Wired (Skinned, Book 3) by Robin Wasserman Page B
Authors: Robin Wasserman
Tags: Fiction, General, Family & Relationships, Science-Fiction, All Ages, Children's Books, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Science Fiction; Fantasy; & Magic, Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12), Social Issues, Friendship, Mysteries & Detective Stories, Social Issues - Friendship, Mysteries; Espionage; & Detective Stories
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she doing here?" I hissed.
"She was sleeping," Sari drawled. She didn't bother to sit up. Or put a shirt on over the flimsy red bra.
I hooked a finger in Riley's collar and tugged him toward the door. Zo dropped onto a couch in the corner, her face blank, her eyes empty. "Leave her alone," I warned Sari. Then dragged Riley outside and slammed the door behind us. And slammed it again, for good measure.
"Well?"
Riley did his strong, silent thing, trying to stare me down. Not tonight.
"Say something." The apartment had only one real room. Small, flimsy partitions separated the living space from the kitchen from the bed. There was only one bed.
He risked a half smile. "Something?"
"What is that girl doing in your bed?" Half naked .
Did every relationship turn into a cliché? I resented the
116
triteness of it almost as much as I resented the girl on the bed. Half-naked ex-girlfriend-- hot, org ex-girlfriend--on the bed. Lying, defensive boyfriend. It didn't take a genius to finish the equation. One plus one equaled girlfriend storming out in anger, boyfriend groveling for forgiveness. I'd played the scene plenty of times before. With Walker--given his Pavlovian flirting with anything of the double-X variety--I'd had it memorized, and could deliver my lines in thirty seconds flat.
But Riley wasn't Walker. And storming away wasn't so easy when you had nowhere else to go.
"She needed a place to crash." Riley gave me a pointed look. "You know how that is."
"Don't."
"What?"
"Pretend it's the same."
"You need something. She needed something. That's all I'm saying."
Sure, exactly the same. Except that Zo was my sister, and Sari ... the last time I'd seen Sari, she'd demonstrated her loyalty to Riley by double-crossing him, kidnapping me, and generally doing everything she could to help out the guy who wanted him dead.
She'd also made it painfully clear that "old friends"--Riley's words--wasn't exactly the most accurate description of their previous relationship. And that while she might not want
117
him back, she had no tolerance for the prospect of someone taking her place.
"So she's staying here," I said.
"Nothing happened. It's not--"
"So she's staying here ."
"Yeah."
"How long?"
"Until she can find a--"
"No. How long has she been here?" Sleeping in his bed. Wearing his T-shirts. Or not wearing them.
"A few days," he admitted.
"She just showed up on your doorstep."
He hesitated. "I brought her here."
"You brought her here." I hated how I sounded. Rigid with cold fury, like someone else I knew.
"I told you I went back to the city a few times," Riley said. "During the vidlife."
A few times. He'd told me once . But I let it pass.
"I found her in one of those abandoned houses, right on the edge. You remember?"
I remembered. Enough to know that if he'd found her there, it was because he'd been looking. "You told me no one lives there."
"They don't. Not if they have any other choice. But Gray kicked her out. Said he couldn't trust her anymore after what she did."
118
"He must have pretty high standards." Gray had been her replacement for Riley--at least until it was no longer expedient. Then she'd screwed him over too. If she'd succeeded, I would be lying somewhere in a heap of spare parts; Gray would be dead.
"I found her half starved, hiding in a closet from some assholes who were trying to--" He stopped, shook his head. "She's a friend. I couldn't leave her there."
I remembered a windowless room, ropes digging into my wrists and ankles, chaining me to a chair. Sari's thug looming over me, his ass resting on my knees, his breath puffing against my cheek, his grubby fingers on my skin. "She's not my friend."
"You don't get it."
It was the unspoken assumption between us, that his life had been hard where mine was soft, and that made him strong where I was weak. It made me less than. I was tired of the whole thing. No, I'd passed tired a few miles back. I was done.
"I get it," I said. "Fine. She's
"She was sleeping," Sari drawled. She didn't bother to sit up. Or put a shirt on over the flimsy red bra.
I hooked a finger in Riley's collar and tugged him toward the door. Zo dropped onto a couch in the corner, her face blank, her eyes empty. "Leave her alone," I warned Sari. Then dragged Riley outside and slammed the door behind us. And slammed it again, for good measure.
"Well?"
Riley did his strong, silent thing, trying to stare me down. Not tonight.
"Say something." The apartment had only one real room. Small, flimsy partitions separated the living space from the kitchen from the bed. There was only one bed.
He risked a half smile. "Something?"
"What is that girl doing in your bed?" Half naked .
Did every relationship turn into a cliché? I resented the
116
triteness of it almost as much as I resented the girl on the bed. Half-naked ex-girlfriend-- hot, org ex-girlfriend--on the bed. Lying, defensive boyfriend. It didn't take a genius to finish the equation. One plus one equaled girlfriend storming out in anger, boyfriend groveling for forgiveness. I'd played the scene plenty of times before. With Walker--given his Pavlovian flirting with anything of the double-X variety--I'd had it memorized, and could deliver my lines in thirty seconds flat.
But Riley wasn't Walker. And storming away wasn't so easy when you had nowhere else to go.
"She needed a place to crash." Riley gave me a pointed look. "You know how that is."
"Don't."
"What?"
"Pretend it's the same."
"You need something. She needed something. That's all I'm saying."
Sure, exactly the same. Except that Zo was my sister, and Sari ... the last time I'd seen Sari, she'd demonstrated her loyalty to Riley by double-crossing him, kidnapping me, and generally doing everything she could to help out the guy who wanted him dead.
She'd also made it painfully clear that "old friends"--Riley's words--wasn't exactly the most accurate description of their previous relationship. And that while she might not want
117
him back, she had no tolerance for the prospect of someone taking her place.
"So she's staying here," I said.
"Nothing happened. It's not--"
"So she's staying here ."
"Yeah."
"How long?"
"Until she can find a--"
"No. How long has she been here?" Sleeping in his bed. Wearing his T-shirts. Or not wearing them.
"A few days," he admitted.
"She just showed up on your doorstep."
He hesitated. "I brought her here."
"You brought her here." I hated how I sounded. Rigid with cold fury, like someone else I knew.
"I told you I went back to the city a few times," Riley said. "During the vidlife."
A few times. He'd told me once . But I let it pass.
"I found her in one of those abandoned houses, right on the edge. You remember?"
I remembered. Enough to know that if he'd found her there, it was because he'd been looking. "You told me no one lives there."
"They don't. Not if they have any other choice. But Gray kicked her out. Said he couldn't trust her anymore after what she did."
118
"He must have pretty high standards." Gray had been her replacement for Riley--at least until it was no longer expedient. Then she'd screwed him over too. If she'd succeeded, I would be lying somewhere in a heap of spare parts; Gray would be dead.
"I found her half starved, hiding in a closet from some assholes who were trying to--" He stopped, shook his head. "She's a friend. I couldn't leave her there."
I remembered a windowless room, ropes digging into my wrists and ankles, chaining me to a chair. Sari's thug looming over me, his ass resting on my knees, his breath puffing against my cheek, his grubby fingers on my skin. "She's not my friend."
"You don't get it."
It was the unspoken assumption between us, that his life had been hard where mine was soft, and that made him strong where I was weak. It made me less than. I was tired of the whole thing. No, I'd passed tired a few miles back. I was done.
"I get it," I said. "Fine. She's
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