Page 22 of Wrecked Rose

I’ve tried to roll with the punches all week, but damn. The days Griff and I have classes together are rough. Thank God it’s Friday. It’s not that I don’t want to see him—we’re totally friendly with each other—but it’s frustrating wanting him like I do when all he wants from me is friendship.

Even harder is watching him with a different girl practically every day. For example, as I approach the lunch table, I see Stacia seated on one of his muscular thighs. I mean, cool. I guess the way I have to look at it is they’re only taking up one seat, right? And lucky me, there’s an open spot between them and Daphne. I grimace a bit but continue toward it.

I’m in the midst of telling myself it’s all good when one of Griff’s baseball teammates gets there first—Jack, I think his name is. I stop in my tracks, looking for another free space at the table but there simply isn’t one.

The chair thief turns around, wincing. “Sorry, man. I didn’t realize we were going for the same seat.” Just then, Stacia whispers something to Griff, then scoots off his leg and leaves the lunchroom. Jack glances from Griff to me. “You could always sit in the seat Stacia vacated. That’s your thing, right?” He snickers and nods toward Griff’s lap before he turns back to his lunch.

I stand there for as long as it takes me to blink twice. He didn’t just say that…

But he did.Asshole.Heat flows steadily up my neck and turns my cheeks pink. I stare daggers into the back of his head.

Daphne heard every word and is staring at Jack the jackass, her mouth opening and closing, clearly so shocked she’s having trouble speaking. But man, I can tell from the look on her face she’s steaming. I don’t bother waiting around as she nudges Micah and leans over to whisper in his ear.

The last thing I want is a scene, and most of the table hadn’t been paying attention to what he said because they were too involved in their own conversations.

I release a shuddery breath as I walk away. I don’t think I want to know what Griff thought of that. There’s no way he hadn’t heard his teammate.

I set my lunch tray on an empty table, my appetite completely gone. I push through the doors that exit to the garden behind the school. It’s cold as fuck outside, but I don’t want to be trapped in the same room with that asshole anymore.

Walking quickly along one of the paths, I find a bench to sit on. I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately. Usually, it takes a lot more than that to rattle me. In fact, it’s been so long since I’ve been caught off guard—not having a comeback or any type of response at all—I don’t quite know how to deal with it. But that’s how it always seems to work. Just when I have a good handle on my life, just when I feel good about who I am and what I want—that’s when the assholes come out of the woodwork and destroy my carefully constructed confidence.

Fuck.I should have just played it off. And I probably would have if it had been anyone but Griff sitting there observing. But I really don’t want to think about how he’d have reacted if I had laughed at Jack’s suggestion to take the seat on Griff’s leg and followed through. Would Griff have played along with me? Made a joke out of things? Sometimes guys are weird about stuff like that. There’s no telling whether he would have cracked up or flipped the fuck out and shoved me to the floor. That would’ve been humiliating. I shake my head.

This sucks.

The back door slams open against the brick wall of the school, making a horrible banging noise. Kinda like somebody’s pissed and having as good a day as I am. I shrug and drop my head into my hands, resting my elbows on my knees.

“Hey, Max.” Micah’s low voice rumbles from somewhere on my right side, surprising me.

I whip my head up in time to see him sit down at the other end of the bench. “Hey.”

“That was a bitch move Jack pulled, saying that to you. I’m sure he thought he was being fucking funny, but he wasn’t.”

I shrug. “Maybe he thought I could handle it. Normally, it wouldn’t have fazed me. But I’m in a mood, and it hit me wrong, so…” It’s weird having Micah out here without Daph. I don’t know what to make of it. “Where’s Daph?”

“Well, after she smacked Jack upside the head, she said she wanted to go get you a sandwich.”

I shake my head. “She didn’t have to do that.”

He laughs quietly. “Smack him? Or get you another lunch?”

“Both. Either.” I exhale loudly, throwing my arms out in front of me. “It was dumb. It’s not a big deal.”

He lifts his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Don’t shoot the messenger. You know Daph, though. She was looking for a way to help… and it’syou. So she’s going to do whatever she can think of to make you feel better.” He glances at me, his expression taking on a serious slant. “Anyway, you say the word, and I’ll make sure Jack never acts like a douchebag again.”

I peer at him. “I don’t need anyone to fight my battles for me. I’m gay, not a fucking wuss. I can handle myself.”

Micah works his jaw back and forth. “Yeah. I figured you’d say that. And you’re totally right. But think of it like this—when Daph is upset, it affects me. And you’re important to her, so you’re important to me.” He rubs his hand over the stubble coming in on his cheek. “Besides. No one deserves that. It’s bullshit.”

The door opens again. “Max? Micah?” Daph calls out from over the hedges.

I clear my throat. “Over here.”

A few seconds later, Daphne finds us and rushes over, sitting down in the middle of the bench and handing off the bagged lunch to Micah so she can throw her arms around me in a tight hug. “That sucked. And was so, so dumb. I know you wouldn’t want me to make a big production of it, but I told him I thought he was being an ass.” She presses her lips together as she stares into my eyes. “I’m sorry he said that.”

I sigh. “It’s done. I’d rather not discuss it anymore.”

“You’d rather not discuss it, or I need to tell Micah to take a hike so you can speak freely?” She lifts one eyebrow in question.

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