Page 37 of Wanted You More

He scoots closer. “Yet.”

“I’d have to be desperate,” I tell him, deadpan.

That doesn’t seem to faze him at all. “I hear desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Marybelle comes storming over to us, making a huge scene with the people around us. When she gets to our row on the bleachers, she starts shoving people aside and wiggling herself into the cramped space between Nick and me.

“There’s my bestie!” she exclaims, giving me an oddly strong and affectionate hug. It isn’t super common for her to be touchy. Unless she’s on something. “Guess what?”

It’s Nick who asks, “What?”

She shoots him a look. “I’m not talking to you, St. Nick. Don’t you have some other poor girl to harass?”

Before he says anything, she turns back to me and opens her bag. “I scored a little snow, if you know what I mean. Maybe you could spend the night at my house sometime during break and we can try it.”

My brows pinch when I look down to see what she’s talking about before quickly slamming her bag shut so nobody sees. “Is that what I think it is?”

Her eyes light up. “Well, it ain’t pixie dust.”

She’s mentioned wanting to try coke before, but I never thought she’d go through with it.

“It’ll be fun,” Marybelle insists.

I don’t think she and I have the same definition of fun. “We’ll talk about it later. When there aren’t a ton of people around.”

She winks. “Smart. I get you. Oh! It’s about to start. I hope the baseball team goes down. They have the best abs. Seeing them covered in whipped cream makes me want to text Jacob again.”

That’s when I know she’s on something.

Because she hates Jacob’s guts.

Then again, maybe Nick has a point.

Maybe the best sex is the kind you have with somebody you can’t stand.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Dad is staringat the fully decorated Christmas tree that Wolfe and I worked hard on with awe on his face. It’s been a long time since we woke up this early on the holiday and got to see the tree lights brighten the room long before the sun does.

“You kids did a good job,” he tells us, bringing his cup of coffee to his lips. “Could have done without seeing the reindeer positioned like that though.”

Wolfe laughs. “That was Austen’s idea,” he rats on me. When Dad saw one of the Rudolph decorations perched onto the back end of the other one, he’d turned red and made us move them for being inappropriate.

I smack my brother. “Way to narc.”

He shrugs and picks up one of the wrapped presents. “Is this…duct tape?”

Grinning, I take it from him and pass it to Dad, knowing it’s one of his. “I couldn’t find any regular tape and didn’t want to go back out to get some, so I decided to use that. It’s well secured at least.”

Dad blinks down at the package. “Wolfe, can you go to the kitchen and grab the scissors?”

“Be careful when you cut into it!” I instruct, knowing two new shirts are inside. Mom used to buy him new clothes all the time because he was the worst at getting new things for himself. I’ve tried keeping up with tradition now that I can afford to.

An hour later, all the presents are opened with wrapping paper scattered across the floor. Dad starts picking everything up with Wolfe when the doorbell rings and my brother glances at our father before turning to me.

I stand up, figuring it might be Aunt Mae since she does random drop-ins. “Fine. I’ll get it.”

“Wait!” Wolfe blurts, grabbing my arm to stop me when I start walking toward the door. “I didn’t get you a Christmas present.”

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