Page 15 of Catch Me

“What about you?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Oscar!” a voice calls out.

I look behind Reid to see that the cheerleaders have taken over the table next to ours. They’re all waving for him to sit with them. He does so with a cocky grin on his face.

Reid pulls me to his side, kissing the top of my head as Lex sits across from us. Jules comes along a couple of minutes later with a tray of food and sits.

I want to ask Cade what he found out, but oddly enough, he’s not here. Instead, I ask Reid, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Reid answers. “Eat up. My mom was right. You lost some weight while you were at your grandparents’ house.”

I exchange a look with Jules and start to eat what’s on my tray. When I came back and realized Reid hadn’t been as badly hurt as I had imagined, I thought things would go back to normal. Sure, Sasha would be there, and she’d be a bitch, but I didn’t expect this. I feel like there’s a cloud of questions hovering over us. Reid shifts uneasily next to me, and even Lex keeps throwing glances toward the cheerleading table. They really don’t like that he’s here. Is it just because he seems to be friends with Sasha or is it the football thing?

Lunch is one of the oddest I’ve had here. Barely any of us talk. I know there’s a lot unsaid between all of us because I ran away again, but it seems like more than that too.

One of the guys on the basketball team walks by and snickers when he sees me. Reid’s off in his own little world, so he doesn’t see when the guy pointedly drops his gaze to my chest and sneers.

My face blooms red. Lex notices and looks up to find the guy walking away.

My breath leaves my chest. He must’ve seen the picture. A quick check behind me, and I see him heading to sit with the cheerleaders. It makes sense. She might not have blasted it all over the school like she’d planned, but she definitely showed some people.

“You okay?” Lex asks.

This makes Reid look up.

“I’m—”

“Christ. Lex. Back the fuck up,” Reid growls low under his breath. His arm moves around me possessively.

Lex cocks his head, moving his gaze to his friend. “There’s something clearly wrong.”

Reid stiffens. “There is, actually. And it’s not Briar.”

Lex and Reid hold each other’s gaze for so long that it makes me want to crawl under the table. Eventually, Lex stands. He looks from me to Reid and then walks away.

“What’s going on?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Reid says.

“I am worrying about it,” I tell him, turning into his chest. “Are you guys fighting or something?”

He stares into my eyes and then looks away, cursing under his breath. He stands. “I’ll see you after school.” He walks a couple steps away, then turns back, leaning down to kiss me on the lips.

He heads the same way Lex left. Jules and I both watch after them. Once Reid leaves, I look over at Jules. “Are they fighting?”

Jules blows out a breath. “It’s Lex, Briar. He loves you.”

I blink. “What?”

“He loves you,” she says. “It’s written all over his face. Seeing you guys together probably tears him up inside.”

My stomach churns with guilt. “Reid said he talked to him.”

“That’s not going to make it go away. I was watching them yesterday at Reid’s house. They both acted like you were theirs. That shit isn’t going to fly with Reid,” she says, lowering her voice. “And I know he was angry he couldn’t go to the hotel to get you himself. He wanted to be the one who did it. I’ve never seen him so angry.”

The bell rings overhead, and Jules and I both take our trays to the tray return and dump them inside. I bite my lip, thinking about the way Reid looked at Lex and I when we walked in. Oscar had looked at us funny too. “Should I talk to him? To Lex?”

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