Chapter Two
Wesley
I couldn’t get the girl out of my head. Every night since that double date, I’ve been thinking about her. The way she laughs. The adorable freckles lining her nose. The way her fiery comebacks had me wanting to piss her off even more. It was oddly toxic, and I was here for it.
Eddie throws a handful of popcorn at me, snapping me out of my trance.
“Stop thinking about her.”
Rich looks at us both in confusion. “About who?”
“The mean twin,” Eddie answers.
“Twins?”
“Pippa,” Eddie says with a laugh. “She has a twin sister.”
Rich sits up a little. “Wait, Pippa has a twin sister, and you didn’t even try to hook me up?”
Eddie shrugs. “You’re with Zoe, and I didn’t think you two would hit it off.”
You can see the defeat in Rich’s eyes. That self-confidence is dwindling. “Oh.” Rich moves to the TV and pops in the DVD he brought with him. It’s some kind of zombie movie that’s supposed to be funny.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Rich. I just meant she’s more Wesley’s type. He likes his girls nerdy and bookwormy.”
I chomp down a handful of popcorn. “I like my girls smart and leggy, actually.”
“Oh, she’s definitely leggy. Just like her sister,” Eddie casually says, smiling like he’s thinking about Pippa.
“Speaking of which. What was up with your attitude at the diner? I thought you liked Pippa?”
“I did. I mean I do,” he says in frustration. “Sometimes she tries way too hard, and I don’t know, I guess I just don’t feel like she’s the one.”
“Maybe you should give her a shot?” Rich suggests. “Like a real shot. Date her for a few months, and if you still feel like she’s not the one, then drop her.”
Nodding in agreement, I add, “Besides, do you want to stay a virgin forever?”
“You’re a virgin too, Wes.”
Shrugging, I munch on more popcorn, popping the top on a soda can before chugging it down. “We all are, Eddie.”
“Speak for yourselves,” Rich exclaims, smiling smugly. “Zoe and I sealed the deal last night.”
I almost choke on my popcorn. “You what?”
“We had sex, and it was glorious.”
Eddie and I share a look, one Rich immediately picks up on. “What?”
“It’s nothing,” Eddie exclaims, trying to hide the secret we’ve both been keeping from him. Neither one of us wants to take away his thunder.
“No, you guys know something. Tell me!” he demands.
I hate this.
Eddie shakes his head, but Rich is one of my closest friends and he deserves to know.
“She doesn’t care about you, Rich. Not really,” I tell him.
“Lies. Zoe loves me. She told me herself.”
“It’s a lie, dude. She only went out with you because her friends bet her she wouldn’t. It’s going around school.”
“And you’re just telling me this now?”
“We saw how happy you were and didn’t want to ruin that for you,” I argue. “We know how self-conscious you can be about your scars, and how happy having a girlfriend has made you. We thought the relationship was harmless.”
“Until now,” Eddie adds. “Now she’s taking things too far.”
Rich looks mortally wounded. “I can’t believe this. I won’t believe this.” He quickly whips out his cellphone and starts texting Zoe.
“Fuck!” he growls. “She’s got me blocked.”
“Rich, I’m sorry,” Eddie exclaims.
He glares at us both. “You guys should’ve told me. I fucking lost my virginity to her. I—” Tears form in his eyes. “God, I was so fucking stupid.”
“She’s not worth it, dude,” I remind him. “She’s just a stupid girl.”
Eddie’s phone rings, breaking up the awkwardness between us.
It’s Pippa.
“Hey, Pippa, what’s up?” He keeps his eyes trained on Rich, who’s angrily typing something out on his phone and then deleting it. “Oh, yeah, sorry. We already started the movie. Yeah, I’m sorry. Wish you could’ve come over too. Yeah, sure. I can take a look at it. Tomorrow? Sure, see you then.”
Eddie hangs up the phone and sighs. “She never gives up.”
“Like Rich said before, Eddie. Just give her a chance. Who knows? She might be the future Mrs. Eddie Frazier.”
Eddie sinks further into his couch. “I guess it’s worth a shot. She is hot, and I do like her. But it’s hard to push for something that isn’t exactly there.”
Rich suddenly shoots up to his feet. “I gotta go.”
“Come on, Rich, we just put in the movie,” I plead.
“Nah, I need to fix this, Wes. I need to prove to her why we work so well together.” He’s practically frantic as he moves toward the door. “We can do this again next weekend.”
If he was mad at us, he didn’t show it. He was too desperate to find Zoe and talk this shit out.
But we all knew where this was going… Zoe only dated Rich because her friends bet she wouldn’t do it, and she got money for every month she stayed with him.
I wonder what she got for sleeping with him?
It makes my stomach twist just thinking about it.
“Fuck,” Eddie growls, running a hand through his hair. “This is bad, Wes.”
“I know.”
“We should stop him.”
“Yeah, we should, but you know he won’t listen. He thinks he can fix this. Let him try.”
Eddie nods reluctantly. “I guess you’re right. It just sucks. Rich is a good guy, and girls make fun of him because of his face. It’s sad.”
“It really is.”
We spend the next hour and thirty minutes watching the movie without Rich, both of us sitting there in silence. When Rich shows up just as the credits roll with tears in his eyes, looking defeated and rejected, we pop in another bag of popcorn, restart the movie, and watch it again.
If there’s one thing I’ll always be, it’s there for my friends. I don’t care what time of night or day. If one of them is in trouble, I’ll be at their side, fighting whatever fight they’re in right alongside them.
Because that’s what best friends do. And these are two friends I’ll have for the rest of my life. Nothing, not even a girl like Zoe, can damper this friendship.
Well, maybe there’s one girl. I just don’t know if I’ll ever see her again.
The next time I see Poppy Kiplingler, she’s in the deep recesses of the library, nose buried in a physics book, scribbling notes frantically into a notebook.
“I always knew you were a smart girl,” I say playfully, breaking her concentration.
She glances up, glares, then mumbles under her breath, “Go away.”
I plop onto the seat in front of her, unfazed.
“Whatcha studying?”
She points to the word Physics on the cover of her book and rolls her eyes. “God, not only are you a degenerate, but you’re also illiterate, too. Go figure.”
“You gonna tutor me, GCG? Teach me how to read and all that fun shit?”
She never looks up from her book. “And waste precious hours of my day? Absolutely not.”
One of Zoe’s friends, Morgan Cooper, picks that exact moment to walk by, smiling at me with the same look she gives me anytime she’s nearby.
“Hey, Wesley. How are you?” she questions, ignoring Poppy so she can sit on the table, her little skirt riding up just enough for me to see her floral panties beneath.
She smirks when I look up at her, gulping.
“I’m fine, Morgan. How are you?”
She flips her blonde locks over her shoulder. “I’m amazing now that you’re here.”
Poppy scoffs, causing Morgan to acknowledge her.
“Oh, didn’t see you there, Poppy. How are you?”
Poppy looks up briefly and paints on a fake smile. “Fine, just studying.”
“Are you tutoring Wesley in Physics?”
Poppy laughs mockingly. “Like he’d understand it. Last I heard, he just learned his colors and how to count to ten.”
God, it’s hot when she insults me.
Morgan laughs. “Is that true, Wesley? Are you just learning your colors?”
Her hand curls under my chin, her touch soft and light.
“Something like that.”
She playfully messes up my hair. “So, I heard you were single, and I’m looking for a prom date. Are you going with anyone?”
For some reason, my gaze immediately moves toward Poppy. She glances back down at her book the second we make eye contact.
“Not yet.”
It’s true. I haven’t asked anyone yet because the only girl I want to go with is physically repulsed by my existence.
“Well, how about we go together? There’s a few of us getting a limo, and we bought a couple of hotel rooms for after.”
“Is that so?”
She nods, seductively moving her legs so I can fully see the little pink roses on her white cotton panties.
“Mmm hmm, I think it’d be fun, don’t you?”
“Can I get back to you?” I ask her, hoping that I can somehow talk Poppy into being my date instead.
Morgan frowns. “Oh, sure. Just don’t keep me waiting too long, okay? There are a couple of guys who have asked me, but you’re the only guy I want to go with.”
I salute her with a smile. “I won’t. I promise.”
She’s gone before I can respond, leaving me alone with Poppy again.
“We should sanitize the table now,” Poppy mutters. “It’s got her ass juices on it.”
The laugh that bursts out of me is so loud that the librarian shushes me from across the room.
I duck my head, biting back another laugh as I lean closer to Poppy’s side of the table.
“You’re going to get detention,” Poppy hisses.
“Worth it,” I murmur. “That was a solid line.”
She doesn’t look up, just flips a page with way more force than necessary. “You’re lucky I do community service.”
“Just for me?”
She finally glances up, unimpressed. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
I grin. “Too late.”
There’s a beat of silence, broken only by the scratch of her pen.
I watch her for a second, analyzing every movement like it will somehow break through all her hostility.
Noting the way she’s chewing on the end of her pencil while she’s thinking, and the little crease between her brows like the world personally offends her when she messes up a problem and has to do it over again.
I notice it all. Every crack and idiosyncrasy that makes her so damn beautiful.
“So,” I say casually, like my heart isn’t doing something stupid in my chest. “Prom’s coming up in a few months, as you might have heard.”
Her pen pauses.
“Unfortunately,” she mutters.
“I was thinking,” I continue, keeping my tone light, “going with you could make it a pretty entertaining night.”
That gets her attention.
She looks up slowly, eyes round with confusion. “Are you asking me to be your date?”
I shrug, playing it off like I’m not sweating at the collar. “I mean… yeah. I think so.”
She laughs… the girl actually laughs at me. “Absolutely not.”
“Wow,” I say. “You didn’t even pretend to think about it.”
“There’s nothing to think about,” she says, already back to her notes. “I’m going with someone else.”
That stings more than I expect.
“Oh yeah?” I ask. “Anyone I know?”
She smirks. “Probably. He’s on the football team.”
Of course, he is.
“A jock,” I say flatly. “That doesn’t sound like your kind of guy.”
“And what is, Wesley?” She pushes her glasses up her freckled nose.
Each dot, like a little bread crumb, leads to those big, brown eyes that glare at me with a ferocious beauty I can’t look away from.
Maybe it’s those little tints of red in her black tresses, glowing beneath the fluorescent lights above, making me weak, or maybe it’s how she forces herself not to smile, but sometimes I catch her lips twitching when she thinks I’m not looking.
Whatever it is, there’s something about Poppy Kiplinger that will always have my attention.
I lean back in my chair. “I always envisioned you with someone, I don’t know, charismatic and charming. Someone who can take a slap and keeps coming back for more.”
She shakes her head. “You mean someone with an incredibly big ego, shoulders too big for his tiny little head, and thinks reading is optional unless the book has pictures?”
“And very handsome,” I add.
“Yeah, whoever that is sounds horrific.”
She meets my gaze, knowing we’re flirting even though she hates to admit it. “I’m going with Tony Allistar,” she quickly states.
“Tony? You’re going with Tony?”
She nods. “He asked me last week. Why? What’s wrong with Tony?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Everything. He’s kind of known for… getting around, Poppy.” That makes something dark and unpleasant twist in my gut. Just the thought of another man touching her makes me feel sick to my stomach.
“He asked, and I said yes. Besides, he’s hot as hell.”
“So, you’re cool with being just another name on his list?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Her eyes flash. “At least he doesn’t steal cars.”
“Attempted,” I correct. “The car never left your driveway.”
She snorts, then covers her mouth as she scowls in embarrassment. “You’re impossible.”
“And yet,” I say, leaning in just enough to lower my voice, “you still talk to me.”
She holds my gaze this time. It’s heated and full of sexual tension. “Don’t get the wrong idea, Wesley. I consider our conversations part of my community service. Nothing more.”
I laugh again, and Hilda the librarian slaps a ruler on her desk, giving me her final wooden warning. One more outburst and detention will definitely be in my future.
“And I consider it foreplay.”
Her cheeks turn pink.
“Well, don’t.”
“Too late,” I reply casually. “Already did.”
She shakes her head, gathering her books in a huff. “You’re not my type.”
“Yeah?” I question, standing up at the same time she does. “That’s funny because you’re exactly mine.”
She pauses, lips pressing together in frustration because she knows her pulse just betrayed her. I saw that faint sparkle in her eyes, like my words dismantle and lift her up all at the same time.
“Go bother someone else,” she says gruffly, brushing past me so I can feel the heat of her body calling to mine.
My gaze tracks her all the way out the door, heart thumping wildly in my chest again. It’s the push and pull of our dynamic that has me so entranced by her. I feel a pull to her I haven’t felt with anyone else. And that pull is enough to keep me coming back for more.
Morgan suddenly appears again, and if I had to guess, she was eavesdropping on our conversation.
She places a very flirtatious hand on my chest, lightly squeezing my pecs. “So, Wesley, about prom?”
I nod, looking into her big green eyes that are begging for an answer.
“You got yourself a date, Morgan. Make sure you look extra pretty prom night, okay?”
She giggles, pressing up against me even closer. “Oh, the dress I have picked out is short, pink, and very, very revealing.”
“Sounds like my kind of dress.”
Then she moves in and runs her lips along my jawline. “Hopefully, it won’t be on me all night, if you know what I mean?”
And I do.
But I’ll never find out what she looks like without it on. I saw how jealous Poppy got when Morgan was talking to me earlier. If anything, Morgan is nothing more than a way to make Poppy jealous. I have no intention of fucking her after prom.
Not when Poppy will be there with Tony.
Nope! That stupid jock might have scored Poppy as his prom date, but I’ve got her attention.
And right now, that’s enough for me.