You’re just trying to hurt Josie because you think that’s the way you can get me back."
I looked up at him, ignoring everyone around us, and there was so much hunger staring back down at me that I had to press my thighs together to stop the ache.
Beck didn’t say a word as he leaned forward and kissed me again. This one was much gentler than earlier, so much slower and deeper and breathtaking.
Cami looked genuinely hurt before she walked away, and a part of me felt sorry for her.
But I couldn’t think about her.
I could only think of him.
All I knew was that I didn’t want him to let me go. I just wanted him, and I didn’t want to take the time to think about anything else.
Everything about him felt too damn good. Too perfect, and I didn’t want to ruin that by thinking too much about what would happen.
About what my father had threatened me with.
Because I knew the moment Lucas found out about us, he would run straight to my father.
But I suddenly didn’t care.
When Beck was kissing me like this, like nothing in the world mattered to him, nothing seemed to matter to me either. Even though I knew it would once he was finished. Nothing would disappear simply through his touch, but I liked to pretend that it would.
I just wanted to pretend for a few short moments that there was nothing that could tear us apart. Not even us.
But that was foolish.
I knew that, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
When Beck finally pulled away from me, he looked just as dazed as I felt.
He leaned forward, his lips a whisper away from my ear, and his words ran through me as if they were a touch. "Have I told you lately how much I like you?"
I shook my head and tried to lean closer to him.
"Well, I do." He pressed his lips just below my ear, and my eyes closed at the contact. "A whole fucking lot."
"You two are going to have to get a room." I registered Carson’s voice, but I didn’t move away from Beck.
"Mmhmm." Beck’s answer vibrated against my skin.
"I think they’re cute." This was from Frankie, and I blinked my eyes open to look at her just as Beck pulled back slightly.
"Oh. They’re cute all right." Carson pulled out the seat next to Frankie and sat down. "So damn cute the entire school will need a cold shower after that little show."
I snorted out a laugh, and Beck grinned at me. I should have been embarrassed, but I wasn’t.
I couldn’t bring myself to feel an ounce of shame.
"So, are you two officially a thing now?" Olly motioned between the two of us.
"I don’t know," I answered at the same time as Beck’s, "Yes."
I glanced over at him before looking back down at my food and picking up my sandwich.
"Well, if you were, I was going to invite Josie to the cabin this weekend, but if you’re not…" He shrugged.
"Are you trying to bribe me in to officially dating your friend?"
"No." He shook his head. "Absolutely not."
I didn’t even know what cabin they were talking about, and I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to go. "I have to say, I would expect something like this from Carson but not from you."
"That’s fair." Carson nodded.
"It doesn’t matter whether you invite her or not." Frankie looked at Olly before looking at me. "Josie’s my friend, and she’s my plus-one."
"Then how are you all going to sneak Allie in?" Beck asked as he smirked beside me.
"Carson, you could bring her?" I smiled sweetly at him, and I knew that I was opening a can of worms I probably didn’t want to open.
"That’s going to be a hell no for me." He barely looked up from his food.
"Then she’ll be my plus-two." Frankie crossed her arms and looked between the three of them. "And I dare any of you to tell me no."
I grinned because I freaking adored Frankie. She winked at me, and I knew that they wouldn’t dare. Even though I had no freaking clue what the hell the cabin was or why we were going, I knew that they wouldn’t deny Frankie.
All three were wrapped around her little finger.
"Well, I’m not sharing my bed with any of you." Carson jabbed Frankie with his elbow. "So, you can pile them all in your bed."
"Deal." She stood from the table and nodded toward me. "Come on, Josie.
We have plans to make."
I stood from my seat, but Beck quickly pulled me back down against his lap. "Lips," he demanded, and even though I should have balked, my stomach flipped, and I pressed my mouth against his.
This kiss was much tamer than the others, but it still hit me just the same.
"Go make your plans." He patted my thigh. "But you are not sleeping with my sister this weekend."
I stood from his lap and scooped my backpack off the floor. "We’ll see." I grinned just as I walked away.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
BECK
Iwas going to kill Cami.
I didn’t care that we had been friends, or more than that, for as long as I could remember. I had trusted her. I had lied for her and helped her hide her fucked-up relationship and for what?
I didn’t know what the hell was going through her mind.
Cami had always been selfish, but this was something else. She had gone further with this than I had ever seen her go with anything else before.
I heard what she had said to Josie, but I didn’t believe a second of it.
Lucas didn’t have anything to give to Cami. He didn’t provide her with any kind of step up, and I knew that was how she worked.
You were only as valuable as what you could give her.
Which made Lucas nothing. Not to her.
And I didn’t believe what she said about posting the video. It just didn’t make sense.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" I stormed into her room and closed the door behind me. Her parents weren’t home from work yet, but they wouldn’t care that I was here either way.
"About what exactly?" Cami was lying on the bed with a pile of homework laid out in front of her. "I’ve been thinking about a lot lately so you’ll have to be more specific."
"Don’t fuck around with me, Cami. I’m not in the mood for your shit today."
Her gaze snapped up to meet mine, and I knew that my tone pissed her off. "Well, that’s too damn bad. You clearly haven’t been in the mood for me
in as long as I can remember."
"Is that what this is?" I unbuttoned the top button of my shirt because I felt like I was smothering in the damn thing. "Are you pissed off because I’m actually interested in somebody else?"
"Oh please." She rolled her eyes and sat up in the bed. "If there was anything for me to be worried about, you’d know it. I can deal with you having some sort of fucked-up kink over how much you hate her brother."
I shook my head because Cami was so fucked up, and I was going to lash out at her. I knew I would, and I didn’t want to.
That had never been who we were, but the urge to walk away and never talk to her again was overwhelming.
"Can we not do this?" I waved my hand back and forth between us and pulled out the old wooden chair at her desk before taking a seat. "I’m confused on how you’re upset that I have feelings for someone else when you’re fucking one of our teachers."
"I’m not…" She paused and shook her head, and I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees.
"You’re not what?"
"I’m not fucking him."
That was news to me. "Since when? Did something happen?"
I could practically see the walls slamming down over her eyes. She was going to shut down.
"No. Nothing happened. I never…" She shook her head again, and whatever she was going to say was right on the tip of her tongue. But she clamped her mouth shut before she could say anything more.