More Than Friends (Friends, #2)(35)

Like he does to all the other girls.

The rest of the ride home we’re quiet, and I get lost in my thoughts. I’m excited and scared for what might happen next. Will he take me to his room? Or will we watch TV? A movie? Maybe hang out outside? The Tuttle backyard is amazing. I don’t know what we’ll do, but I will soon find out.

Once we arrive on campus, we unload in the school parking lot, Jordan taking my hand the moment we’re off the bus.

“I have to drop off my equipment in the locker room before I leave.” He glances around the lot. “Where’s your car?”

“My dad brought me. My brother had to borrow my car tonight. He’s home for the weekend.” I’m terrified he’ll try and take it back with him to college and then I’ll be out of a car for good. I can’t afford for that to happen. I need the car to get to my job. I can’t rely on the kindness of strangers to always give me a ride.

“Is he going to pick you up?” Jordan frowns.

“No, I texted him and let him know I had a ride.” I smile and poke him in the ribs. “That would be you.”

He grabs my hand and brings it to his mouth, kissing the back of it. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He leaves before I can say anything else.

I lean against a nearby ledge and check my phone, though I don’t have any text messages. There are a few random Snapchats, including one from Livvy that’s part of her story. A photo of her kissing Ryan’s cheek out on the football field right after the game, it’s captioned “my boo,” accompanied by a bunch of heart-eyes emojis. It makes me happy to see her acknowledging Ryan and not stressing over Dustin.

“You really think he likes her?”

I lift my head when I hear the question, though I don’t see anyone else around.

“Of course not. It’s just a phase. Like she’s worthy of Tuttle. Have you ever really looked at her? She’s so plain and boring.”

“They looked pretty cozy on the bus. He had his arm around her. I saw him kiss her too.”

“Please. I don’t know why he’s doing this. Maybe he’s slumming it? Oh!” Lauren Mancini and her gang suddenly appear, Brianne Brown one of them. The shocked look on Lauren’s face is totally fake. She knew I was close by. She made sure to say all of those mean things on purpose.

And I can’t deny hearing them talk about me cut like a knife.

I cross my arms and glare at her, but otherwise don’t say a word.

“Oops. Guess you overheard us, huh?” Lauren giggles, and so do the rest of her friends.

I remain quiet. What can I say? They’ll tear me apart no matter what. I can’t win with this group.

“What, can’t bother to defend yourself since deep down inside, you know we’re speaking the truth?” Lauren’s perfectly arched brows rise. “Whatever you’re doing with Jordan Tuttle, it’s going to end badly. For you.”

She’s right. I’m sure she’s right. It’s why I avoided him in the first place. Why I pushed him away when he tried to take it further. Here I go again, allowing him to get closer, yet I still don’t know much about him. He’s so secretive. Not much of a talker. I think I want to know more, but do I really?

Why should I bother if all it’s going to get me is grief and heartache?

A car pulls up and Livvy leaps out of the passenger side, running toward me with a big smile on her face. She skids to a stop when she spots Lauren and the rest of her gang and the smile fades.

“Am I interrupting something?” she asks.

“Nothing important.” Lauren beams. “Gearing up to give Ryan an extra good blowjob for winning tonight, huh? I’m sure that’s his favorite way to see you—on your knees.” They all start cracking up.

Livvy glares, her eyes lingering on Brianne Brown. Of course. “At least I have a gorgeous boyfriend who wants me to suck his dick, unlike you,” she says to Lauren. The sharp gasps that ring through the air make Liv laugh. She takes my hand. “Come on, Amanda. Let’s ditch these bitches.”

I let Livvy pull me away from Lauren and her mean girls, but I start dragging my feet when she doesn’t stop. “I can’t leave. I promised Jordan.”

“Are you two getting together tonight?” Livvy sucks in a surprised breath. “How exciting! Are you gonna hang out? Go to dinner or something?”

“We’re going back to his place,” I mumble.

Livvy’s face falls. “Oh. Don’t tell me you’re going to watch a movie.”

I frown. “Why do you ask?” He hasn’t mentioned exactly what we’ll be doing, and I hadn’t thought to question him.

“It’s just that…” Her voice drifts and she clears her throat. “I’m going to be honest with you, Amanda. And I’m not saying this to be mean like Lauren, but I want you to know the truth.”

“The truth about what? Come on, Liv. You’re scaring me.”

“Okay.” She takes a deep breath, like she needs to prepare herself. “Whenever Tuttle takes a girl into the theater room at his house, that’s basically code for, ‘Give me a blowjob now.’ That’s all he ever wants from girls. Blowjobs. That’s it. He’s a total BJ whore.” Livvy’s expression is full of sympathy. “You don’t think that’s all he wants from you, do you?”