Count On Me(49)

Whatever’s gonna happen between me and Dillon is gonna have to wait until I see him later. Until then, I have a girl in front of me that again, I need to apologize to. I don’t think she was expecting me to show up and go all caveman the way I did.

“I was looking for you.” I say as I remove my arms from around her. When she doesn’t make any attempt to pull out her phone to answer me, it worries me. Is she still upset with me for what happened at lunch or is there something more going on?

“Isabelle, about earlier…I’m sorry. I’m not sure what I said, but I know I said something. I’m sorry for whatever it is.”

She doesn’t answer me or even move, though her eyes are frantic. There’s something she’s trying to tell me or that I should just know and I don’t. It’s times like this I really wish she spoke. Not being able to connect with her was going to drive both of us insane fast.

“Where’s your phone?”

She shrugs and now I know why she’s not answering. Needing to talk to her, I take her hand in mine and head for the nearest classroom. We’ve got maybe five minutes before we both need to be in our afternoon classes, so I’ve got to get her to talk quick.

Grabbing a piece of paper off the teacher’s desk and a pen from the holder, I hand it to her and pray she’ll talk. I’m not sure what happened earlier is healed and I don’t want to imagine how it’s going to feel if she doesn’t answer me right now.

“What did Dillon want?”

She leans over the desk to write and even though I feel bad for doing it, I watch her body as she does. Her shirt lifts just a little as she’s bending over and whether she’s aware of it or not, her lower back is exposed. I’ve spent the last eight years ignoring this girl, but one small view of her back and it’s putting my body into overdrive.

I’ve never wanted to kiss someone there so much in my life.

She lifts herself up and hands me the paper and before she can catch me ogling her, I shift my eyes back up, though with the heat on my face, I’m pretty sure she can tell I did something I shouldn’t have.

What is it about this girl that makes me act this stupid?

He wanted to talk and say sorry. He misses you and wishes that you two could be friends again. I told him that I would talk to you. I believe him Kayden. I think you two should talk.

As much as I care about her, I hate that she’s this gullible. Doesn’t she realize that Dillon will say and act any damn way he needs to in order to get close to her again?

I would have done the exact same thing. Hell, I would have cried if it meant getting the girl to believe me.

“He’s full of shit. He’s just doing this to get to me.”

If I didn’t see it happen I wouldn’t have believed it, but she rolled her eyes at me. If it wasn’t such a serious conversation I would’ve laughed. She’s not all that different from the other girls. The difference is, when others girl do it, it’s annoying. With Isabelle, it’s kind of awesome.

“I know that you want to believe him, babe. I do. Dillon is like that. He will say and do whatever he needs to in order to get what he wants. I won’t tell you what to do, but please, if you’re ever alone with him again, promise me you’ll be careful?”

She nods and I exhale the breath I’ve been holding. That wasn’t even what I intended to say, but now that it’s out there; it was the smartest thing to say. Isabelle has been treated differently her entire life, having people making decisions for her and telling her what she needs to do. I’m not even sure she knows how to make a choice for herself. I want to be the one to do that for her.

“You ready to go to class?” I ask and before I know it, she’s lacing her fingers through mine and nodding her answer.

The only thought I’m left with as I finally come to terms with exactly what she’s done and we make our way to our classes is so simple, yet hard at the same time.

I am so in love with this girl.





Chapter Fifteen



Belle



This makes no sense at all.

I’m standing outside the office, after being handed my phone and even though I’m happy I’ve got it back, I don’t even know how it could have gotten lost to begin with. I had it with me when I walked away from Kayden at lunch and I know I didn’t put it down anywhere. I might be different from everyone else, but when it comes to my phone, I’m the same. I don’t let it out of my sight.

How did it end up in the office and who found it?

I should just be thankful it’s been found, but it worries me. Up until last year I didn’t even have a phone. I don’t know a whole lot about it yet, so everything I’ve ever said or done is still on it. I don’t delete anything. Even though our conversations are innocent, someone finding out that I’ve been talking to Kayden and exactly what we’re saying to each other scares me.