Page 15 of Tell Me You Need Me

"I don't know what I am," I tell her honestly.

"You know he only worries. We don't know West well, and he could just be after sex."

"What if that's all I'm after?"

"Right." Willa rolls her eyes at me again. "Even if you were, you wouldn't be messy and have it that close to home."

"True." I sigh. "I don't know. I'm drawn to him."

"Because you want to fix him? To get him to stop being a grumpy ass that avoids us all?"

"Rich is a grumpy ass, and I'm not drawn to him," I point out. "I just wore him down over time, always being around." With the way we are now, sometimes I forget how he acted when I first came around.

"I forgot about that." Willa laughs. Rich tends to be wary of most people, and when Willa and I immediately clicked, he initially became suspicious. However, over time, he came to understand that I am generally harmless... for the most part.

We say a few hellos to people before we slip into our first class. I am ready to be done with school. Willa has been asking about what colleges we should apply to. She’s a nut because of her grades and how smart she is, then tag in her family name and money, which means she’ll end up at some Ivy League college. No way is that in the cards for me. I have no clue what will happen come summer.

West comes to mind, but I know I have to shake that thought away. He could only be trying to get in my pants, but I’m not buying it. Not with how prickly he’s been and the way he’s kept his distance until last night. Still, I find it difficult to accept the idea that he might have feelings for me. We have a pretty big age gap.

“Heads up,” Willa whispers to me. A moment later, Derrick settles into the seat next to mine. The same way he did when we were at the diner last night.

“Hey.” Derrick leans back in his chair. I give him a polite smile. I’m really trying not to be rude, but I don’t think he’s getting the hint that I’m not interested.

“Hey,” I toss back.

“You didn’t Snap me.”

“I really don’t use the app,” I tell him.

Willa and I downloaded it because it had funny filters a few years ago. We played with it for a few months, then fell off and went back to normal texting. I find it strange he wants to Snap. I get it; everyone else does it, but I find it oddly sneaky that you want messages to disappear.

“Oh, you should have told me.” He pulls out his phone. Damn it. “We can text.” Derrick gives me a familiar smirk that all the girls in school recognize.

“I don’t know.”

“Come on.” He leans in closer. Thankfully, Mrs. Barnes enters the classroom, welcoming everyone back to school.

I sink down in my chair wishing I had West’s number. I wonder what he’s doing and how he feels about last night. He’d been protective over me when Rich was being hotheaded, but that could be his norm. In the kitchen the other day, he’d been pissed about us horsing around with a pot of hot marinara on the stove.

I really hope that it's more because I know that to me, it is.

Chapter Eleven

WEST

“You don’t look like shit, but you do look pissed.” Jack places a coffee down on my desk.

“I got sleep.” I give it to him, hoping he drops it there.

“Not in your bed.” Of course he noticed. Nosy bastard notices everything.

“Have my cameras or the shadow tags come yet?” I change the subject, not entertaining him. It takes an additional day to deliver items to the island. I’ll have to find a solution to that.

“What are you trying to find?” Jack leans over to see my screen, and I shut it. “Was that the Lighthouse High School website?”

“Is there something you need?”

A slow smile spreads across Jack’s face.

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