seemed like every person in the room turned into a statue. Killough wandered past us, and Conall immediately rose and tilted his mouth toward him. They kissed and then Killough settled into the seat and drew Conall back down onto his lap. Conall met my gaze and mortification washed over me.

“And you,” Thio barked. It took me a second to realize he was talking to me. “You should have known to stay away from him. What were you doing?”

All at once I was fighting mad. I shot to my feet. “I was handling it. I was trying to be nice.”

“Nice?” I hated the way he said that word, like I was the stupidest person he’d ever met. He finally let Arlo drop to the ground and then kicked him in the gut, but he didn’t draw his leg back far and Arlo barely grunted.

“Thio, don’t. He’s Arlo. He’s harmless,” I whispered frantically. There was a scoffing sound from behind me that didn’t help matters. Fucking Killough. Thio’s nostrils flared as he turned furiously back toward his brother.

“You know what he wants from you, no?” Thio swore and then reached out for me. It didn’t cross my mind to run from him. He hooked my arm and pulled until I was forced to either step up onto the couch and let him draw me over the back into his arms, or I would have taken a header like Arlo. Thio held me tight against his chest. My heart pounded as he glared into my face.