Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 997(@200wpm)___ 797(@250wpm)___ 664(@300wpm)
“Shut up,” she mutters, rolling her eyes, her lips pulling into a smirk before turning on Abby. “Whatever happened to that guy you were seeing over the summer?”
Abby drops her gaze immediately, her cheeks flushing bright red. “Nothing,” she says with a scoff, hurt shining in her eyes. “School started, and he decided he needs to keep up appearances and couldn’t possibly be seen with a loser like me.”
“What?” I breathe. “No, you’re lying. Tell me he didn’t really say that?”
“I wish I could,” she says, her heart on her sleeve as Cora grips her hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “He was more than happy to sneak through my bedroom window in the middle of the night and tell me how much he liked me, but the thought of being seen in public with me—no chance in hell.”
“I swear,” Tarni mutters, her gaze shifting around the cafeteria, trying to figure out the culprit. “Just give me a name, and I’ll bust his ass open right now.”
Abby shakes her head. “You know I can’t,” she breathes. “If he knew I was telling people, he’d make my life a living hell. Despite how I feel about him, he’s an ass, and he really doesn’t care about me enough not to make me the laughingstock of the whole school.”
“So you’re just gonna go ahead and let him use you for sex instead?” Cora grunts. “Like some kind of cheap ho. Good enough to blow his load all over, but not good enough to see the woman inside? Come on, Abby. You’re better than that, and you can’t let him get away with it. Name and shame, girl. Name and shame.”
Abby cringes and shakes her head, but Tarni knows how to get exactly what she wants, always has. “Okay, don’t tell us his name. Just . . . point.”
Abby rolls her eyes, and a stupid smirk pulls across her lips as she tilts her head in the direction of the rowdy football players across the room. “He’s over there,” she says, making a point not to look that way.
We all look up, and I do what I can not to glance directly at Noah, but I simply don’t have the self-control. He’s preoccupied talking shit with the people around him and thankfully doesn’t look up. Though I know he senses my stare just as I sense his.
My gaze shifts over the other players, trying to figure out which one of these assholes could be cruel enough to have pushed Abby aside like that, but the truth is, they all could. Not a single guy on the football team is a decent person. They’re all cold and cruel, the perfect fit for Noah.
“Umm . . . is it Lucas Maxwell?” Tarni questions.
Abby shakes her head, her eyes hardening, realizing Tarni is more than prepared to make her way through the whole list until she figures it out. “Uh, gross,” she says. “I have better taste than that.”
“No, you don’t,” Cora says, slinging her arm over the back of her seat, her gaze narrowed as she studies her best friend. “It’s Liam Xander, isn’t it? You’ve always had a thing for him.”
Abby’s eyes widen, and realizing how obvious she is, she scrunches her face in regret, not yet ready to face the music as every single eye at the table flicks toward the asshole in question. Liam was supposed to be the star of the school, supposed to be the captain and the quarterback for this season, and Abby is right—he is an ass. But now with Noah here, it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. They’re either going to despise each other and cause havoc around the school, or they’ll be tight, which could only mean even more bad news for Noah.
Liam Xander isn’t just an ass. He’s trouble—and not the good kind. If Noah gets involved with him, I hope God has mercy on every single one of our souls.
“Are you shitting me?” Tarni says, wide-eyed, her gaze flicking between Abby and Liam and taking in the way he stands behind one of the cheerleaders, his hands braced on her shoulders as he whispers something in her ear—something filthy enough to make her face flush brighter than the sun. “That’s huge! You slept with Liam? Holy shit. You have to tell me all about it.”
Abby’s cheeks flush, and when a wide grin stretches across her face, I realize the rest of my lunch break is going to be all about Liam Xander’s dick. The girls start talking animatedly between themselves, and when Abby recaps their third night together, I zone out.
My gaze lifts back to Noah’s table to find him carelessly shoving Shannan off his lap before getting to his feet, and I watch with dread as the one and only Liam Xander gets up with him. They say something I can’t even try to hear over the noise of the cafeteria, and with that, the two of them cut through the many tables toward the back exit that leads behind the school, a pack of cigarettes in Noah’s hand.