Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 80074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“This ain’t over,” he cautioned, lettin’ go of my arm like I knew he would.
For the rest of the mornin’, I avoided him like he was the plague. But even that didn’t stop what I had to go through because of him.
“Oh my God! I can’t believe he scored with the hottest girl in our school!”
“Jackson and Willow are the hottest couple ever!”
“He fucked her in public. Probably wanting to stake his claim!”
“I bet he’s going to ask her to be his girlfriend.”
“I heard they fucked for hours!”
It was everywhere...
Jackson this, Jackson that.
If I heard about him fuckin’ Willow one more time, I was gonna scream my head off.
Every corner of our school was filled with his bullshit.
When it came to Jackson, I was used to hearin’ rumors about him, them, every girl that ever laid eyes on him. It never bothered me before, but knowin’ these rumors were true now hurt my heart in ways I hadn’t expected.
He lied to me, he fuckin’ lied to me.
Why?
It made no sense, he owed me nothin’.
I never had a problem with Willow until today. She never even looked in my direction.
Did she honestly think I wanted to catch them screwin’?
“You alright?” Cash questioned, turnin’ my attention back to him while we ate lunch in the courtyard.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I replied, actin’ nonchalant about the situation when I was anythin’ but that.
It consumed me.
They consumed me.
Or was it Jackson?
Shiloh chimed in, sittin’ down on the grass with us, “Can someone please just announce on the intercom how Jackson slept with Willow already. I’m so tired of hearing it from everyone’s mouths today. I swear if another person tells me this, I’m going to announce it myself. Why is it such a big deal anyway? She’s not even that pretty.”
“You don’t think she’s pretty?” I blurted without thinkin’.
She shrugged. “I mean she’s okay if you’re into that sort of look.”
“And what look is that?”
“Slutty.”
I laughed, eyein’ Cash who was starin’ at me as if he could see right through me.
“Since when do you care if Willow’s pretty?” he asked, genuinely intrigued.
“I saw her naked, and perfect seems to be the only word that comes to mind.”
“So you were there? You did see them?” he pried, catchin’ me off guard.
“Umm ... yeah. I mean, kind of. I guess.”
“Eww.” Shiloh jerked back. “It is true? I thought people were making that up. Why were you there? And why am I hearing this news from everyone else and not you?”
“There’s nothin’ to tell.”
“You caught Jackson doing the deed with Queen Bee and you think there’s nothing to tell?”
“Shiloh—”
“Do you not trust me?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
I had to think quick on my feet. “It was an accident. I walked down to the beach to get some air, and I found them.”
“Harley, the pier was far away from the hotel,” Cash spoke, only lookin’ at me. “You walked that much on accident?”
“What’s with the fifty questions? Why are you guys actin’ all butt hurt?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because we never keep secrets from each other,” Shiloh affirmed, makin’ me feel like shit.
“It wasn’t a secret. There was nothin’ to tell.”
“So he didn’t chase after you?” she added.
I bit my lower lip.
“Harley!” she exclaimed, with offense written all over her face.
“Shiloh, it’s not that big of a deal.”
“How do you figure? Jackson leaves the girl he’s banging to chase after you. You don’t think that’s big enough of a deal to tell your best friends? What did he say to you?”
“Nothin’. I mean, not anythin’ that mattered. Why are you guys lookin’ at me like that?”
Golden boy chose that moment to involve himself, diggin’ me into the hole a little deeper. Jackson intervened, “Gremlin, why you lying to your best friends?”
I glared at him, threatenin’ the asshole with my intense, beady eyes.
Keep your mouth shut if you know what’s good for you.
“I think the more important question is, why did you leave your girlfriend—”
Jackson cut off Cash, “She’s not my girlfriend.”
She’s not?
“It’s none of your fuckin’ business, McGraw.”
“You’re the king of the school, everything you do is everyone’s business. Just take a look around,” Shiloh stated.
He did.
Instantly noticin’ all eyes were on him, waitin’ to see what happened next.
No longer wantin’ to play this game I unexpectedly found myself in, I opened the front pocket of my backpack, pullin’ out my Jackson Blockers while standin’. I couldn’t remember the last time I put these on, and by the expression on Jackson’s face, he didn’t either.
Steppin’ toward me, he whispered in my ear, “How long you gonna keep this going? You know you miss me, Harley.”
With a stone-cold look, I moved around him. Leavin’ three stunned faces in my wake as I walked through the crowd of stares with my head held high. Although, quickly dreadin’ my last class of the day.