Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
TEDDY
T he tension is thick inside the Jeep, but I ignore it. No one is saying a word, but that doesn’t last long. When Rich has something he wants to say, he’s going to say it. He’s not particularly good at biting his tongue.
“What the fuck were you thinking, Teddy?” My eyes meet his in the rearview mirror.
“Don’t talk to her that way.” Willa glares at her twin brother. She is actually the best one to get him under control. He and Karl might have killed each other on more than one occasion if not for her.
That had all tapered down over the last year with how Rich sprouted into a giant. His father wasn’t a big guy. I wondered how he turned out so big, but after meeting West, I see that it runs in the family. Karl just didn’t have those characteristics, and he knew he could no longer push Rich around. West isn’t scared of him, though. That’s for damn sure.
“It’s fine,” I tell Willa. I want him to speak openly and not tone it down because I’m a girl. We’re all practically family at this point. “What I’m thinking is that if I were you, I’d mind my own business. You don’t see me poking into yours, and I know—” I let that last word hang in the air for a second. “You wouldn't be too thrilled about it if I really decided to.” I respect Rich, and I appreciate his concern, but I can take care of myself.
The quiet falls back over the inside of the Jeep, but I know in Rich fashion that won’t last for long, but he’ll tone it down. He doesn’t want me blurting out his little secret. Not that I would. I’ll keep it tucked away for now unless things get out of control with it. He is an adult, after all. All I’m asking for is the same in return. To let me decide what’s in my best interest.
“Does Eden know?” Did he really go there? No, my mom doesn’t know. She knew I slept in the main house, but that isn’t abnormal. I crash in Willa’s room all the time. Mom merely laughed when I came rushing in to get ready and wished me a good first day on my way out the door, handing me a granola bar.
“Know what? Nothing happened.” A bit of cuddling. That’s no big deal. Right? I’m not in the habit of cuddling boys, let alone men, because that’s what West is. I’d felt every inch of that fact.
“Bullshit, have we ever done that? How many times have all of us passed out in that den? We never woke up that way,” Rich tosses back.
I don’t think that hits me how Rich wants it to because I have to fight a smile. That is true. So it means it had to be more, and maybe I should stop downplaying it. What if there could be something here?
“You act like we fucked,” I toss back.
My mind flashes with images of me straddling West, my hands on his bare chest as I stare down at him. My hair falls all around us as he looks up at me with a smile. It's not a smirk, but a genuine smile I've placed on his face. The idea fills me with warmth.
“Jesus, Teddy!” Rich barks. “You’ve never even been kissed.” Willa glances back to me and rolls her eyes. Rich isn’t wrong, and it’s not shocking he knows that. Lighthouse High isn’t a large school, but it’s not small either.
Rich, however, falls into the popular IT crowd. If I’d been making out with someone, everyone would know because that’s how it is around Lighthouse High. The rumors are plentiful, and everyone has made out with or had sex with someone else's ex. It grosses me out, but we are on an island. It’s slim pickings.
“You’re right; I haven’t, so like I said, nothing happened, and it’s getting real old repeating myself.” I infuse my tone with firmness to ensure that Rich understands that he's reaching my limit.
I’m always calm and understanding. I try to let things slide when people get upset, and I’ll circle back when tempers sizzle out, but I have a limit too, and when I hit it, I’ll match your energy. Willa teases that I have a switch inside of me that flips.
Rich pulls into the school parking lot. Every member of the cheerleading team’s attention swings toward us and Rich. It’s clear nothing has changed. I always get icy glares from them. They think Rich and I have a thing. It’s stupid, but each year they still believe it while trying to get him to take them to bed.
I haven’t seen Rich be public with any girl. There is talk, but I ignore it because, like I said, there has also been talk of him and me, which was bullshit. But who knows?
We hop out of the Jeep. Rich goes one way, toward a black Charger I don't recognize, and Willa and I head to the building. Our first class is together.
"You okay?" Willa asks when we're finally alone for the first time.
"I don't know what I am," I tell her honestly.
"You know he only worries. We don't know West well, and he could just be after sex."
"What if that's all I'm after?"
"Right." Willa rolls her eyes at me again. "Even if you were, you wouldn't be messy and have it that close to home."
"True." I sigh. "I don't know. I'm drawn to him."
"Because you want to fix him? To get him to stop being a grumpy ass that avoids us all?"
"Rich is a grumpy ass, and I'm not drawn to him," I point out. "I just wore him down over time, always being around." With the way we are now, sometimes I forget how he acted when I first came around.
"I forgot about that." Willa laughs. Rich tends to be wary of most people, and when Willa and I immediately clicked, he initially became suspicious. However, over time, he came to understand that I am generally harmless... for the most part.
We say a few hellos to people before we slip into our first class. I am ready to be done with school. Willa has been asking about what colleges we should apply to. She’s a nut because of her grades and how smart she is, then tag in her family name and money, which means she’ll end up at some Ivy League college. No way is that in the cards for me. I have no clue what will happen come summer.
West comes to mind, but I know I have to shake that thought away. He could only be trying to get in my pants, but I’m not buying it. Not with how prickly he’s been and the way he’s kept his distance until last night. Still, I find it difficult to accept the idea that he might have feelings for me. We have a pretty big age gap.
“Heads up,” Willa whispers to me. A moment later, Derrick settles into the seat next to mine. The same way he did when we were at the diner last night.
“Hey.” Derrick leans back in his chair. I give him a polite smile. I’m really trying not to be rude, but I don’t think he’s getting the hint that I’m not interested.
“Hey,” I toss back.
“You didn’t Snap me.”
“I really don’t use the app,” I tell him.
Willa and I downloaded it because it had funny filters a few years ago. We played with it for a few months, then fell off and went back to normal texting. I find it strange he wants to Snap. I get it; everyone else does it, but I find it oddly sneaky that you want messages to disappear.
“Oh, you should have told me.” He pulls out his phone. Damn it. “We can text.” Derrick gives me a familiar smirk that all the girls in school recognize.
“I don’t know.”
“Come on.” He leans in closer. Thankfully, Mrs. Barnes enters the classroom, welcoming everyone back to school.
I sink down in my chair wishing I had West’s number. I wonder what he’s doing and how he feels about last night. He’d been protective over me when Rich was being hotheaded, but that could be his norm. In the kitchen the other day, he’d been pissed about us horsing around with a pot of hot marinara on the stove.
I really hope that it's more because I know that to me, it is.