Free Firebug by Lish McBride

months for my hair to grow back properly.
    â€œAva,” Brittany drawled, her eyes now fixed onto the snug way Lock’s T-shirt fit. I didn’t care for the way she was examining him, like she was eyeing a choice steak at a butcher shop. Unlike Ryan, her boyfriend didn’t seem to care much about what his date was up to. He was actually trying to read the menu. The menu didn’t have pictures, so someone would have to help him. “Why don’t you introduce us to your friends?” Brittany emphasized the word friends like she didn’t believe that was all they were. Ryan didn’t miss the implication either. She smirked, knowing full well she was throwing nitroglycerin onto the flames.
    There was really nothing else I could do. “Everybody, this is Ezra and Lock. Guys, this is everybody.”
    Most people would have left it at that, but not the unstoppable blonde from the black lagoon. “Ava, I swear, you have the comportment of a farm animal.” She leaned over the table, oh-so-subtly displaying her bountiful (and probably stuffed) cleavage as she did so. “Hi, boys. I’m Brittany.”
    I should have given her a blistering retort, but honestly, I was just impressed that she knew the word comportment .
    â€œThis is Jeff and—of course—Ryan.” The little blond she-devil grinned savagely as she introduced him.
    Ryan stuck his hand out. “Ava’s boyfriend ,” he added.
    Ezra feigned surprise. “Why, Ava, you sly dog.” He slid into the seat next to Ryan, ignoring his outstretched hand. Instead, he slid his arm around the back of the booth and got up-close and personal. “Well, aren’t you the looker.” He grabbed Ryan’s chin. “Isn’t he just the end, Lock? So very pretty.”
    â€œHe is pretty,” Lock said. “Would you say eyelashes to die for, Aves?”
    Ezra gave Ryan’s chin a little shake. “I could just eat you up.” The light caught Ezra’s eyes, and they shone. He suddenly became very serious. “I really could.” Ryan shrank away from him, and I could tell he’d caught the oddly implied threat. Then he realized what he was doing and straightened his shoulders, chest out.
    By then, bouncy Ezra was back. “You simply must tell us all about yourself.”
    â€œAves hasn’t mentioned a boyfriend,” Lock chimed in, “and we’re just dying to hear all about you.” Liar. My friends were filthy lying sadists. Lock grabbed Ryan’s hand off the table and shook it, winking at him conspiratorially. “She’s fond of her little secrets, aren’t you, cupcake?” He chucked me on the chin. He actually took his knuckles and gave my chin an affectionate little push. Between that and the use of “cupcake,” I think Ryan was experiencing some sort of aneurysm. I know I was.
    Dead. The bastard was dead. I didn’t care how pissed Lock was that I’d tried to keep Ryan a secret.
    Ryan looked thrown by the whole thing. He was used to being the one who started the trouble, who stirred things up. What he didn’t know was that he was a small-town amateur next to Ezra. On some level, he recognized that he was outclassed, and he didn’t know what to do.
    Why had I kept him from my friends? I’d tried to tell them once, but it had felt strangely like I was betraying Lock. I wasn’t supposed to keep secrets, though, not from him, and he was hurt, so he was pushing me into hot water with Ryan. Ezra was just in it for the fun.
    Mostly I’d kept Ryan to myself because it was nice to have one corner of my life not touched by the Coterie. So much for that. Besides, it felt weird and almost juvenile to call up Lock and gush about my boyfriend. I wasn’t that kind of girl and he knew it.
    Apparently neither of us was being terribly understanding about the other’s foibles at the moment, if our mutual glare was any