His Forever Girl - Lucy Darling Page 0,6

I can’t move.

“What are you doing?” she asks, dropping her hands from my back. I turn around and stare down at her. There is still a touch of light out, and I’m close enough to see the small freckles that dot her nose and cheeks.

“Taking you home.” I go for her hand, but she shakes me off. I settle for wrapping my hand around her wrist to pull her along to my truck. She tries to pull back. I stop walking and grab her by the hips before I lift her and put her over my shoulder. Her little fists beat into my back, and I wonder if this will get me in trouble with Willow.

“What are you doing? Put me down.”

“I already told you what I was doing.” I open the passenger side door of my truck, placing her inside gently like she's a porcelain doll. I reach up and put her seatbelt on her. I think I’ve shocked her because the only thing she’s doing is staring at me. Her pink lips are parted. I shut the door, rushing around to the driver’s side and taking off before she tries to make an escape.

I can feel her eyes on me the whole way home. When I pull up outside of our houses, she’s out the door before the truck rolls to a stop. I call after her, but she ignores me. I stand there knowing that I can’t rush after her. I want to, but I know her mom would come outside if she heard us.

She stops when she gets to the porch. She turns to stare at me for a moment. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, Reid, but trust me when I say that I don’t trust you.” With that, she enters her house. I drop my head. Her words are like a knife to my heart. I think I would have rather had her say she didn't like me more than she doesn’t trust me. It burns deep inside of me. I have no one to blame but myself for any of this.

There was a time when she would have trusted me with anything. When she looked at me as if I hung the moon. It’s why I pushed her away. I couldn’t trust myself around her anymore. Yet I still managed to break the one thing I’d tried to protect. That isn't going to stop me. I don’t care what it takes. I’m going to make her trust me again. Even if it's the last thing I do. I’ll never give up. Not on this. Not on her. Zoey is worth the fight. She always has been.

5

Zoey

I shove another spoonful of cereal in my mouth as I swipe my finger across the page on my e-reader. My phone buzzes across the table again. I’d turned the chime off. The sound kept distracting me from reading. I was distracted enough with my own thoughts. My mind has been racing ever since Reid dropped me off last night.

“Someone is popular today.” Tell me about it. My phone won’t stop going off, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Not only is Willow texting me, but so is the boy from last night that I’d given my number to. I pick up my phone to check my messages because ignoring them seems hopeless at this point. I click Willow first.

Willow: So you’re going to go, right?

Me: I think so.

Willow: Do it. It will be fun.

Me: Fine, I’ll go.

I am really still on the fence about going. I woke up to a text from Andrew. I didn't think he’d text me so soon or at all after how Reid acted. I heard there were rules to this dating thing. That maybe you wait a few days so you seem busy and not too desperate. Personally, I think that’s all bullshit, so Andrew gets his second point with me. I decided that I should text him back and tell him that we could meet up.

Me: Sure. Can I meet you there?

With the way Reid has been acting, I’m not so sure I want Andrew to show up at my house. Plus, I’m not ready for the whole meet your parents thing. It’s not that I’ll hide what I’m doing from my mom. I’m eighteen, so I can go on a date if I want. I just don’t want to introduce him because this will probably be a one-time thing. So what would be the point?

There was