Page 52 of Only With You

Though with him, the standards are set in the pits of Hell, but hopefully, they’ll be able to hover just a bit over the rim.

“Look.” His voice interrupts my thoughts.

He’s up and striding to the kitchen and stops when he’s a few feet away from me.

“I don’t like the back and forth, or bullshitting. Give me the paper,” he demands, holding his palm out.

I hesitate, but he snatches it from my grasp. Uncapping the pen, he scribbles something down, folds it back, and hands it to me.

“When you’re over the bullshit, look at this. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I swallow, staring down at the paper that feels heavier than it did just a few seconds ago. My mind endlessly wonders aboutwhat he could have written. It wouldn’t take anything for me to look, but anxiety blooms in my chest.

There’s no telling what it could be. This is Landon I’m talking about. For all I know, it could be a bunch of nothing. Something to get in my head.

I’m not going to look at it.

16

LANDON

“So let me get this straight.”Jag pauses, pulling his shirt over his head. “You’re going to tutor Julianna Sparks? The blond-haired, blue-eyed girl with the smart-ass mouth? The same girl who hit Roxy freshman year? The girl who lives with our best friends, that girl? The girl you wholeheartedly despise?”

“I told you to stop calling it Roxy.” I hate that he’s adamant on calling my car that.

“Beside the point.” He sits on his chair in front of his locker and grabs one of his sneakers. “Do you really think it’s going to work out? You and her can’t go a few minutes without arguing. How are you going to manage a whole semester?”

“It just will,” I reply, turning my back to him.

I didn’t give him a chance to ask me questions when I got home last night. Polly couldn’t keep her mouth shut and announced my decision to tutor Hollywood on our group chat.

I’ve ignored him all day. During morning conditioning, film class, lunch, practice, and now in the locker room. He’s persistent and being annoying as fuck. I thought Gabby and Polly were nosey, but Jagger exceeds that.

Grabbing my trousers, I pull them over my legs and finish getting dressed.

“But—”

“Jag,” I cut him off with a bite in my tone. “It’s just tutoring.”

When I turn around, a sly smile stretches across his face. “Just tutoring?”

I stare apathetically, grabbing my chain from my locker. “What more do you want to know? You’ve done tutoring. You know how it goes. Why are you making something out of nothing?”

“Because you and her are volatile. One wrong look. One wrong word. One wrong breath. One wronganythingand it’s game over. You two set each other off so easily. I just don’t want there to be strife where there doesn’t need to be any. You’re my best friend and?—”

“Against my better judgement.”

His eyes gleam. “You say that, but you love me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t know things about me.”

I drag my fingers through my damp hair, pushing the wayward strands away from my forehead. “Everything I know about you, or anyone, is against my will.”

Some have taken my silence as a way for them to open up to me. Sometimes, it feels like I have thisTalk To Mesign on my forehead because people talk whether I like it or not.

For instance, Polly. She told me her entire life story. She became an open vault I had no desire to unlock. And don’t get me started on Jayden. But the only positive to his chattiness is that it’s mostly about food. When he talks about food, he gets hungry; therefore, he cooks and shares with me. And I’ll never turn his food away, it’s too good.

“Yet you stuck around, so point for me, zero for you.” He curls his fingers, making a zero sign with his hand.

I’d punch his stupid grin if I didn’t like him so much. He annoys me at times, but he’s indeed my best friend.

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