That Crazy Kind of Love

“Dude, she was so fucking into it Saturday. She was practically begging for my dick.”

The annoying clearly male conversation and responding laughter came through over all the other noise in the front corridor of the school.

“She would have let me put it in any hole, no fucking doubt.”

I curled my lip in disgust, knowing who spoke. I’d recognize his condescending, chauvinistic attitude and voice anywhere.

I didn’t even look at them as I passed by, but I could feel their stares on me. I knew if I glanced at them, told them exactly what I thought about their attitudes toward females, it would result in violence.

Although I was nothing like Braxton, I knew he had a short fuse. I guess that’s where he and I were the same. But where he was used to getting what he wanted, so when he didn’t get his way, he threw a temper tantrum and became aggressive, I was this way out of pure survival.

And Braxton was the kind of guy I had altercations with, the kind who thought he was better than everyone else because of his good looks and money, because his daddy bought him a brand-new car for his sixteenth birthday. He probably never worked a day in his life.

Fuck him.

I headed toward my locker, and once there and the door opened, I tossed the books I wouldn’t need this early in the morning inside. I still hadn’t seen Harlow, and probably wouldn’t until lunch. And that fucking sucked. Now that I’d come to the conclusion that I’d stop fighting my need for her, I was anxious for us to run into each other.

God, I wanted to see her and talk to her, wanted to make plans so it could just be her and me.

Maybe she didn’t even want to hang out with me.

Maybe I was reading into all this too deeply.

But I saw the way she looked at me. I saw the need that matched my own.

I didn’t know how deep her interest in me went, but I wanted to find out.

I played through my mind what I’d do when I saw her. What would I say? How would she react?

I guess I’d find out soon enough.

Chapter Eight

Harlow

I sat down at the lunch table and saw Pixie coming closer. She held a tray of food in one hand, a bottle of water in the other, and Braxton walked beside her. He had his arm over her shoulders. I didn’t know what she saw in that guy, but she had a crush on him for the past year. I was pretty sure it was because he lavished attention on her, but it was only because he hadn’t been with her yet, and he was trying to get in her pants.

Pixie was a gorgeous girl, but she was shy and overlooked that some guys were just plain assholes. She tried to look for the good in everyone. And I doubted Braxton had any.

And for some reason, the girls at Silver Creek cared more about money and social standings than a guy’s personality. They didn’t care that Braxton was a huge dick who bragged to his friends about the girl he banged over the weekend. And it made me feel sorry for them, that they needed that kind of validation from an asshole.

Fuck him.

Braxton glanced over at me as soon as he and Pixie stopped at the table. The slow grin he gave me made my skin crawl. He looked over at Pixie a second later and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. I could only roll my eyes. I’d told her plenty of times Braxton wasn’t a good guy, and although she gave me a look like she knew, she also still hung out with him and his asshole buddies. She still talked to him and told me how much she liked him.

Whatever Braxton said made her cheeks turn pink, and then he was gone, leaving her standing there clearly embarrassed. I didn’t even bother asking what he whispered to her. It was probably something filthy and sexual, knowing the kind of guy he was.

Pixie sat down beside me, and I looked around the lunchroom, hoping to see Aiden. It wasn’t like I saw him frequently during school, but now that I was actively looking for him, it was almost like he was avoiding me. Or maybe it was all in my head.

His usual spot in the cafeteria was empty, and I felt this dejection fill me.

I told myself I’d talk to him, just have the courage to break the weird ice that had seemed to grow between us. Or maybe I was making something out of nothing.

“You want to hang out this weekend?” Pixie asked, and I glanced over at her, her voice pulling me from my thoughts.

“Hang out?” I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but I didn’t say anything else as I opened up my water bottle and took a long drink.