Page 61 of Wrecked Rose

Chapter 36

Max

The day after Griff shut me down at our lockers, I’m miserable. He’s pulling further and further away from me, and I’m not sure what to do about it. What started off as my issue with what he’d said at the party has merged with his freak-out at the lockers and now I have no fucking clue how to fix things.

I fucking miss talking to him. And the pain I’d heard in his voice as he was talking to Lyla in class yesterday made me feel terrible. I’d wanted to reach out to smooth things over.

What a bonehead I’d been, following him to his locker. I couldn’t resist reaching out and touching him to get his attention. But the second I put my hand on him in a public space, I knew from the immediate tensing of his body that I’d made a huge mistake. Not that I’d known it at the time, but I’d done it in front of his buddies—Jack, in particular—and that was such a huge fuckup on my part. It was dumb to do that without making sure no one was around. Should have kept my hands to myself.

But dammit, I shouldn’t feel guilty over trying to mend things between us. I don’t really give a flying fuck what his friends think. The only one who matters is Griff.

We don’t have any classes together today, which makes things both easier and harder, if that makes any sense. I want to see him, but things have gotten so messed up, I wouldn’t know what to say even if I had a chance to talk to him.

Walking into the lunchroom with Daph, she immediately sees Micah sitting with Beau and Griff at the table right in the middle. She hauls me in that direction, which is fine. I can manage sitting at a table with Griff.Sure I can.But then she stops short and spins me around.

“What the fuck?” I sputter, looking down at her.

“Let’s go get bagged lunches and eat somewhere else.” Her pleading eyes lock on mine.

“Where? It snowed again. It’s too cold outside, anyway.” I begin to glance over my shoulder when she tugs on my arm again. My head whips back toward her. “What are you doing, Daph?”

“Max.” She swallows, and I barely catch the way her eyes flicker past me back to the table.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see what she’s looking at. Griff. With Aubrey sitting on his thickly muscled thigh. My mind flashes back to the night at the party when I’d held onto those very same sturdy thighs as he thrust his cock into my mouth. I close my eyes for a second before meeting her anxious gaze. “Yeah, okay. Somewhere else.”

After we grab to-go food from the lunch line, I let Daphne lead the way from the cafeteria out into the hallway. We find an empty bench not too far down. I sit rather heavily, dropping the bagged lunch I’m not at all hungry for beside me.

Daphne sits down, leaning against my arm and rests her head on my shoulder. “Sorry.”

“He doesn’t owe me anything. I like him and it’s okay that he doesn’t feel the same. I didn’t think I was going to turn him gay or something.” My molars grind together as I try to suppress the emotions rising inside of me.

“Max, Iknow.”

“Yep. It’ll be fine.”

“No.I know.I saw what happened in the hallway yesterday. I asked him about it. And he tried to brush it off at first but he—”

I glance down at her to find she’s blinking back tears. Putting a few fingers under her chin, I tilt her face to mine. “He what?” I ask softly.

“Griff admitted that he likes you, too. But he said he’s really struggling. He sounded so damn sad and looked so torn up, I want to cry every time I think about it.” She sits up straighter and flaps her hands in front of her face, as if trying to cool herself off will stop her reaction. Her cheeks have flushed pink, and her nose is a little red.

“What? Griff likes you back? What’s going on?” Scarlett stands in front of us, looking anxious. “Xander saw you two turn tail and come out here instead of coming to sit with us and thought maybe I’d better come check on you.”

I’d been so focused on what Daph was saying I hadn’t even noticed her come out of the lunchroom. Meeting her gaze, I slowly say, “Griff and I are having some problems.” I hold up my hand when Scarlett’s eyes immediately widen and her mouth opens to question me. “Yes, I like him. He likes me. But he’s not at all ready for anyone to know, and I’m totally the opposite. It’s becoming a problem.”

Scarlett moves my lunch bag out of the way and sits down with a plop, then blows out a hard breath. “But— I have so many questions. I thought it was a you-were-into-him-but-he’s-obviously-straightkind of issue. Then after a while, I wasn’t so surewhatI was seeing. But you’re saying… Griff likes you?” Her brows pinch together tightly. “But what about all the girls? Is he gay? Or…?”

I clear my throat. “Curious? Bi, maybe? We all know he likes girls just fine.”

Daph gets a funny little look on her face, like she’s off in her own world. “I’ve felt firsthand how much he likes girls. I don’t think you can fake that. Can you?” Her eyes flick to mine, horrified. “Sorry. So sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up.”

I huff out a laugh. “It’s okay, Daph. Um, I guess I can corroborate your initial findings now.”

Scarlett frowns. “What are you talking about?”

Despite the awkwardness of the situation me and my best friend have found ourselves in, I laugh and shoot a wink at Daph. “He’s an amazing kisser. Like topnotch, blow-your-mind kind of kissing.”

Daphne looks away for a second, and I think maybe I should have held back. But that’s not me. And I refuse to not be me. It’s not how I’m built.

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