Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“Her button?” he echoes blankly, and then, when he notices my reddening cheeks, he presses his lips together in silent laughter. “Ah. I see.”
“Basically, I keep stroking it until she’s done and—”
He howls, doubling over. “Fuck, you gotta stop. Please.”
I’m laughing now too. It sounds insane and horrifyingly sexual the way I phrased it. But I’m glad I managed to lighten the mood again.
After we quiet down, he stares at me with a crooked smile. “I think I’m in love with you.”
I roll my eyes. “Shut up.”
“So pure,” he says again, more to himself than me.
“I’m not pure,” I argue.
“You are,” he corrects. “Which means…you probably need to think about what you’re going to do tomorrow.”
“About what?”
“Damage control with your little friends. I should have warned you sooner, but being seen gallivanting the streets with someone of my ill-repute does have its social consequences.”
“Like how? Everyone will think we did it?”
“‘Did it,’ she says, like we’re on a family sitcom.”
“Now there’s something wrong with the way I talk?”
“No.” He licks ice cream off his spoon like he’s trying to flirt with it. “Not if you’re on the Disney Channel.”
“If this is your pathetic ploy to get me to not like you, it won’t work.”
“If I were trying, you’d already be running.”
“Ha. Give it your best shot, then. Startle me with your depravity.”
“All right. This semester I fucked a couple of married teachers. Jack and Gwen Goodwyn.”
“Oh.” I’m not sure what I expected him to say, but that wasn’t it. “Like a threesome?”
“I wish. It was one at a time. But at the same time.” He sighs glumly. “They both resigned, unfortunately. It’s been quite boring since they left.”
I smother a laugh. “Right, yeah. I could see how it would be.”
He watches me almost sympathetically over his double scoop of black cherry ice cream. “Have I scandalized you beyond repair?”
“Nope.” I’m surprised, sure. But hardly clutching my proverbial pearls. “I guess I didn’t know for sure that you were, like, bi, I guess?”
He shrugs. “Labels are…limiting. I hate them. I don’t think of myself in terms of bi or gay or straight. I enjoy sex and I’m attracted to people, sometimes in blurry amalgamations.”
“You know, that sounds oddly reasonable when you put it that way.”
“I think so.”
There’s no denying Lawson tends to invite the negative reactions he gets from people. He makes a point of putting them on edge. Sloane’s not so different, even if their methods are. Like my sister, though, I think Lawson ultimately wants to be understood. With RJ, she fought so hard to scare him off because she liked him that much. Knew when she decided to open her heart to him, he’d have earned it. It’s manipulative, and a messed-up way to treat people, backfiring more often than not. Still, there’s a broken sense of logic to it.
“Tell me something,” he says. “You and Fenn are on the outs, right?”
My guard immediately shoots up. “True.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why?”
He grins. “I mean why. What was the reason for the sudden split? Nobody’s talking.”
He’s not wrong. Only four people in the world know what Fenn did that night. Four who have kept this secret between us. And while Sloane claims to be furious at Fenn, not once have I felt like she or RJ have my back on this. RJ’s loyalty is to his stepbrother. Sloane says she’s loyal to me, yet she’s still talking to Fenn, giving him details about my school life and how many fucking detentions I get. How is that taking my side?
So when Lawson asks, I decide to be honest instead of dodging or lying. Because maybe I’m hoping he might be the one person selfish enough to not take their sides.
“What do you remember about prom?” I ask him.
He’s understandably taken aback when he furrows his brow at the topic. “Honestly, not much. Think I blacked out.”
“That makes two of us.” I laugh darkly. “But I just found out that Fenn’s the one who pulled me out of the car.”
Lawson blinks at me. “Christ, are you serious?”
“And it’s on video.”
“Holy shit.” Setting his cup of melted ice cream aside, he turns to face me fully. “Was he in the car?”
“No, and we don’t know who was. There’s someone else on the video but not enough to recognize them. Meanwhile, Fenn refuses to explain why he didn’t say a word about any of this. Why he rescued me and then just left me on the ground. Unconscious. With a head injury.” Anger rises inside me. “Who does that?”
“That’s fucked up,” Lawson agrees, and coming from him, that says a lot.
“Right?” I shake my head. “So…yeah…you can imagine why that would strain a relationship.”
“No shit.” His silvery eyes focus on me, searching my expression. “If he gives you an explanation that makes any sense, will you forgive him?”