Page 65 of Pucking Grey

“Shut the fuck up,” I mutter under my breath as I walk up the stairs. I need to get away from these assholes and handle this on my own. They’re going to suspect that we’re not actually together and that I’m freaking out because I might really fucking like this girl. I hit send when I’m in my bedroom and pace my room.

“He wrote back.”

I hold the phone for Sydney to read. “Oh, he’s just starting a conversation.”

“No,” I take the phone back for my viewing only. “He’s trying to find out what I’m doing and why I’m not there.”

“Okay. What’re you going to tell him?”

I throw my hands up. “That’s why I’m in here. You need to help me!”

“Oh, just tell him that you’re hanging out with me because I needed help.”

I nod. “Great idea.”

Maddie: Sydney needed some emotional support tonight

I sigh. “Okay, I sent it. That’s perfect, Syd. It’s good. He’ll understand that.”

Grey: Are you coming here tonight?

I steal a glance at myself in the vanity mirror. These brows are practically glowing, jumping off of my face. The second he gets a glimpse of these Woolly bear caterpillars, he will have teasing rights forever. I cannot be the girl he brieflyfakedated for a moment in time and be remembered by these embarrassing eyebrows. It’s not happening.

“Should I go to his place?” I huff. “No, don’t answer that. I can’t do it.”

“Just keep it simple,” Sydney says, watching me like a hawk.

“Right. Simple.”

Why does my text look so desperate? Truth is that I just need to know if she’s breaking the contract early because I could really do with that.No offense, Maddie.But I don’t like to lose. I think right now I win. I sit on my bed and wait for these three dots to pop up. Since when do I give a shit about a girl? Not once. But apparently now I do. This… with her… is different. I’m longing for icy stares and hearing her belly laugh from the bed while I’m doing homework at my desk. I think I fucked this up last night. Now I’m wishing I hadn’t persuaded Coach into letting me drive with her because we wouldn’t be in this predicament.

Maddie: No

I stare at the screen and blurt, “Why the fuck not?”

Grey: Why?

I wait, staring at the screen. My leg is fucking bouncing as I sit on the edge of my bed. I can’t get the road trip out of my head.

Maddie: Because Sydney needs me

I scoff, forgetting that minor detail that she just got done telling me. I’m too stuck in my head right now. Fuck.

Grey: Tell Nixon to take care of her

Shit. That was a douchebag thing to say, and I can’t unsend it because she probably already read the damn message. My heart is racing as I type out my next message.

Grey: Is the deal over?

“Oh, fuck, Sydney,” I mutter when Grey’s text comes through. “He’s asking me if the deal is over?”

“What deal?” she asks.

“The one where I stay with him for a month, and he doesn’t sleep with anyone for a month. The deal to fake date to make Matt jealous.”

She leans back in her chair, completely uninterested. But I need her full attention and help if I’m going to keep Greyson in my life.

“What do I do?” I demand. “Should I just tell him that my eyebrows are ugly?”

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