Fall Guy (A Youngblood Book) by Reinhardt, Liz (knowledgeable books to read TXT) 📕

been a bunch of thefts in our neighborhood, then I saw him here. I confronted him, and he went nuts."

"Liar!" Ithaca lunges out of Evan's arms, her light skin splotchy and pink, her blond hair knotted and stuck to her cheeks. "You are a liar, Rick! You accused him and threatened him when he never did a single thing! And then you all attacked him!" Her chest rises and falls and she points a shaking finger at them, her lips trembling with rage. "All of you. Like a pack of wild dogs."

She spits the last words out, then her shoulders crumple.

The quiet guy makes a motion toward her, but I grip his shoulder hard and shake my head. He nods, but I can tell by the look on his face that seeing my sister upset is killing him.

It may be biased, but my alliance falls heavily and immediately with this guy.

"Rick Wong?" I squint at the kid who gave me the phony story. A red flush creeps up his face, like he's been caught with his pants down. "Your family lives across the street from us." He nods, but avoids eye contact. "Your dad has three pit-bulls and a security system. I wouldn't worry about your precious shit getting stolen. Trust me, it's all insured anyway." I toss him back to his friends, and he gives a hard stare to the ground. One he doesn't dare level my way. "This guy...what's your name?"

I turn to the quiet kid, his dark eyes glued on my sister and wild with worry.

"Andre. Sir." He shifts a look at the Wong kid and scowls, not about to be outdone.

I can't help it. I immediately like this Andre kid.

"This guy, Andre, he's none of your concern, you got that?" I shake Wong by the shoulder. "Hey! Look at me when I talk to you." He lifts his eyes and nods. "And next time you think someone is doing something shady, handle it like a man and leave your little brute squad behind. There’s no reason for four of you to jump a guy just because he’s hanging around near your damn house."

"Yes, sir."

My piss-ant neighbor squirms under my look, and I'm sure there're a thousand things he wants to tell me to stick a thousand places. But he doesn't.

"You mess with my man Andre again, I'll beat the piss out of you. And your gang. And I don't give a shit who your daddy is. Now get the hell out of my sight, and I better not hear a word about you being a little asshole again."

I dismiss him with a shove, and they scuttle away, muttering shit under the breath and throwing looks over their shoulders when they're far enough away that I can't catch any of them.

"Dre!" my sister wails and flings herself at her beat-up hero.

His arms hang by his sides, his eyes fixed nervously on me. I let go of his arm and nudge him forward, feeling weird about seeing my baby sister wrapped around some hooligan.

And I know the kid's a hooligan because it takes one to know one. The fact that I like him off the bat is a bad sign.

He runs a hand over my sister's hair, untangling pieces and pushing them away from her face. "It's okay, babe. It's fine. I could have taken them."

She raises one hand to his bloodied nose and cut lip, and chokes on a sob. I seriously have no idea what to think of this whole scene.

Evan walks over to me, the back of her hand brushing the back of mine. I thread my fingers through hers and hold tight. Her face turns toward mine, and she flashes a secret smile.

"Young love?" she asks lowly.

My sister is throwing herself at the kid, who's gently pushing her back and eying me with an anxious look that, I'm sure, is his attempt to communicate that he doesn't want any part of her PDA.

Not in front of me anyway.

"Too young. And that kid isn't good enough for Ithaca." I narrow my eyes and Andre puts both of his hands on my sister's shoulders and speaks to her in low, urgent tones.

"Stop scaring him." Evan chuckles. "Look at them. So in love. Do you remember your first love?"

She leans her head on my shoulder and I can smell the sweet burned candy smell.

I pull her into my arms and look her in the eye. "Remember it? I'm living it right now."

She jerks back and crushes her eyebrows together, like she doesn't quite believe what I said.

"Your ex? The one your family talked about like you guys were engaged?"

"I've loved one girl. That's you, Evan Lennox."

She steps back, looking at the ground and shaking her head like she can't put into words whatever it is that's running through her head.

Andre clears his throat loudly. I look away from Evan and see that my sister is seriously pouting.

"Um, I think it would be a good idea if Ithaca went back to class. She's worried about me making it home okay. Could I maybe get a ride with you guys?"

"I am not going to sit in class with those assholes. I'm telling my mother that I want to switch schools." Ithaca wipes the last few tears from under her clear green eyes. "I want to go with you."

Andre murmurs something to her, but she shakes her head and stamps her foot. "No! I'm tired of sneaking around, Andre! I don't care anymore. I don't."

Evan looks at me with raised eyebrows, and I sigh. I was looking forward to a long day rolling around in bed with my gorgeous girlfriend. It figures the one time my brother manages to stay out of trouble, my baby sister jumps waist-high into some damn star-crossed love fiasco.

"Go to school," I tell my sister. "I'll take him home, make sure he's got an icepack on his face and takes a few aspirin. He'll be good as new before you can sneak out with him