Page 102 of Broken Ties (Rixon High 4)

“We cross our hearts.” I dragged a finger over my chest, fighting a smirk.

I didn’t feel like behaving. I felt like going wild. All week, I’d been avoiding Aaron while trying to let myself get swept up in Eli’s advances.

My head and my heart were at war and it was exhausting.

Sofia was right, I needed this.

Right on cue, her cell pinged and she cussed under her breath. “I bet that’s him.”

“What are you going to tell him?” Sofia asked, swiping a generous amount of gloss over her lips.

“That we’re going out for pizza. I mean, technically there might be a margarita or two involved somewhere.” Her mouth twitched.

“You can say we pressured you into taking us to a bar.”

“I’m not worried. I’m sure I can think of some way to make it up to him.” Peyton grinned, and the three of us bursted out laughing.

“Thanks for letting us come,” I said. “I needed this.”

“Things with Aaron that bad?”

My gaze snapped to Sofia and she recoiled. “Don’t look at me, I didn’t—okay, I may have told her a little bit.”

“He kissed you,” Peyton said with a secretive smile. “Took him long enough.”

“Did you miss the part where he rejected me and kept calling me his friend? It was a disaster.”

“You have history and you’re friends. Best friends. It must be a little weird to cross that line.”

“But that’s the thing, he doesn’t want to cross it.”

“He’s a coward,” Sofia huffed.

“Or… and don’t shoot me for playing devil’s advocate here, but maybe he doesn’t want you to get hurt.”

“Because of course that’s the only way it could possibly end… in heartache.” Peyton and Sofia shared a look, and I blew out a heavy sigh. “Talking about this is putting a damper on my mood. Can we change the subject?”

“I heard Eli Hannigan is taking you to Homecoming.” Peyton gave me a look, and my eyes flew to Sofia again.

“Is there anything you didn’t tell her?”

“What?” She shrugged. “I wanted her to have all the facts.”

“I’m glad you find my love life so entertaining.”

“Oh come on, Pops, it isn’t like that and you know it.”

“Hmm.” I fluffed out my hair before tugging on the hem of my cropped sweater. It was a sage color and complemented my dark hair and brought out the green in my eyes. I’d teamed it with dark wash skinny jeans and kitten-heeled boots.

Sexy but cute.

Not that catching the eye of guys was even on my radar.

No, tonight was about having fun with my friends and remembering that this girl didn’t need a boy to make her happy.

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