Page 41 of Infatuated as They Come
“I—” Holly started, but her words were quickly cut off.
“We’ll be back!” Claudia said as she grabbed one of Holly’s hands and pulled her away from me. “Come with me!”
“Uh, I’ll be back in a minute!” Holly called over her shoulder, still clad in my jacket.
Nate raised his eyebrows at me and shook his head. “Cheerleaders, man.”
I chuckled, hand digging into my pocket to get out a box of cigarettes. I slid one between my lips, my eyes falling on to Nate’s widening eyes for a second. “You don’t mind, right?”
“No, not at all. Actually… Do you mind if I steal one?” he asked, sticking a hand into his jeans pocket to show me a crushed box of smokes. “I’m all out.”
I shrugged, holding the box out for him. I lit mine and threw the lighter his way.
“Don’t tell Holly’s dad,” he said, lighting his own cigarette up. “He’ll tell my dad and then he’ll tell my mom and then I’ll die.”
“I won’t tell him.”
“How’d you two meet, anyway?” he asked, head nodding towards whereHolly had run off to.
“Me and Holly went to school together.”
“You know, me and Holly used to go to the same school. Back in the day, I mean, before she left and started at your one. She really hated that place. I’m not surprised she ditched us.”
“I’m really glad she did.”
“I gotta ask you something, man,” he muttered, leaning in close as his voice lowered, “what the hell did you do to make her dad hate you so bad? Guy talks about you nonstop.”
I thought about that for a moment, looking off into the distance. “It’s a long story.”
“The way he acts you’d think you set his house on fire or something.”
“We just… don’t really see eye to eye on anything. Especially Holly.”
“Don’t worry about him. I can tell Holly’s really in love with you. My dad’s the same. It’s not you, it’s them. They’re big on tradition. That’s why I’m here instead of in Fiji.”
“Maybe next year, huh?”
“Hopefully, hopefully. So, why didn’t you study? This whole campus is just arty guys. You could have done that and maybe get Holly’s dad to shut up.”
“School’s not really my thing. Honestly, I was counting down the days to never have to sit in a classroom again when I graduated. I don’t ever wanna go back to that.”
“Me too.” He groaned. “God, I wish I had your parents. Maybe we can swap.”
I raised my brows at that while I puffed out some smoke. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Hey, so… I don’t know if Holly told you about her dad telling me to ask her out and stuff,” he said, eyes lowering to the ground. “But I’m not interested in Holly like that. I hope you know I’m not here to get in the way of you two. She’s just a friend.”
My eyes stayed on his face, gauging his sincerity. “Yeah, he’s real stuck on her ending up with someone who’s not like me,” I said. “And I don’t wanna start shit or anything, but I’m not letting anyone get in the way of what meand Holly have. I’m not telling her who she can be friends with. I’d never do that. But I’ll protect what I have with her with everything in me, so… no out of line shit.”
He held his hands up. “Yeah, man, of course. I swear I don’t like Holly like that. And her dad failed to mention that you look like you could beat me up, so I wouldn’t take that risk even if I wanted to. She seems happy with you, so I don’t get why that’s not good enough for him. Guy needs a nap.”
“I don’t think a nap would help.”
Holly suddenly came skipping back over to me, pressing herself to me again. “What did I miss?”
“Not much,” Nate said. “Just bonding over your dad and his quirks.”
She groaned and buried her face in my chest. “He’s so embarrassing.”
