Boys Like You(6)

Instead, he looked at me as if I was a retard. “That would be stupid.”

Okay, so the girlfriend thing was a sore subject and he totally didn’t care what I was thinking. In fact, he seemed kinda pissed.

“It’s been known to happen,” I retorted.

His eyes narrowed as if he was trying to figure me out, and that’s when I realized it was time to go. I was sinking out here, and suddenly the effort to stay on solid ground was too much. I felt a little woozy and thought of my bed.

I took a step back. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it.”

“Sure. Nice meeting you, princess.”

“It’s Monroe,” I shot back with the voice of a five-year- old.

Hello. What was it about this boy that turned me into an imma-ture child with no filters?

21

BoysLikeYou.indd 21

11/19/13 10:02 AM

Juliana Ston e

Nathan bent over to open up his paint can without saying another word, and I hurried back to the house. Not once did I look back. Not even when I reached the maze and could have snuck a peek without him seeing.

I marched straight into the house and, once inside, drank two glasses of water before the weariness of my life— my very existence— pulled me down. It took way too much energy to be anything other than apathetic.

It was a heavy feeling and one I was used to, so I did what I always did when it hit. I trudged upstairs, flopped onto my bed, and thought longingly of the little blue pills that were no longer mine to enjoy.

I closed my eyes, turned and snuggled into my pillow, and prayed for sleep.

22

BoysLikeYou.indd 22

11/19/13 10:02 AM





Chapter Four


Nathan


When my cell dinged for the fifth time in just over an hour, I swore and yanked it out of my shorts.

Rachel.

Did the girl not understand that some of us have to work?

Didn’t she know that some of us have court-appointed work dates to keep our asses out of juvie? Anger rushed through me with a hot, hard thrust, and I had to take a minute. What part of that didn’t she get?

Ever since the accident, she acted as if nothing had changed.

Like we were the same. Like she needed us to be the same to deal with the fact that Trevor was in the hospital and probably never coming out.

But I couldn’t do that, and whenever I tried to talk to her about it, she shut me down. She tried to change the subject or tried to have sex. She was willing to do pretty much anything not to talk about that night, but pretending that everything was going to be okay was freaking exhausting.

BoysLikeYou.indd 23

11/19/13 10:02 AM

Juliana Ston e

God, Rachel was so exhausting.

I heaved a sigh and glanced at the text message.

Find a way to come. I miss u.

Her words were like sugar, but they made me angrier than I already was, and I considered calling her right there and then.

I considered having it out right there and then, but after a few moments, I turned off my cell instead and shoved it into my front pocket. This had to be done face to face.

I dunked the edge of my paintbrush in the can and spread another coat of fresh black paint over the iron fence section I was working on. It was close to five and I was about half done with the job. I figured if I got an early start on Monday, I’d have the entire fence finished by noon. Or I could just keep painting until dark, because it’s not like I had anything better to do.

I paused for a bit and grabbed a bottle of water out of my bag, my gaze focused on the smaller house, beyond the planta-tion home. I took a good long drink, not taking my eyes from the place.


Monroe.

No, more like Princess Monroe. I smiled at that. Princess Monroe with the big chip on her shoulder.

What the hell was her story?

I suppose most guys would consider her hot. Heck, I considered her hot. That little tank top she had been wearing showed 24

BoysLikeYou.indd 24

11/19/13 10:02 AM

BOYS LIKE YOU

some curves, and with all that dark hair and big eyes, she was definitely nice to look at. But her attitude was not something I wanted to tangle with. I was pretty sure she was high mainte-nance and a snob to boot. She was from New York City, after all.

Shit. I screwed the cap back onto my water bottle and tossed it back into my bag. Technically, I was still with Rachel, even if mentally I’d left weeks ago, so why was I even thinking about this girl?

“Nathan?”

Surprised, I turned as Mrs. Blackwell walked toward me.

Where the hell had she come from? She was a nice lady and I’d always liked her, especially considering she was a huge football fan. She didn’t miss a Friday night game and sure liked to ride Coach when she didn’t agree with a play.

I smiled. “Hey, Mrs. Blackwell. I’m okay to keep going, if that’s all right with you.”

She smiled back at me, and as I studied her, I realized exactly where Princess Monroe got her unusual eye color. Funny, I’d never noticed it before, but then again, it’s not like I spent much time checking out anyone over the age of twenty-five. That would be weird.

“You most certainly will not. It’s five o’clock and you’ve been out here for hours.” She glanced at the fence and her eyes soft-ened some more. “It looks wonderful, Nathan.”

For a moment, the two of us stared at the half-done fence that surrounded her family crypt. The iron had been forged into a 25