Chapter 9
NINE
SAVANNAH
I’m scrolling through the list in my notes, trying to make sure I have everything ready for when I head off to college, when a text pops up on my screen. A weird mix of excitement and dread surfaces when I see it’s Harley.
Harley
I miss you.
A trembling breath leaves me as I grin.
You’re crazy, I reply, trying to be nonchalant.
I’m not stupid, I know Harley’s reputation, and the more I speak to him, the more he’s pulling me in.
I’m getting attached when I know I shouldn’t.
Not only because of the whispers I’ve heard about him, but because of what’s at stake if my father finds out.
Harley
Don’t pretend you don’t love it, red.
That one’s a bit obvious, no?
Harley
*sighs* I’ll keep working on it.
And he will. I know he will, because he hasn’t given up with it yet.
I still can’t quite grasp why he’s so interested in me. Is it just because he’s bored, alone for the summer, and I’m giving him something to do? I should distance myself, but I can’t.
I secretly love the way he’s so hell-bent on spending time with me.
I’m not the girl that people pay attention to, I’m just the bookworm who no one notices unless it’s with a fi—
Harley
What are you doing?
Why?
Instead of replying to the message, my phone starts ringing with a video call from him. I swallow thickly and press accept.
Harley’s grinning face pops up on my screen, and I find my own tilting up in a small smile, which only makes him grin harder. Jerk.
“Hey, Sav,” he says and stretches out on his bed. He’s wearing a white T-shirt that fits him perfectly as he lies on navy blue sheets.
“Why are you calling, Harley?”
He lifts one shoulder in an awkward shrug. “I wanted to see your pretty face. Sue me.” I chuckle, and his eyes light up at the sound before he sobers. “Is it okay that I called? I figured you wouldn’t have answered if it wasn’t but…”
“It’s fine,” I say gently. “I wouldn’t have answered if I was busy.”
I’m gifted with another smile for that, and then his attention goes to a different part of his screen and he growls.
“I’m going to fucking kill Cole when I see him.”
“It’s not nice to kill your best friend,” I mutter and get more comfortable in bed, shifting so I can prop my phone against the spare pillow.
“Yeah, well, he’s a dick and would deserve it.
They keep sending me pictures and videos of them all hanging out together, trying to rub in the fact I’m not with them.
Then again,” he says with a wicked smirk, “if I was there with them, then I never would have bumped into you and forced you to spend time with me.”
“Hmm,” I murmur. “What would you be doing if you weren’t here? How would you have spent your summer with them?”
“Well…”
I listen to Harley as he regales me with stories of what him and his friends have gotten up to in the past, and it does nothing but remind me of how different we really are. Soon, this will be over.
Soon, I’ll be nothing but a distant memory.
I fall asleep to the sound of his voice, happy to soak up every second I get with him for now.