More than Friends - Monica Murphy
Page 25
“How are you?”
Why are we making pointless small talk? “How did you get in here?”
He smiles sheepishly. “I bribed Elaine King.”
My mouth drops open. “She’s not bribeable.”
“Trust me. Everyone is bribeable. We all have a price.” His expression turns somber as he cuts his gaze away from mine.
His words make me fume, and I know he’s not referring to me, but still. I don’t like that he believes I have a price and that eventually, he’ll be able to meet it if he needs to. “Well, I can’t be bought. Not by you.”
Now he looks pained. “I know, Mandy. I’m not talking about you. It’s just…” His voice drifts and he thrusts his fingers through his hair, thoroughly messing it up. I wonder when was the last time he got it cut. It’s longer than usual, curling against his neck. I remember how soft it is…
And I am becoming completely distracted by his hair, which is ridiculous. I need to focus.
He makes it hard to focus, though. Not like the boy has to try too hard to distract me. All he has to do is stand there, wearing jeans and a black pullover hoodie, and I want to drool.
It’s seriously not fair.
“It’s just what?” I ask when he still hasn’t said anything.
“I’m already messing this up.” He blows out a harsh breath and flicks his gaze up to the ceiling before he looks at me again. “Can I just talk to you for a few minutes? Somewhere private?”
“I have plans to meet up with Livvy right now.” I’m not going to give in. He’ll just walk all over me again. Reel me in only to reject me, push me away, and I’ll be left behind a sobbing mess. I gave him too much power over me before. I can’t do that again.
“After the carnival then? Can I pick you up?”
“You’re not going to the carnival?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” His gaze sweeps over me, lingering on my chest. “You look amazing, by the way.”
“Thank you.” I want to say no. Yet I also want to say yes. Saying yes will result in me getting hurt. I’ll listen to what he has to say, he’ll feed me a line or two of complete crap, I’ll fall for it, we’ll spend time together, I’ll get my hopes up and then…
My hopes will come crashing down in a blaze of shame and low self-esteem and Livvy will tell me, “I told you so.”
I can’t go through that again.
“I don’t think I can meet with you after the carnival, Jordan,” I say, my voice soft. I see the hurt on his face, the pain in his eyes, and it makes me feel terrible. “I’m sorry, but I can’t go through this again. Have a good night.” I turn on my heel and walk away.
He follows after me. “Amanda, wait!” He grabs hold of my arm and stops me before I can get too far away. “Could we maybe talk tomorrow?”
“What else is there to talk about?” I jerk out of his hold and throw my hands in the air, wishing I could throw a punch at him instead. When I don’t want him to be persistent is, of course, when he actually is.
I can’t win with him. I just…can’t.
“What do you mean?” Jordan frowns, taking a step back.
“You don’t want to be with me. You’ve already told me that. Is that what you want to talk about? How it’ll never work out between us? Well, I got the message loud and clear yesterday, okay? We’re done. Over. Just the way you want it.” I glare at him, breathing so hard my chest rises and falls rapidly, and I swear I feel faint. It’s probably because I’m hungry.
That I can even still be hungry gives me hope. Maybe I am over Tuttle after all…
“I never said I didn’t want to be with you.” His voice drops and his gaze is intense as he watches me.
“You didn’t have to,” I whisper just before I turn and walk away.
And never once look back.
Read other books by Monica Murphy
Acknowledgements
First up…I’m so incredibly sorry, readers. I didn’t mean for this book to end in a cliffhanger, I swear. But as I wrote Amanda and Jordan’s story, I realized he’s a lot more complex than I originally thought. Truthfully, so is Amanda. So yes, I’m writing another book about them, and it will conclude their story, I promise.
Before I thank everyone, I want you all to know that Tuttle was only going to be a walk on character in Just Friends. A throwaway kind of guy who appeared every once in a while just to be a jerk or to be that extra friend Ryan and Dustin needed to talk to. Instead, Tuttle took over my brain and demanded his own story. So did Amanda. She became the girl so many readers rooted for—and so did I. So their story is not only for me (because it was a total joy to write, let me tell you), but for all of you too.
All right, now for the thanks…
A big, huge, sloppy kiss-filled thank you to my publicist and friend Nina, who has been such a loyal supporter of this series from the start and who will cut a bitch if anyone tries to take Tuttle away from her. Another big, huge, sloppy kiss-filled thanks to my assistant Kati. We’ve been together four (!!!) years now, and I don’t know what I’d do without you. Plus you make great graphics that every raves over. Huge thanks also to Jenn Watson for her advertising skills and general awesomeness. And to Gelytaz, who also makes beautiful graphics and trailers—thank you for all that you do.
To my daughter who is currently experiencing Just Friends-type drama, only it’s the eighth grade version (seriously – the inspiration is constant). Thank you for being so open with me, thank you for making smart choices and thank you for choosing such good friends. I love you.
I must always thank my critique partner, my friend, my wifey Katy Evans for always taking care of me in the best way possible. Big shout out to my cover designer for this series Hang Le – these covers are so gorgeous, I can’t stop staring at them! Plus, thank you to my editor Mackenzie Walton and my proofreader Dana Waganer—you ladies keep me in line and make sure the story is the best that it can be. Also, thank you to my formatter E.M. Tippetts—the interior of my books always look fabulous thanks to you and your team.
Last but not least, thank you to the readers, reviewers and bloggers who’ve read the Friends series so far and given me so much support. I know Livvy made a lot of you nuts. I know many of you couldn’t stand the majority of the characters in Just Friends. So thank you for enjoying their story anyway, and I hoped I changed your minds with Amanda and Jordan’s story. I adore these two. I hope you did too.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations for reviews. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet, without the publisher’s permission and is a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines and/or imprisonment.
More Than Friends
Copyright 2016 by Monica Murphy
This ebook is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
Published in the United States of America
First electronic publication: September 2016 by Monica Murphy.
www.monicamurphyauthor.com
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