Inferno Read Online Free PDF Page A

dead, I definitely wouldn’t be in high school with you right now. I’d still be in bed asleep.”
    Nick laughed. He couldn’t blame Caleb for that. He wouldn’t be here either if he could find another way out. But that wasn’t what concerned him. “Would you still be on my speed dial?”
    Caleb narrowed those dark eyes on him. “I really want to hate you, Gautier.”
    Nick grinned. “Yeah, I’m like kudzu. I look all nice and harmless and the next thing you know I’ve taken root and it’s too late … you like me.” His smile faded as he saw Kody in the hallway, coming toward them. It slammed into him like a fist. “So how long does it usually take to get over a broken heart?”
    Caleb glanced in Kody’s direction before he answered. “You don’t even want to know.… My best advice?” He jerked his chin to the opposite end of the hallway. “Distraction.”
    Scowling, Nick wasn’t sure what he meant until Casey Woods threw herself against him so hard that he stumbled back and hit the lockers behind him with a resounding crash. He would complain, but having his arms full of the most popular cheerleader in school squelched any desire to be negative about how this miracle had come into being.
    She looked up at him and smiled. “You’re my hero, Nick!” She kissed him.
    Stunned past any kind of rational thought, he didn’t move. He couldn’t. It wasn’t every day the captain of the cheerleaders shoved him into the wall against school policy and lip-locked him. Even more shocking was the sensation of her long dark ponytail brushing against the bare skin on his arm.
    After a second, she pulled back and gave him a hot look that melted him on the spot. “Call me later, ’kay?”
    He tried to speak, but nothing would come out. Instead, he stood there like some gulping catfish with his mouth opening and closing and making no sound whatsoever.
    Yeah, I’m so slick, teen models call me for dating advice.
    Luckily, Casey didn’t wait around for his brain to kick in and have him say something really stupid. She skipped back into the crowd after one of her friends. Still stunned, Nick pushed himself off the locker bank.
    “I’m so glad I’m not you.”
    He blinked at Brynna’s dire tone as she opened her locker beside him. “I didn’t do anything.”
    “Yeah, but I caught the look on Kody’s face when she saw Casey molesting you, then reversed course and headed the other way. Oooo, Nick, it wasn’t pretty. Kody gonna have her some deep-fried Cajun mountain oysters for dinner … probably breakfast, too.”
    Nick let out a tired breath as his pain returned … with friends. “Nah, she won’t. We broke up.”
    “Since when?”
    “Ten minutes ago,” Caleb answered for him.
    “No!” Brynna gasped. “Say it ain’t so, Gautier. You two were perfect together.”
    This wasn’t helping his mental state. What next? Would some sappy breakup song start playing over the intercom to torture him? “Not perfect enough.”
    Brynna growled low in her throat. “What did you do?”
    Her question offended him. “It wasn’t me. Why does it always have to be the guy’s fault?”
    “’Cause it usually is.”
    Well, that was insulting. “Thanks a lot, Brynna. And for the record, I’m the victim.”
    “Then I’m sorry.”
    Nick inclined his head to her, grateful that she’d at least tried to sound sincere. “I appreciate it.”
    Rubbing his arm, she offered him a sympathetic smile. “For the record? I hope you two get back together.”
    “For the record, we won’t.”
    She shook her head sadly and closed her locker door. “Well, if you need a friend, you have my number. I haven’t forgotten what you did for me when I needed someone. You really are a great guy, Nick.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Any time.” Brynna headed off to class.
    Nick turned away and walked toward his next period. Thankfully, it was with Caleb and not Kody.
    Caleb picked up his pace to walk beside him. “You do know Brynna was