Kiss and Break Up - Ella Fields Page 0,4
and let his gaze travel over me. “I liked your long hair.”
“And I like being able to walk into my bedroom naked after a shower, but I haven’t been able to do that for years.”
He didn’t even crack a smile. “I’ve seen you naked.”
“Before I had boobs, Dash.” I picked at the chipped pink polish on my nails.
“I wouldn’t give a shit.”
That deep, velvet-singed voice and those words grated. “I would.”
He hung his glasses from the V of his white shirt. “What’s eating at you?”
“Nothing.” I coughed, realizing too late I’d managed to mess up saying one word.
“My, my,” he drawled. “You’re turning as pink as that ugly ass polish on your nails.”
I said nothing and went to climb off the bed. Maybe if I got the vacuum out, he’d take that as his cue to leave. Though he never had before. Dash came and went when he wanted, living on no one else’s timeline but his own.
“If you’re done with the insults for today …”
“Sit down.”
“What?” I almost yelled.
He grabbed my wrist, pulling me back down onto the bed. “You’ve been acting weird since yesterday. Speak.”
“Speak?” An incredulous laugh burst free. “I’m not a freaking dog.”
A thick brow rose. “I didn’t say you were. But I feel I do need to encourage you to use your words, which is fucking frustrating to say the least.”
“Let’s play Blitz.”
“Fuck Blitz.”
Oh, shit. If that couldn’t even sway his attention, then there’d be no swaying at all.
I slouched, shoving his feet away. “I ran into Byron from school yesterday after getting my hair done.”
“In the physical sense? Elaborate.”
“At the newsstand. He, um …” I blew out a breath that pushed some of my rogue curls aside. “He asked me to go to Wade’s party this weekend.”
Silence blanketed the room; the buzzing insects outside the only sound.
I looked over at Dash, my stomach flip flopping. We didn’t talk about boys. Ever. There usually wasn’t any need. Any crushes I’d had, I kept to myself or told Willa and Daphne.
“How sweet,” he finally said, tone mocking. “And are you going to go to this party?”
“I’m considering it,” I admitted, relieved he’d finally said something. “Daphne and Willa might come too.”
“Good. They might be able to keep the filthy animal from trying to get into your pants.”
Shocked, I swallowed a hard inhalation. “Filthy animal?”
Dash sat up, his white shirt shifting over his tanned stomach, flashing a glimpse of the dark hair above his jeans. I looked away. Whenever I caught myself looking at him, a creeping feeling a lot like shame washed over me. Not only was he not my type—because he was horrible—but he was also like a brother to me.
“Woods only wants one thing from you, Freckles. He’s on the rebound. So don’t get too ahead of yourself.”
My shoulders slumped, and I bit my lip to curb the disappointment I felt threading inside.
“Let’s play.” Dash switched my small TV on, then the Xbox, and returned to his spot on the bed, tossing me the second controller.
I stared at it a moment while he logged on since he knew all my passwords and then picked it up.
I didn’t want to play. I wanted to ask why boys were so confusing, but that would’ve been weird. “Don’t shoot me this time.”
“It was an accident.”
I tutted. “Sure, sure.”
Dash
“My heels are getting stuck in the dirt,” Mila whined.
Jackson cranked his bike beside me, the sound thankfully drowning her out.
He gave me a look that said, what was she even doing here?
I shrugged, then jabbed a finger over my shoulder at Lars, who was sucking back a cigarette and fiddling with my two-stroke’s spokes after hitting a boulder the size of Mila’s melon-esque head.
Lars was too poor to buy his own bike, so whenever we got the urge to ride, he used mine.
He once had his own, a Honda older than my mom, but admitted he’d sold it to pay for school uniforms two years ago.
Regardless, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t rip his shirt from his back if he fucked those wheels. They were worth more than the bike itself. Kind of stupid, but whatever.
“Lars, did you invite the melon?”
Lars flicked his ash to the packed dirt, looking back over the grass speckled hills to where Mila was stumbling.
You could see my house through the trees if you squinted. Three acres of undeveloped land was all mine for the taking. Dad purchased it with the house, and he never failed to remind me that I should be outside riding