Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas

again, wishing he was here. What is he doing now? What does he do when
he’s alone?
“Fuckin’ Saints think they own this place already,” I hear someone say.
I blink, snapping out of my thoughts as I set my sundae aside. I look up,
following my brothers’ gazes.
Milo Price and Callum Ames eye us as they head up the sidewalk to the
entrance of the restaurant, followed by Becks and Krisjen. Becks waves at
me, offering a contrite smile that says she tried to talk them out of it. I don’t
wave back, but Aracely looks between us, and I can just tell this is all my
fault. Somehow.
“They never will,” Trace replies. “They will never own this place.”
I yank over one of the trays and start in on what crawfish is left, wishing
they were just here to eat, but I know they’re not. Why else would they cross
the tracks to dine at a mosquito-infested, converted garage with rolls of paper
towels instead of napkins on the tables and peeling linoleum floors?
Sanoa Bay is an unincorporated neighborhood of St. Carmen, but it may
as well be the moon. They’re Saints. We’re Swamp. We share a zip code.
That’s it.
Aracely starts mumbling under her breath, and then she hikes up the
volume, barking something in Spanish. I flick my gaze to Army and see he’s
already eyeing me. Like Macon, he speaks Spanish and understands her.
Unfortunately, by the time Iron was born, our parents got tired and stopped
raising their children bilingual.
But Army’s face tells me she’s talking about me. Like I didn’t already
know that.
“Just don’t,” I tell her.
She shrugs. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Yeah, every time you’re not talking to me, you’re speaking Spanish,” I
snap back. “They’re not my friends, okay?”
I didn’t invite them. Just because we go to the same school…
“You’re with them more than you’re home,” she counters.
A bitter laugh catches in my throat, and I straighten up, looking around
the table for support. “I’m at school. Or work. Or practice.”
Iron sighs, trying to keep the peace. “It’s okay.”
But he says it to me as if I’m the asshole losing my temper here. She
started it.
“I mean, what does she want from me?” I bark back at him. “Macon sent