Page 18 of Bad Kind of Love

She continued to scroll through his pictures, every now and then she’d stop on one and we’d both gawk at him dreamily, until she landed on a certain picture that made my arm hair stand up.

“Is that Mr. Fitzgerald?” She swallowed before asking.

“Yah.” I nod, bewitched by the picture. It appeared to be taken a few years ago. Wes looked younger as he stood next to his dad in front of a house. Mr. Fitz’s hair was hanging down past his shoulder in a wavy mess, the only way I’ve seen his hair is tied back. I guess it made him look more professional for school, but here, he looked completely different, more rugged and mysterious. Dangerous even.

“Jesus. I don’t know which one is hotter.” She moved her eyes back and forth over the both of them. “What do you think? Father or son?” She stares up at me mischievously.

“Neither.” I shake my head with a smile.

“More for me then.” She grins like she just hit the imaginary jackpot. Squinting her eyes, she observes the bottom of the screen. “Jack Fitzgerald.”

“Jack.” I taste the word on my tongue, weirdly liking how it sounded. Lingering over his face, I could really study every rough feature. At school, it was nearly impossible to look at him for too long without getting an evil scowl from him. A sharp nose that appeared slightly bent to one side, likely from a punch to the face. His beard was overgrown and scruffy, giving off a biker vibe. Not only was he dressed in dark clothing, a black tee with jeans but he had on black boots that laced up past his ankles. Everything about him was unconventional, yet I was still drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Even if he was an asshole.

Lord help me.

“You good?” Josie studies me with a raised brow.

“Yah.” I quickly back away from the computer. “I just... every time I look at him, I feel like I know him?” I confess, sounding like a crazy person.

“Where the heck would you have met him?” She watches me with a confused expression before pushing out of her chair.

“That’s the thing, I don’t know.” I plop down onto her bed and lie back till I’m staring up at her ceiling fan. “It’s probably nothing anyway.”

“I have a feeling you’d remember if you saw him.” She chuckles as she falls onto the bed beside me.

She was right. There was no way I wouldn’t remember a face or eyes like his. “Yah, you’re probably right.”

The rest of the night we lay in bed and talked about the most randomness of things. Our conversation soon led to me telling her about Wes getting a job at Cool Times, and of course she freaked out. Telling me that Wes “definitely” had a thing for me but all I could do was deny it.

“Wes totally wants in your pants.” She giggles while kicking her feet under her blanket covers like an excited toddler.

“No, he doesn’t.” I shove Josie who’s still laughing like a hyena. The thought of Wes and I having sex… no, I couldn’t even think about that because that was the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. Guys like him are never and I mean never interested in me.

“Travis does too.”

My eyes immediately fly to hers. “How do you know about Travis?” I don’t remember telling her anything about what I saw or the night he came into my work.

“He was bragging to his friends in class how he was gonna fuck you this year.” Josie admits. “I overheard him in Calculus.”

What an asshole! I mean, I already knew he was an asshole, but this took him on a whole other level.

“The only thing he’s gonna get is a kick to the groin.” I mutter.

“And you said guys don’t think you exist.” She chuckles, trying to lighten the mood.

We soon get to the point where we are both not talking anymore, our eyes are closed and the lights are off. As I’m drifting closer and closer to sleep, a pair of cold dark eyes enter my thoughts. Their dreariness pull me deeper into a peaceful slumber.

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