Page 61 of Crazy for You
“Shut the front door. You came on to Colton? I think you’re my new hero.”
I snorted. “I’m sure Mia has that trophy. She’s the one having sex.” It was my turn to check if the coast was clear. While I wouldn’t care so much if Nan heard, I wasn’t ready to cross that bridge if she decided to play mom. Satisfied she wasn’t anywhere nearby, I said, “But we had an extremely passionate kiss. And yes, if you must know, it was the best ever.” I touched my lips, almost feeling his on mine.
“You’re toast, girl. We need a plan to make sure he doesn’t leave.”
“For sure.” I was praying he was working out his differences with his dad. Maybe he wouldn’t leave after all.
“Back up,” Georgia said. “You tried to get him naked and he said no?”
“I was wondering when you would catch on to that. He isn’t ready.”
She choked. “What dude in their right mind says he isn’t ready?”
“In all fairness to him, I guess I wasn’t either. I’m not on the pill, and he didn’t have a condom, anyway.”
A shudder wracked my body as I reminisced about our intimate interlude.
“But he slept with Amanda.”
“He didn’t.”
She straightened her spine. “Mmm.” Her tone was skeptical. “She is all talk, though.”
It didn’t matter if she believed that statement or not. I did, and no amount of skepticism on her part would change my mind.Then why do I suddenly feel nauseous?
23
Icruised around the track that circled the football field, feeling free and energized. The last time I’d been on my skateboard was the day Colton had run over it with his truck, which seemed like eons ago, when only a month had passed.
With the balmy wind in my face, I scoured the field for Colton. It had been four long days since our time on the beach, and I hadn’t seen him at all, not even at lunch, when he usually sat with the football team. When I left school each morning, his truck was gone.
Mia had mentioned that Colton was staying with Grady for a few days. That told me the conversation he’d had with his dad hadn’t gone well. Still, he wasn’t in school, and he hadn’t left town because Mia would’ve told me… unless she didn’t want to hurt my feelings.
I kept scanning the field as my stomach wound into a ball of knots. I homed in on Grady, who was getting ready to throw. I coasted along, watching as the football left his hand and soared through the air until it landed in the hands of a beefy guy who wasn’t wearing red cleats. Colton was the only one on the team who wore red cleats.
So I inspected each player, coming up empty each time. I hoped I hadn’t missed the chance to say goodbye to him, or a last-ditch effort to convince him to stay.
I hopped off my board, ready to scream. I’d never obsessed over a guy like that. I needed to skate to clear my mind—and not around the track, but at the skate park. I needed to catch air, concentrate on jumps, and feel like I hadn’t lost who I was.
Georgia was going to be furious with me. We’d agreed to meet at her house after school, but for my mental health, I had to do something to tame the thoughts running rampant in my head. Maybe Colton had left. He didn’t say goodbye. He was going to stay with a girl.
Then my worry over Dad wormed its way in. The night before, Dad had had a near-death choking episode at dinner. I’d never seen Nan so scared. Dad’s face had turned a thousand shades of blue, and I’d held my breath, praying he wouldn’t die right in front of us.
I silently scolded myself. I was worrying about a guy, and my dad was on the fast track to live with the angels. It was time to get my head on straight and focus on the most important person in my life.
I patted my ass where my phone should have been, but it wasn’t in my pocket—then I remembered I’d forgotten it at home that morning. I was surprised my head was still attached to my body. Even in class, I hadn’t paid an ounce of attention to any of the teachers or their lectures.
Georgia had chided me. “Who forgets their phone? You’ll die without it.”
By the time I’d met her and Mia at the Latte House before school, it had been too late to go home. And that morning, I hadn’t been in the mood to rush home, then explain to the vice principal why I was late. We couldn’t use our phones in class, anyway, which would’ve been his retort.
I clenched my teeth, walking over to Mia. She and her cheer squad were in the middle of a routine, their collective voices loud as they shouted one of their cheers. The upcoming home game that week was a huge deal. We were playing one of our biggest rivals.
I waved at Mia, hoping to get her attention, but three girls who had just climbed down from the bleachers garnered mine.
The blonde in the group said, “I saw Colton at Amanda’s last night.”
I swore the sky darkened as my blood gelled. Sure, they could’ve been talking about some other Colton and Amanda, but the odds were nil that another couple in our small school had the same names.
