Hacker (Sweet Little Sinners) by Cassie Mint

Author:Cassie Mint [Mint, Cassie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Cherry Publishing
Published: 2022-03-23T16:00:00+00:00

Seven

Frankie

I’ve made a lot of crazy decisions lately, especially where Luca Bianchi is concerned. I consult my dice before I leave June’s apartment, scattering them across the scrubbed wood of her kitchen table, but they give me the wrong answer again. They tell me to stay away.

“They’re just dice, hon.” June wraps an arm around my shoulders, squeezing me into her warmth even though she’s smaller than me. I don’t know if it’s her soft voice or her sunny apartment or her fresh daisy scent, but June always makes me feel like a little kid again, crawling into my mom’s lap. “You don’t need to listen to them if you don’t want to.”

Well. I don’t regret warning Luca about his hit man, and the dice would have let him die, so… maybe June’s right. Maybe I need a new way of making big choices.

I guess I could ask Luca’s opinion. That thought nudges at me as I walk the twelve blocks home, my backpack straps cutting into my shoulders. He’s smart as hell. And he’d probably give me even better answers than Tabitha, because Luca knows me more than anyone.

And I know him.

He’s not going to hurt me. He’s going to keep me, and covet me, and I’ve known it for a while now. Maybe that’s what scared me into staying away.

Because I’m no prize. Some days I can barely look people in the eye, and my houseplants get more vitamins than I do. I have carpal tunnel in my right wrist from spending too many hours on the computer, and I wear baggy clothes so the seams won’t bother me.

Luca’s going to be so disappointed when he sees me for the first time. Who has he been picturing? Some cute, girly girl like June? An athletic beauty like Tabitha? Instead, he’s getting a gremlin in baggy sweatpants.

By the time I reach my building, I’m scowling so hard that the doorman jerks back, palms raised.

“Excuse me,” I growl, stomping past to the elevator.

I chose this building because I’m out of place. Because of the faintly horrified expressions of my fancy neighbors whenever I cross the lobby with another grocery bag filled with instant noodles. I wanted to be weird, to set people on edge, to shake up their perfect worlds, but as I jab the elevator button, for the first time in my life, I wish I could fit in.

If I wore crisp designer clothes and skillful makeup, I wouldn’t look out of place next to the model-handsome Luca Bianchi.

If I could make small talk and tell pleasant jokes with strangers, maybe he could take me on dates. Introduce me to people as his girlfriend.

But I don’t do those things. I’m not that girl, and as the elevator swoops upward, my black mood gathers around me like storm clouds. I bet he’s not even there. I bet he got what he wanted—my agreement to come home—then promptly lost interest. I bet he over-watered my plants, too.

I bet, I bet.

Grump, grump, grump.

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