Page 116 of The Perfect Spiral
“I forgot that the reason why I actually came over was to ask if you had any board wax? I got a bit distracted,” he laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his head. This guy is actually cute.
I start to laugh, and Andy giggles, shaking her head. I toss him a piece of my broken-off wax.
“Here, keep it, I’ve got loads! See you around. Oh, and nice tattoo, by the way,” I point at his arm and smile at him, causing him to mirror my actions and wink back.
His teeth are perfectly straight and gleaming white. “See you around, Alex!”
“Bye...” I look down at the paper for his name, Matt. “Bye, Matt,” I smile once more before he leaves, occasionally looking back.
Chapter 39
Biting my lip to suppress a lovesick grin, I sprawl out on the towels that were laid out and pop in my earphones.
“Are you going to call him? He was hot! And those tattoos, damn!” Andy admires him from afar. I look over to see he’s looking back at us and I can’t help but smile to myself. He waves at us and we wave back.
“We’ll see, I’m just chillin’ for the time being.” His friends pat him on the back and I turn my attention back to Andy, who’s still admiring him.
“Andy, if you keep staring at him, Kyle will be over there in a flash!” She gives me a teasing look that I know all too well.
“Oh no! Don’t do that to him! He will be so pissed!” I laugh, warning her not to push his buttons. I know all too well what he’s like when you do that.
“What? I like the jealous Kyle. It’s sexy as hell.”
“Not when it’s at the expense of a really hot guy who will get his face bashed in by him. And let me tell you, that’s a nice-looking face. So don’t do that to poor Matt!”
I slap her stomach, bringing her attention back to me.
“It is a very good-looking face!”
“Use Noah! He’s been a great decoy so far!”
“Has he, though?” She retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“You should’ve seen the look on his face when you walked into the living room after New Year’s, holding Noah’s hand instead ofhis. It was the highlight of my night.”
“Really.” She paused, mulling over my words. A mischievous grin spread across her face as she stood up and called out, “Noah! Come here, my handsome boyfriend!”
I chuckled as she sauntered away, leaving me alone. I plugged my earphones back in and lay on my stomach, baring my back to the sun. I swept my hair up into a messy bun, slipped on my aviators, and settled in.
Glancing over at Matt, I noticed a gaggle of girls fluttering around him and his friends. They were laying it on thick, flirting shamelessly while he responded with polite nods. I caught him stealing glances at me a few times, and I couldn’t help but grin. A guy like him thought I was attractive. I closed my eyes, letting my Spotify playlist wash over me.
After a while, I felt an arm brush against mine. She must be back. I wondered how her mission to make Kyle jealous had gone. The arm inched closer until a hand slipped into mine. My eyes snapped open in surprise.
I pulled out my earphones but didn’t pull away from his touch. “What are you doing?” I asked, bewildered by his sudden intimacy.
“I’m holding your hand,” he replied nonchalantly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“You’re so weird.” I withdrew my hand, only for him to place his on my butt, causing me to gasp softly. I didn’t want to draw attention to us.
“Knox! What are you doing? Get your hand off me! Go bother some other girl—there are plenty around,” I hissed at him. He turned his head to face me, grinning widely.
“It’s either I hold your hand or I grab your ass. The choice isyours!”
“You’re doing neither. Now get your hand off me, Knox!”
“No can do, baby doll. Pick one or it’s staying like this. You can get sunburned with my hand on your ass or you can let me hold your hand.”
“Ugh, Knox, you’re so annoying! Go bother someone else.”
