The Way to Game the Walk of Shame(58)
Disappointment was etched across her face, but Carly just nodded. “All right, let’s go.”
I knew she thought I was making a mistake, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t choosing my life without Evan. I was choosing to have time to imagine my life without him. And whether the chance of being with him was worth the risk of my heartbreak if he didn’t feel the same way.
20
-Evan-
I searched up and down the hall for Taylor, but she was nowhere in sight. Even though it was only sixth period and we had just seen each other at lunch, I missed her. We’d gone from seeing each other every single day to barely seeing each other at all. Now I felt like something was always missing. I didn’t know how I’d gone through my life without Taylor before.
I couldn’t even call her whenever I wanted to, in case her dad was around. He was pretty pissed. I felt bad for Taylor, since I got to escape and she was stuck. After all, I was the one who came over. I had asked her to stay with me a little longer before we fell asleep. It was my fault that she was in trouble in the first place. It was always my fault.
After I got my history book from my locker, an arm curved around my torso and someone leaned into my back. Taylor. An automatic grin crossed my face, but I tried to play it cool. Like I hadn’t spent all day thinking about her. “I know you missed me, but this is a surprise. I thought you didn’t care for PDA? Not that I mind.”
The arms tightened. “You know I could never keep my hands off you, whether we’re in public or private.”
I spun around just as Lauren moved in closer. “What are you doing?”
Her pink lips pouted. “I would have thought that you’d know exactly what I’m doing.”
I was surprised to see her. She had called me a few times since the beach party, but I didn’t pick up. Partly because I didn’t want to hear her bitch at me, but also because I was a little pissed about the way she had treated Taylor. I understood how Lauren could be, but Taylor didn’t deserve that.
But I knew I couldn’t avoid Lauren forever. We were friends. Are friends.
She leaned against the locker beside mine and looked down at the ground, only lifting her blue eyes to look up at me. “I broke up with Paul last week.”
“That’s … great.”
A flicker of confusion crossed her face, but she quickly recovered. She edged closer and slid her hand lightly down my arm. “I was expecting a more enthusiastic response than that, but I’ll take it. My parents are out of town at the moment. You could come over to my house.”
I held my hand over hers to make her stop. “Look, I’d love to, but—”
She pouted. “Not even for old times’ sake?”
Before I could even answer, a high-pitched voice interrupted us. “Not even for the winning lotto numbers.”
We both looked up, and Taylor stared at us. Her teeth gnawed on her lower lip, but she raised her chin and glared at Lauren. I couldn’t help feeling a tinge of pride.
Lauren moved back but still didn’t release my arm. “Maybe we’ll play next time, when you get rid of your babysitter.” Catching me off guard, she jerked my wrist until I tilted to the side and gave me a loud kiss on the cheek. She gave Taylor a smirk and strolled off.
Damn it. I stayed frozen in the hunched position. My eyes squeezed shut. I honestly didn’t know what to do or say. Technically I didn’t do anything wrong, so I didn’t know why I felt so guilty. Like I was in a shitload of trouble, and I didn’t even know why.
Like a kid who’d just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar, I slowly peeked up and grimaced. Taylor’s face was burning red, and her jaw was clenched so tight that her lips were practically invisible.
My first instinct was to bolt. Get as far away as I could before she went possessed-Carrie psycho on me. But I couldn’t just leave Taylor when she was mad. Didn’t want to.
Craaap. My life was so much easier when I didn’t care. “Taylor, I can explain—”
“Forget it.” She turned away and walked so quickly that I had to practically jog to keep up with her. Her sandals smacked on the tile floor with each stomp. I could barely hear her muttering over them. “I should have known that you’d jump back to her. One flutter of her fake lashes and you’d come running. God, what an idiot. Stupid. Obnoxious, two-faced—”
“Hold up. Are you talking about me?” Without waiting for her answer, I caught her elbow and forced her to stop. She continued staring down instead of at me, as if I were a bug on the ground. Probably one she’d squash in a heartbeat. “In case you didn’t notice, I was blowing her off when you showed up, so why am I an idiot? And believe me, there was much more than just fluttering lashes that was being offered here.”
Her blazing eyes flickered up, and I automatically backed up a step. I probably could have left that part out. Crap, I think I preferred her to not look at me. “Oh, I heard enough about how you’d love to meet her, but you’re stuck with your boring girlfriend who’s as appealing as a dentist appointment, right? So why don’t you go tell her that you changed your mind? Your babysitter’s busy tonight.” Her rant came out in a stuttered rush.
“Damn it, I never said any of that!” My exasperated breath came out through my clenched teeth like a hiss. Why was she tripping out? Was it her time of the month or something? “You know I don’t think that about you.” I reached for Taylor’s arm. Or at least tried to.