Boys Like You(14)

And yet, the sea of happy that existed here at the Peach Festival was so thick I felt like I was drowning. Even though I hated hospitals, I couldn’t deny that, at the moment, they were more my speed.

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Anyplace other than here was where I wanted to be. “Okay,”

I answered. “Let’s go.”

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Chapter Eight


Nathan


I stared at the text again, my heart pounding so hard I was sure Monroe heard it. They’re gone for now. Can you make it?

Did I want to? Did I want to make it?

“Turn left at the lights.”

We passed Sheriff Bellafonte’s car parked next to the bus stop and I looked away, glad that Monroe’s lead foot was relaxing a bit. Up ahead, I saw the hospital, and I told Monroe where to park for free, on Fraser Street just to the right. She pulled in along the sidewalk, and I pretended not to notice when she bumped the curb.

Foo Fighters were playing on the radio, and the air that blew out the vents was colder than I liked. Guess the northern girl wasn’t used to our steamy summers, but I liked the heat.

I blew out a long, hot breath, my foot tapping an insane beat on the floor. I was nervous, and I felt like my head was going to explode, but I kept it cool. I had to.

“Are you going to be long?” Monroe asked.

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She tapped her fingers along the steering wheel, and when she turned to look at me, for one second— for one perfect second— I thought she had the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen.

“Nathan?” she asked.

“Call me Nate,” I said as I reached for the door handle.

“What?”

“Nate,” I said again and opened the door. “It’s what my friends call me. Nathan is saved for the parents and everyone else.”

I rounded the car and stared down at her.

“So we’re friends now?” she said, her fingers still tapping the steering wheel, tap, tap, tap, in rapid succession.

“Are you coming?” I asked instead, moving back so she could open the door. She hadn’t even asked why I was here or what I was going to do, which I found interesting. I wondered if it was because she was afraid to ask, but then I decided it was more that she didn’t give a crap. She wasn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type, and I guess that was another thing that I kinda sorta liked about her.

She wasn’t clingy or needy or begging me for something that I couldn’t give her. It was nice to be with someone who had no expectations.

Just last week, Rachel had gotten all heavy on me, afraid that I was mad at her about something and that I was going to break up with her. She begged me to tell her that everything was going to be all right, and I gave in.

But the lie still stuck in my throat, and when I thought about it, I felt sick.

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BOYS LIKE YOU

Monroe glanced behind me, toward the hospital. I’m sure she thought I was a freak. Hell, I probably was. What kind of guy brings a girl to the hospital? A girl he hardly knows? And yet, I needed her. I needed someone, and I guess it sucked for Monroe that she was the only person around.

“Come on,” I repeated, my hand held out.

I could pour on the charm. Smile a certain way and lean against the car. Stare into her eyes like she was the most important girl in the world. I knew what girls liked and I also knew what I could get away with. But I didn’t think any of that would work with this particular girl. Her bullshit meter seemed to be sharp.

So I waited. And I hoped she couldn’t tell that I was basically shitting my pants at the thought of going in there by myself.

“You’re weird,” she said softly.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone?” I smirked.

She shook her head, but there was a slight smile around the corner of her mouth, and for some reason, it felt good to know I’d put it there.

I stepped back, and she opened her door.

We headed up Fraser to the corner and waited for the light to change. When it did, I grabbed her hand— an automatic thing— and was surprised that she let me.

I was also really surprised at how small and soft her hand was.

She didn’t have those fake four-inch things that Rachel and a lot of her girlfriends had. Shit, you could poke a guy’s eyes out if 57

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you weren’t careful. And I didn’t want to think about how many times I’d had to listen to Rachel and her friends bitch about breaking one of them.

In the grand scheme of things, I didn’t care about something as stupid as fake nails, and I was willing to bet most of my buddies didn’t either.

But her hand didn’t stay in mine for long, and by the time we reached the entrance, I reluctantly gave in to her gentle tugs and released her.

She followed me to the elevators, and I punched the fifth floor as if I had every right to. As if I’d done it a thousand times before, when I’d only been up there once and that had been a disaster.

Monroe didn’t say anything, she just followed me inside the elevator, and I wished her hand was still in mine because honestly, the urge to bolt was bad.