I made a sound of frustration. "Stop that."
Over his shoulder, Joel said, "No way."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Youknowwhy."
Okay, maybe I did. It was the sight of Derek, who was still shoving his way forward. A moment later, Derek stopped, directly in front of Joel and demanded, "You hear what I just said?"
Joel gave something like a laugh. "Dude, the whole place heard you." He glanced toward the nearest exit. "You wanna take it outside?"
I blurted out, "No!" I lunged around Joel and placed myself not exactly between them, but close enough to join in their discussion, assuming you could call it that.
Both guys turned to look. Neither one looked happy with the move.
Derek glared at me. "What the hell areyoudoing here?"
Cassie jumped to her feet. "We'reherecelebrating her birthday, not that you seem to care."
"Yeah?" Derek said. "Well, maybe I've got more important things going on."
Cassie glared at him. "Or maybe, you're being an ass."
Ignoring Cassie's insult, Derek turned back to Joel and said, "The cops are on the way, so I suggest you stick around."
Joel looked utterly unconcerned. "Yeah? Why's that?"
"Three words, asshole." Derek straightened. "Grand theft auto."
My stomach sank.Oh, God.I should've known this would happen. I should'vemadeJoel return the Camaro before anyone spotted it.
Instead, what had I done? I'd let him leave the Camaro at my place while he drove me here in my dad's car.
I froze.My dad's car.
Joel laughed in Derek's face. "That's the best you got?" He spread out his arms. "You wanna hit me? Don't be a pussy. Bring it on."
I spoke up. "Wait!"
Again, they both turned to look.
Dreading what I had to say next, I looked to Derek and said, "By any chance, you don't mean the Porsche, do you?"
Chapter 23
Derek still looked on the verge of exploding. "Hell yeah, I mean the Porsche." He pointed to Joel. "Thisassholewas seen driving it,alone, a couple of hours ago."
Now, it was my turn to glare. "Oh yeah? Where?"
Derek gestured toward the rear of the bar. "Inthatparking lot." He offered up a cold smile. "If we're lucky, we've got it on tape."
My gaze narrowed. "Who's we?"
Derek straightened. "I've got my sources."
No doubt, he did. Derek's dad was a big fish in this tiny pond of a town, which meant that Derek, by association, had this irritating way of finding out everything that went on, even things that were none of his business.
"Yeah?" I said. "Well, maybe he was driving it, because I asked him to."
