When Our Worlds Collide (Our Worlds #1)(34)
“That’s a shame,” she grins at me.
The ride to the pizza place is sort of out of the way. The awkward silence makes it drill on in slow motion. I don’t understand why we aren’t just going to one closer to town. I don’t argue with her though. It wouldn’t have done any good. The sky is clear and the temperature is just warm enough to roll down the windows. Amanda has an eclectic variety of music which I appreciate. She reminds me more of a pop mainstream hip hop type. Maybe I have judged her too quickly. Radioactive by Imagine Dragon swings out of the speakers pulsing through my veins. I stare over at Amanda as she drives.
“What?” She turns down the stereo.
“Imagine Dragons?” I questioned her choice of music.
“Yeah, what about them?”
“I thought you were more of a Nicki Minaj type is all,” I explain trying not to make it sound like an insult even though I’m positive that it’s just that.
“And I thought you were the good girl type, but here you are grabbing pizza with the devil.” She raises one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows at me. She is either trying to be intimidating or I don’t know what her intentions are.
“I am the good girl type.” I defend myself again.
“And I like Nicki Minaj.” Amanda pulls into a hole in the wall pizza place that’s off the beaten path. I notice Graham’s car and Craig’s truck parked out front. She grabs the keys from the ignition and saunters towards the door before I even get my crutches out of her back seat. This should be interesting. If I wasn’t dependent on these crutches I’d walk home from here and skip the whole night.
I maneuvered through the front door without tripping over my own feet to find the three of them sitting at a booth in the far back corner near one of the large windows. Craig stands up and grabs my crutches for me. I slide across the vinyl bench and sit directly in front of Graham. He looks up at me with the faintest of smiles in greeting. It’s barely there, but I know what I see. It looks to me that it is more of a sympathetic one than an actual greeting. Maybe he doesn’t want to be here just as badly as I do.
We order a few pizzas in between conversations about baseball and other drama at school that I clearly am not in the know about. Amanda does most of the talking. I’m grateful. I have no idea who or what the three of them are talking about most of the time. Amanda makes sure to always have her hands somewhere on Graham’s body. It’s irritating the way she finds any reason to glide a finger over his bicep or playfully punch him in the arm. Did that really work with guys, the dumb playful act? I’m glaring, aren’t I? Why do I even care? Anyone can touch him. It’s allowed. I’m sure he enjoys the attention.
“Did you guys hear about Violet and Dan? Someone said they saw him going into the boathouse wearing her dress,” Amanda laughs. My back stiffens as she talks about Violet. I don’t like it when people talk about people who aren’t present to defend themselves.
“It happened a few weekends back too,” Craig chimes in. It seems distasteful to me how Craig participates in the gossip. I really don’t like where this conversation is headed.
Graham must notice my reaction. He’s watching me from across the booth as I avoid paying attention to what they are saying in front of me. “Like you two haven’t ever done anything embarrassing like that? I recall a time where you were stark naked in the back of Timmy’s pick up after a rather drunk night Amanda and Craig don’t get me started on your past indiscretions.” Both of them send him a death glare telling him to shut up. Craig’s fists are tensed up into hard balls in between mine and his thighs on the booth.
Where did that come from I wonder. Whatever it is I’m appreciative. “Thank you,” I mouth to Graham while the other two busy themselves grabbing slices of pizza off of the silver pedestal.
“You’re welcome,” Graham mouths winking at me. A light blush creeps up my neck and over my cheeks. Why am I affected like this whenever he does something like that?
The night continues as I suspected it would. Amanda drools over everything Graham says. I avoid hands on Craig underneath the table. With every brush of his fingers on my thighs I’m having trouble figuring out how I feel about Craig. Craig is difficult. He has small moments where I understand his appeal. He’s charming and flirtatious, but then there are other moments that peak out to remind me of the type of guy he probably really is when he isn’t lathering on the charm. I continue to have to shy away from his grasp under the table from going farther north of my thigh than I am comfortable with. Graham keeps a watchful eye on our side and at one point he seems to be grinding his teeth. His jaw tenses as he watches me move away from Craig’s lingering touch.
After we are done with eating our pizza we all walk out to the parking lot. Well, I hobble more like it. Graham sticks back to see if I need any help. I shake my head that I’m okay. It’s a sweet gesture though, something Craig didn’t bother to do.
I can’t hold it back any longer and I yawn. “You ready to call it a night?” Craig asks sounding disappointed.
“Yes. I’m sorry. I just have a lot of homework to work on. I had fun though,” I lie. It seemed like the right thing to say. If I were to be honest it wouldn’t have been pretty. Having Craig’s hands all over me tonight made me uncomfortable. I guess after sleeping in a guy’s bed they expect a forwardness from you. He has the wrong idea then because it isn’t ever going to happen.