Kiss and Break Up (Magnolia Cove, #1)(80)

The weather had cooled, but not so much that I’d rather sit inside among the prying eyes and careless whispers. Where I was easy prey for Dash.

I’d thought too soon. “Oh, Peggy!”

“Shit.” I fumbled and dropped my sandwich on the ground.

Daphne started choking on her water as Dash took a seat right next to me, straddling the bench. “Dropped your lunch? No problem. I bought you some mac and cheese.”

Daphne was crying, fanning her eyes to keep her makeup in place.

My heart was racing, stumbling over nonexistent hurdles, and landing flat on its face. “Dash, please go.” I didn’t even look at him.

His knee bumped my thigh as he scooted even closer. So close that if a teacher walked out here, which they would soon, he’d be asked to move. “Not going to happen. Also, I heard you mention Willa.” He unwrapped some utensils, stabbing the cheesy pasta with them and pushing one toward me.

Heat rose from it, and the smell just about had me salivating. I tried not to buy too much from the cafeteria even though Dad took care of anything to do with school. Mom liked to make my lunch. Ever since we’d moved out of Dad’s, it was something she seemed to take pride in. But I couldn’t say I didn’t get excited on the days when I didn’t bring any.

Swallowing my pride, I pulled the mac and cheese closer, stirring it before blowing and taking a bite. “Thanks,” I grumbled.

“You’re welcome.” He began eating his own.

“What about Willa?” Daphne asked.

Dash swallowed his mouthful. “Right. Yeah, someone tattled on her and Jackson. I don’t think she’s coming back.”

My fork dropped, and Dash caught it before it hit the table, setting it in the bowl. “She’s not coming back?”

“Holy shit.” Daphne blinked, wide eyes directed at the wooden table.

“Yep,” he said, uncapping his water and taking a sip before offering it to me. I declined. “Apparently, she’s been kicked out. Gone to live with her dad.”

Her dad lived half an hour away on the outskirts of the cove, and I turned to Daphne, unsure of what to even say.

“She didn’t tell us,” Daphne said, her forehead creasing.

Dash waved his fork around. “I daresay she’s had more pressing matters to address, like, oh, I dunno, moving out of the house she’s grown up in.”

Daphne thinned her eyes at Dash, who just kept eating.

He had a point, though, and so I tried not to feel butt hurt over it. “We need to call her.”

Daphne nodded. “Emergency scrap date.”

We finished eating in silence. Mainly because I was starving, but also because I didn’t know what to say with Dash right there, and the shock sitting heavy between me and Daphne.

When Lars came to the table, Daphne stilled, then immediately packed her things and said she’d see me in geography.

“Jesus,” Lars groaned, rubbing his chin. “She really hates me, huh?”

“You did get some other girl pregnant while you and her were starting to get serious,” Dash said.

Lars almost growled. “It was before we started hooking up.”

“Potato, potahto,” Dash sang.

I spoke before the fists Lars was clenching on the table could do any damage. “Keep trying.”

He blinked at me beneath dark lashes, his jaw relaxing. “Yeah? She say something to you?”

“I wouldn’t tell you if she had.” I packed up my lunch. “All I’m saying is that you should keep trying.” I got up, taking it to the trash before heading to the door as the bell rang.

“Freckles,” Dash said, exasperated. “Not even a goodbye? I bought you lunch.”

“You shouldn’t have expectations when you do nice things for others.” I stalked between the tables inside the cafeteria, keeping my eyes trained on the doors ahead.

His hand snuck around my waist as soon as the doors shut behind us, and he pulled me into a tiny alcove behind a row of lockers. “Dash, no.” I pushed at his chest as he pressed himself against me.

“Be mad, but just look at me while you’re doing it.” I scowled at him, and he chuckled, his thumb dancing over my cheek. “That’s it.” The humor faded from his expression, and his eyes took on a softer sheen. “Did you get my poem?”

A sound left me, half laughter, half breath. “Yes. Very romantic.”

He grinned, then licked his lips, and I knew what he was about to do, so I ducked beneath the arm above my head and raced down the hall.

His laughter shadowed me. “Never forget that I can run faster, Freckles.”





Peggy



I hadn’t been online since Dash left my room on Saturday. Partly because I knew he’d probably be online, and partly because I had no motivation to play.

But after school the next day, and another round of Dash cornering me at every turn, I needed to switch off. He was everywhere—at school, in the parking lot, texting my phone with pathetic but kind of funny gifs, and worst of all, in my head.

I couldn’t shake him. But at least online, I could ignore him. Maybe even just block him. Though that was likely to have him showing up at my house.

I shoved my homework aside, then shimmied on my stomach to my nightstand and nabbed the remote. While I waited for it to load, I checked my phone, hoping for a message from Willa. There’d been radio silence, and Daphne and I had wondered if maybe her parents had taken her phone.