Page 13 of Habits

They’re all so pretty, I don’t know why they would even want to hang out with somebody likeme.

“Because we want to be your friends, silly.” She winks at me.

A sense of awareness makes me lift my gaze. Looking over her shoulder, I can see Max looking at me, and then his gaze switches to the girls sitting next to me. Smiling widely, he waves at me. He looks so happy. And almost relieved. I know the last thing he wants is for me to be alone while he hangs out with his friends. And to be honest, I don’t want that, either. I want to have friends. I don’t want to just stand on the sidelines and look at the others enjoying their high school experience while I’m all by myself.

Maddaline notices my distraction, so she throws a quick glance over her shoulder before her light blue eyes find mine. “That’s your brother, right?”

“Yes.” I smile softly. “That’s Max.”

She nods her head. “Cool. Milkshakes?”

My smile widens. I expected her to continue talking about Max and maybe even invite him to join us, but she didn’t. Maybe she really wants to bemyfriend.

You can do this, Anette. You can do this.

“Yes, sure.”

The naïve little girl I was didn’t know how some schemes could be calculated. She believed people were good. Well, she was wrong, and she eventually paid the price.

* * *

“Anette?” Max’s tentative voice breaks me out of my thoughts.

I lift my eyes toward his. “Yes, of course.” I lie because this time, it’s my turn to protect him. When my world crashed down, instead of holding on to the people who love me, I did everything to blame them and hurt them. And Max, being the brother he is, took it without a complaint.

Even after all this time, that hurt lingers in his eyes every time he looks at me.

So it doesn’t matter if I have to lie, pretend or cheat. It doesn’t matter if guilt is eating at me from the inside out. This time, I’ll do better. I’ll be better. For Max.

He sighs in relief, pulling playfully at the tip of my ponytail.

“You hungry?”

I don’t get to say a thing before my stomach announces itself. Laughing, I shake my head. “I guess I could eat something.”

Max takes a step back so I can get past him. “Great. Get your smelly ass in the shower and I’ll call the delivery.” He swats said ass as I pass by him.

“Hey!” I try to punch him, but he dodges it easily. “Look who’s talking! The guy who wears the smell of the guys’ locker room like it’s the most exquisite of perfumes.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.” He lifts his hands in the air. “I smell like a rose.”

I roll my eyes and start climbing back up to my room. I grab my stuff for the shower when my eyes fall to the rumpled bed in the middle of my room. Stopping in my tracks, I nibble at my lip as I debate on what to do.

To look or not to look?

If I look, the chances are high I’ll get frustrated again. But if I don’t look, I won’t be able to think about anything else.

After another few minutes of internal debate, I finally give in.

Slowly, I walk to my bed and find my phone under a few pillows and a blanket. Just as I turn it in my hand, the small purple light catches my attention.

Asshole: It’s not only in my dreams that you rub against my cock until you make yourself come, screaming my name. You want me, Princess. We both know it.

My cheeks grow warm as I reread the message, stunned. I’m not a pure little girl. Far from it. But there is something about Andrew’s dirty words that makes me squirm in my seat. Every time he opens his mouth, chances are something inappropriate will come out. He makes my heart race and a blush creep at my cheekbones.

The memories from that night in the library assault my brain hard and fast, and I feel my body react to his words.

Frustrated, I throw the phone back on my bed and stomp into the bathroom.

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