Wanted You More, page 28
“Never mind,” I murmur, standing up.
As I start walking away, he captures my wrist to stop me. “I told her it wasn’t working,” he tells me, voice full of defeat. “I told her it hadn’t been working for a while and we both knew it. She walked out and I haven’t heard from her until now.”
I stand straighter and look down at his hand, still holding me. “When?”
“The day after your birthday.”
They haven’t talked in weeks? “What did she tell you when you said it wasn’t working?”
Noah drops his hand, knowing I’m not going to be walking away. “She asked if it had anything to do with you. I didn’t tell her about what happened, but I think she knew something had changed.”
Of course she did. She’s been trying to get rid of me for the past two years. “And what if she was calling to ask you for another chance?”
He moves his head back and forth. “You and I both know I wouldn’t give her one. She deserves better. She should be with someone who only wants her.”
Hearing him say that does something to my chest. “You care about her.”
He doesn’t deny it. “I was with her for a long time,” he reiterates as if that’s explanation enough. When he sees me staring, he adds, “It’d be bad if I didn’t.”
I suppose he’s right. “Would you care if she were with someone else?”
There’s no hesitation. “No.”
The big question comes next. “Would you care if I dated somebody else? Someone like Lincoln?”
If I blinked, I would have missed the tic to his jaw. “You already know the answer to that. That’s why you didn’t bring him up until your birthday party.”
All I can do is nod because he’s right.
Again.
The good news is, Lincoln and Kennedy seem to have made up because we’ve all been having at least one meal a day together. Usually breakfast, but sometimes we’ll all have dinner together too. None of us have been partying as much because of upcoming exams, but we do try having study sessions in one of our rooms when I’m not here with Noah.
“You don’t have to worry about Linc,” I promise him, putting my hand on his arm. “I’ve never been interested in him.”
“Has he shown interest?” he asks, causing me to raise my brows. “It’d be surprising if he didn’t express any.”
“Why is that?”
He deadpans. “You’ve always been a beautiful girl, Austen. Don’t play dumb. Guys pay attention to you far more than I’d like them to. I’ve seen it firsthand myself. Any time you’re out, somebody notices you and I have to see them stare like they have a chance.”
I didn’t know he noticed. Most of the time, I didn’t notice because I had no interest in whoever was watching. Not unless it was Noah.
Still, I cross my arms over my chest in challenge. “How would you know they don’t have a chance?”
He chuckles. “Because whether we like it or not, it’s always been us. None of them would compare to me no matter how hard you’d try to make them fit the mold.”
I didn’t realize he could be this cocky.
It’s oddly…hot.
“I guess that makes two of us,” I say sweetly, leaning down to graze my lips against his ear. “Because Bailey couldn’t live up to me or you would have never come inside me that night in your truck.”
* * *
Lincoln is waiting for me outside the classroom, holding a cup of coffee he must have gotten after finishing his exam. “For you.”
I take it greedily. “I think I may love you,” I tease, blowing on the steam and taking a long sip as we walk toward the front entrance. When I look up at him, he’s watching me. “I think I crushed that final project. What about you?”
He lifts a shoulder nonchalantly. “It wasn’t too hard. What do you have planned for the rest of the day?”
Grabbing my phone, I look at the time. “I don’t know. Ken mentioned some bonfire thing tonight that we might go to. Are you coming?”
His lips twitch. “I don’t know…”
I bump his shoulder. “Oh, come on. You two are good now, right?”
Lincoln nods. “Yeah, we’re good.”
“And I promise I won’t drink,” I swear, mocking Scouts honor with my hand. “You won’t have to babysit me or worry that I’ll barf on your shoes.”
We push open the glass doors and walk outside into the sunny day. I’m grateful May has been good to us. The grass is green, the flowers have bloomed, and I can wear T-shirts comfortably without needing a jacket.
Eventually, Lincoln sighs. “Yeah, I’ll come. I can meet you girls at your room at eight if you want to walk together.”
Beaming, I grab his arm excitedly. “It’ll be our last hurrah before the semester ends. Can you believe we made it a year?”
I can’t. After a rocky fall semester, I stuck to my word to do better in the second term. I got an email from the head of the school newspaper offering me an official writing gig starting in the fall. Before then, I hadn’t planned on re-enrolling because I swore college wasn’t for me. But my journalism professor submitted a few of my pieces to the paper that got me noticed and inevitably got me a paid gig.
I’m excited for once.
Playing with my coffee cup, I glance at Lincoln and make a face. “Did I tell you that Professor Kamala wants to see me tomorrow?”
“What for?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve been passing everything and trying to participate in class discussion since that’s thirty percent of our grade, so I doubt it’s about class.”
The face he makes matches mine. “Do you think it’s about your dad?”
What else could it be about? “Probably. I don’t know much about them. She keeps tight-lipped, and Dad isn’t much better. I know they’re still seeing each other. My brother just complained that she was at our house the other night cooking dinner and made him eat spinach.”
Lincoln chuckles. “I bet that’d be weird.”
It’d be weirder for me, which may be why she wants to talk to me. “If they’re getting serious, she may want me to prepare. I’ve tried being nice, but we both know my face gives a lot away when I don’t want it to.”
All my friend does is grin.
I shove him, knowing he’s probably thinking of all the times I’ve looked like a real-life Grinch. “What are your summer plans? I know you said you were looking for a job last time we talked about it.”
He groans. “Dad wants me to work with him and my brothers at the garage.”
My brows go up. “Doing what?”
“I don’t know. Knowing Dad, he’s going to want me to learn the trade. I know how to change a tire and the oil, but that’s about it. Car stuff has always been my brothers’ thing.”
He’d mentioned that his family owned a small automotive shop but never talked about being part of it at all. “Maybe you could find something there that you could use what you’ve learned here. Like advertising or something. Every company needs good marketing. You could design some of it.”
Lincoln looks at me with raised brows. “That isn’t a bad idea actually.”
I tap my temple with a smile. “I do have them on rare occasion.”
He nudges his shoulder against mine. “I know you have them more than you admit. Don’t dumb yourself down.”
I snort. “Yeah, because my genius idea to put you and Kennedy together worked out so well for you two.”
He’s quiet. “It could have been worse,” is his reply. His voice is quiet but still reassuring. He perks up a little. “Like I said, everything is fine now. We can go back to how things were, right?”
His eyes are hopeful, making it easy to nod and smile back at him. “Right.” A text message pops up, bringing my attention down to Noah’s name.
My smile grows.
Noah: Managed an A on that exam
Noah: Thanks for putting up with me
“The guy friend, huh?” Lincoln asks, eyeing my phone as I text Noah back.
Me: I knew you would! We should celebrate soon xx
I put my phone back into my pocket and turn to Lincoln. “Yeah. He’s graduating in a few weeks, so he’s finishing up finals right now. I can’t believe he’s going to be a lawyer. He’s worked so hard for this.”
I’m not quite sure why Lincoln looks so contemplative as we keep walking. The confusion only grows when he asks, “Is that the type of guy you’re into? The lawyer type?”
I let the question soak in for a second and try to dissect the weirdness in his tone. “What do you mean?”
Lincoln rubs the back of his neck. “You just don’t seem like the kind of girl who’d go after guys like that.”
I don’t know what guys he’d expect me to go for, but it may not be too far off from the truth with my history with men. “It isn’t Noah’s career that I’m interested in. It’s him. He could do anything he wants to as long as it makes him happy.”
The boy walking beside me slowly nods, making a humming noise.
I playfully bump him to get him to look at me. “Who do you think I should end up with? A car salesman?”
It takes him a moment to huff out a laugh, but it sounds forced. “That’d be crazy, huh?”
I loop my arm around his. “Depends. Would I get a discount on cars? Because that could have its perks.”
Lincoln rolls his eyes at my banter but sighs reluctantly. “For you, anything.”
Leaning my head against his shoulder, I squeeze his arm and let out a contented breath. “I’m glad we’re friends. This is nice.”
I hear his tongue click. “Can I be honest with you?”
My eyes go up to him. “Always.”
There’s hesitation all over his face before he shakes his head. “I thought you might have been into me at the beginning of the year. You never shot me down when I flirted.”
Well, that’s not totally true. “I never flirted back with you either.” Much. “Be real, Linc. We aren’t a good match. I wouldn’t have treated you the way you deserved if we tried anything.”
He doesn’t say anything for a long time as we walk, making me nervous. There’s a moment of tension that goes through his body before he eases up and finally says, “I’m glad we’re friends too then. That we didn’t fuck it up.”
Relief floods through me. “We should make time to see each other over the summer. All three of us.”
A thoughtful noise escapes him. “I’m sure my brothers wouldn’t mind seeing a new pretty face around.”
Rolling my eyes at the remark, I shake my head. “Always the flirt, aren’t you?”
It’s innocent, so I don’t feel bad about it or weird at how Kennedy could perceive it. That’s just who Lincoln is. She knows that as well as I do.
But when he says, “Only with people I like,” there’s a certain tone to his voice that has me looking up at him.
When he doesn’t meet my eyes, I wonder what he’s thinking.
I don’t ask.
It’s safer that way.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
I may regret the outfit I chose for the bonfire later on, but I remind myself that I look good in the tight leather pants and edgy crop top with bright red lips printed on the center of it that matches the color on my own. I didn’t feel like tripping and breaking my ankles in the red heels I wanted to wear, so I opted for bejeweled black combat boots that Kennedy said made me look like I was in a motorcycle gang.
Picking a piece of lint from her dress, I give her an approving nod. “You look hot. Like h-a-w-t hot.”
Kennedy runs her fingers through her hair, which I helped her straighten. “I feel it tonight. Thanks for letting me borrow the dress.”
It looks way better on her. “You should keep it. That’s your color.”
Her eyes widen. “I can’t keep this.”
“I barely wear that. It’s too short on me.”
I’m a few inches taller than her, so it fits her perfectly. The last time I wore it, I bent over at a party and showed the whole room my ass. At least I’d been wearing cute panties.
When there’s a knock at the door, I go to let Lincoln in before Kennedy grabs my arm to stop me. “Wait,” she hisses. “Is my makeup okay? Should I do more with my lips?”
I blink. “You look great, Kenny. What’s going on? It’s just Linc.”
She rubs her lips together, her nervous eyes darting toward the door.
Oh God. “Do you still have a thing for him? I thought you moved past that.”
Her frown makes me frown. “I think he wants to give it another shot. He’s been so sweet to me, Austen. How could I ignore that when I know we can be great together?”
I’m at a loss for words because I don’t think Lincoln is on the same page. If I’d known that she was going to catch feelings, I wouldn’t have pushed them back together as friends. Maybe it was too soon for her.
Another knock has us turning to the door as I process what’s going on. It’s me who calls out, “Just a second!”
Kennedy grabs my hand. “Don’t say anything to him about it. I want him to make a move on his own. Maybe he’s regretting ending things and we can move forward. It’s summer, so there’s a lot less pressure from school. It could be good for us. We don’t live that far from each other.”
The last thing I want to do is tell her that I think this is a bad idea, so I simply nod. Butting into their business wasn’t good the first time, so I don’t think I should do it again.
When I finally get to the door, Lincoln is standing there with his hands in his pockets. He gives my outfit a once-over with arched brows. “You look like you’re ready for trouble tonight.”
Kennedy pops up beside me with a wide smile on her face. “I said the same thing. You look nice.”
He doesn’t look any different than he usually does. I’m pretty sure his jeans are the same ones he wore three other times this week, based on the grass stains from when we hung out on the quad for lunch. The dark green shirt is fitted nicely against his torso and matches Kennedy’s dress. A coincidence that I can see my roommate thinking about too.
Lincoln smiles at her. “Thanks. You do too. You both do.” His eyes go to me. “Are you ladies ready?”
I double check to see if I have my room key before following the two of them into the hall and closing the door behind us. Kennedy makes sure to sidle up next to Lincoln, leaving me trailing a few feet behind them.
As they make conversation, I pull out my phone to send a quick message to Noah.
Me: I think I might have meddled a little too much in my friend’s lives
Kennedy looks over her shoulder. “Have you seen it yet, Austen?”
My gaze lifts. “Seen what?”
“That new superhero movie that just came out. I know you and your brother usually see those together. I remember you telling Lincoln”—She grazes her hand against his arm—“and me about it when we’d talked about going to see the last one in the MCU.”
Lincoln doesn’t move away from her flirty movements, so maybe she isn’t totally wrong with her assessment of them. Maybe our talk earlier changed his mind. “He’s had a stomach bug, so we haven’t made any plans. The last thing I want is for him to vomit up all his candy.”
They both make disgusted faces.
Kennedy nods. “That’d be pretty gross. I hope he feels better.”
I smile. “Thanks.”
My phone has a text come through, drawing my attention back down.
Noah: This is why I tell you to butt out of other people’s business
Snorting, I don’t hesitate to reply.
Me: Then you’d be bored without all the tea I have to spill
Bubbles appear and disappear before popping back up again as he texts.
Noah: True. What did you do now?
It should probably offend me that he’s so quick to agree, but it doesn’t.
Me: I think I made Kennedy believe that Lincoln wants her back when he basically told me he didn’t. I don’t know what to do
Noah: That’s not good
Me: That’s it? You don’t have any advice?
Lincoln holds the door open for both Kennedy and me, standing between us as we walk down the stairs of the building. “Is that your friend-who’s-a-boy again?”
He rarely says Noah’s name. “Yes.”
Kennedy makes a cooing noise. “Oooh it’s your boyfriend. Is he coming tonight?”
Lincoln’s eyes narrow. “Boyfriend?”
I shoot Kennedy a look. “He’s not my boyfriend. We don’t have a label. Things are…new. And no. Noah barely partied when he was in school. He’d never come to something now, especially with a bunch of underclassmen who are probably going to drink. He’s got too much to risk with his job to be seen out with a bunch of college kids.”
Saying that aloud sinks in a little deeper than I want it to because it was the same reason Bailey warned me away from him all that time ago.
Lincoln is quiet as we walk. His hands slide into the pockets of his jeans as he stares forward at the passing people.
Kennedy smiles at me. “Tell him I said hi and congratulations.”
“I will.”
My eyes go down to the phone.
Noah: They have to make their own choices. Don’t step between them. Simple as that
That’s what I’m worried about. If Kennedy gets upset that Lincoln doesn’t make a grand gesture, will she confront him? Or would she let it go?
Me: I’ll try
Noah: Be careful tonight
Noah: But have fun
I startle when Kennedy wraps her arm around mine and cozies up next to me. She leans in and whispers, “It’s going to be an amazing night. I can feel it!”
For her sake, I hope so.
* * *
Everybody had the same idea as we did tonight, celebrating the end of the semester by the giant fire with their drinks and loud music. It’s so congested that it’s hard to find a place for the three of us where we can talk without being elbowed or bumped into.
It’s nearly two hours later when I feel something fall over my shoulders. I look down at the gray zip up hoodie and then over at Lincoln as he settles beside me. “Where did you get this?”
