2. He is NOT Hot

“I hate him, I really do!” Sky said, and this time, she meant it with the full force of her lungs. She paced across her room like a caged animal, back and forth and back again.

Lambert flattened his ears and whimpered, then buried his nose beneath a paw.

Sky let out a huge sigh. She threw herself backwards onto her mattress, arms splayed, hair fanning out behind her. She closed her eyes and tried to picture Charlie’s stupid, perfect face so she could punch it in her mind, but it just made her feel even angrier.

He always did this…stood there, all calm and unmovable, like a wall someone had painted to look like a person. He was supposed to take care of her, do what she wanted, and instead he treated her like some annoying toddler you had to keep from sticking forks in the outlets.

She punched her pillow, then screamed into it. It was not satisfying.

Nothing was. Not after being told no.

“Ugh!” she groaned and rolled over, grabbing her phone, swiping it open and closed, then tossing it aside. She stared up at the ceiling. Lambert crawled over and curled against her, warm and small. She felt a prickling behind her eyes and blinked it away so hard she saw colors.

It was so unfair. No one else in her world had a dad who ran the city or a security detail that watched their every move. No one else had to fight so hard to just be normal.

No one else had Charlie.

Sky flopped onto her side, balled her fists in the comforter, and sulked.

Sneaking out had always been a bad idea, which was exactly why it was starting to sound like a great one right now.

She sat up slowly, Lambert lifting his head to watch her. His ears perked, tail thumping once against the sheets, cautious but curious.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she muttered. “I’m just… thinking.”

Lambert gave a short, doubtful woof.

“Fine. I’m plotting. Happy?” she whispered.

He yawned, clearly not impressed.

Her mind began to race, the same way it always did before trouble found her, or she found it first. The underground club wasn’t that far from her house. All she needed was a distraction big enough to slip out while he was busy being all noble and responsible.

She chewed on her bottom lip. Maybe she could fake a migraine and go to bed early. Then…she sneaks out.

Hmmm….

She rolled onto her stomach, grabbed her phone, and started scrolling through her contacts. There were at least three people she could text who’d help, if she bribed them enough.

Lambert pawed at her arm, letting out a low whine.

“Don’t you dare guilt-trip me,” she said, nudging him away. “You’re supposed to be my partner in crime.”

He licked her hand once, then laid his chin on her thigh, eyes big and judgmental.

Sky sighed. “Yeah, yeah. I know. Charlie will get in trouble. My dad will probably ground me until I’m thirty. Whatever.”

Still, the thought of that smoky, crowded club buzzed in her chest like electricity. Music loud enough to drown out the world. No guards. No rules. No Charlie.

It will be weird without him shadowing her all night, but he had lost his privilege of her company by being her father’s loyal dog.

Her phone buzzed with a text from her best friend, Mila.

Mila: tell me you are not still fighting with the hot bodyguard.

Sky typed back fast.

Sky: eww! he is not hot he is infuriating.

Mila: those can be the same thing lol.

Sky made a face and groaned.

Everyone thought Charlie was hot. Mila said it. Cassie said it.

It was disgusting.

Sky didn’t get it.

“He’s not even that good-looking,” she told Lambert, who opened one eye to check if she was lying.

Okay, so he was like a billion feet tall or whatever. And he had these shoulders that are stupidly broad. What teenage boys had shoulders like that anyway? It was as if he had nothing better to do but work out and eat protein bars.

And his jawline could literally cut glass, which is SO extra, Sky mused.

But that didn’t make him hot. It just makes her want to throw more stuff at his perfect, stupid face.

Completely, infuriatingly, annoying.

Sky flopped onto her back again, kicking her feet against the mattress. “He walks around like he owns the air. And everyone just lets him. Like, oh, look at Charlie, he’s so mysterious and cool and quiet. Newsflash, he’s quiet because he has no personality.”

Lambert tilted his head.

“Oh, don’t start with me.” She sat up and jabbed a finger at the dog. “He’s not cool. He’s cold. Like a…refrigerator with abs.”

That image made her laugh, but she stopped herself halfway through.

Mila texted again.

Mila: girl he’s literally the hottest guy at your school and he’s around you 24/7. If I were you, I’d be in love.

Sky: gross. You need therapy. Now.

Mila: denial looks cute on u.

Sky groaned again, muffling her face with her blanket. “Denial, my ass,” she mumbled. “I’d rather date Lambert.”

Lambert gave a short bark, almost offended.

“Relax, it’s just an example,” she said. “I wouldn’t actually. You snore.”

Still, Mila’s words clung to her brain like gum under a shoe.

Hottest guy at your school.

Around you 24/7.

Ugh. Absolutely not. There was nothing remotely romantic about a guy who followed her everywhere, scolded her for being late, and confiscated her vape pen like a grumpy older brother with a badge.

She lay still for a long time, glaring at the ceiling, as if she could force it to agree with her.

Charlie wasn’t hot.

He was irritating.

Either way, she decided the night needed a new plan.

“It’s decided,” she whispered, petting Lambert’s head. “I am sneaking out.”

Lambert’s tail wagged once. Then twice. Then he sneezed.

Sky grinned. “I’ll take that as your support.”