Page 38 of I'm Gonna Get You Back
I mean, with the intense way he was looking at Delaney on the dance floor, anyone would think he had a thing forher.
Beside them, Logan had his arms around Nicole, but he kept looking over at Mitchell.
“Are you and Logan okay?” I asked.
On a recent long bus ride to a meet, Mitchell and I sat next to each other and talked the entire time. He ended up telling me about his relationship with Logan. How desperate he was for it to be public, but that Logan refused—worried it would affect his chances of being selected for Legacy, especially as the mayor’s son. I’d noticed earlier that he wasn’t wearing the bracelet anymore.
Mitchell shrugged, but his voice wobbled. “We broke up.”
“Do you want to talk—”
“Not really.”
I squeezed his arm.
The dancing went on awhile, and I took the opportunity to film. Which gave me something to busy myself with when Josh approached. He was in a hideous patterned dress shirt, his pale complexion red from dancing.
“You ever going to talk to me again?” he asked.
I could smell the booze on his breath. “We have nothing to talk about, Josh.”
“You know you liked me beforeGolden Boygot here.”
I stared because he couldn’t have been more wrong. I didn’t like him. I didn’t think about him. What happened over the summer was something to get lost in on a really shitty night. To help me forget how alone I was. How easy I was to leave.
Besides, it had been months. The only reason Josh wouldn’t let it go was because Iwasn’tinterested in him and he wasn’t used to that.
When I didn’t respond right away, he narrowed his eyes to a sharp squint. “Unless youwerejust using me to try to get a Legacy spot.”
My pulse spiked as I looked around, making sure no one was listening. “That’s bullshit and you know it.”
“Is it?”
Before I could say anything else, Reid appeared at my elbow just as the music shifted to a slow song. His jacket was off, his cheeks pink with exertion, and there was an attractive gleam of sweat at his temples.
“Want to dance?” he asked.
“We were talking,” Josh said, stepping into Reid’s space.
“And now we’re done,” I said pointedly.
“Hey, look at that.” Reid clapped Josh hard on the shoulder to move him out of the way.
But Josh didn’t budge.
“Back off, West,” Reid said more forcefully.
Josh put his hands up in surrender, but the smirk never left his face. “Just trying to warn you, man.” He leaned close and stage-whispered loud enough for everyone around us to hear, “She’s a biter.”
Reid’s expression didn’t change, but a familiar shame crawled over my skin.
Josh twirled on his heel and walked off as Reid led me to the dance floor.
Several people stared at us. Stared at me. Including Amaya and Nicole, who had clearly watched the whole interaction from across the gym. At least they hadn’t heard what he said, but Amaya’s eyes were red, and she glared at me like her crumbling relationship was all my fault.
Maybe it was.
Seeing firsthand what that kind of betrayal had done to my mom, I hated myself even more for that.
