“Yeah. Whatever. Have a good night, Juliet.”
“You too, Jared.”
She ends the call before I can say anything more. I shoot a text to Tyler.
Me: Screw it. She hates me.
Tyler: Tmrow stoppin @ L’s U in?
Do I really want to risk being rejected?
“Dude, will you calm down,” Tyler says for about the umpteenth time.
“What if she hits me when she sees me?”
“She might kick a soccer ball at your head, but I think you’re safe.”
I frown. “I’m serious. What should I do then because she won’t want to see me?”
“She’ll see you. Trust me on this.”
I realize I sound like an idiot, but I need him to take this a little more seriously than he is right now. “What if she doesn’t?”
Tyler grumbles. “She will.”
He parks in the driveway of their house then hops out. I’m hesitant. Tyler glances back from their stoop and waves me on. I don’t move. The front door opens, and Layla tries ushering Tyler inside. He points at his Cherokee.
Damn him. I reluctantly get out and raise my hand. “Get up here,” Tyler says.
“Go straight into her room, do you know which one it is?” Layla asks.
I shake my head.
“It’s the last door on the right,” she tells me.
They both part and let me pass. I don’t think barging into a girl’s room is ethical. I’m quite sure my mom might beat my ass if she ever finds out I did this. I make my way up the stairs and down the hall. I shouldn’t do this.
I turn away from her door ready to flee but it opens, and the most beautiful sight is before me. Juliet is rubbing sleep from her eyes while yawning. Her hair is a little disarrayed, but she still looks good. “Morning, Juliet.”
“What the … Jared!” she startles. I stifle a chuckle. This dang girl is so freaking cute.
“Not a morning person, I take it?”
“What are you doing here at …”
“Ten? I wanted to apologize to you again. Also, I wanted to see if you wanted to do something today.”
She blinks. “Do something? You have a girlfriend Jared.” She’s not going to let this go.
“Oookay. So, we can’t be friends?”
“You want to be friends?” Her mouth twists.
“Sure.” No. I don’t want to be just friends.
She veers around me. “Okay. I have to go to the bathroom. Wait in my room if you want but do not touch a thing. Trust me when I say I’ll know if you were snooping or not.”
“Okay.” As she makes her way to the bathroom I step into her room and take it all in. Her walls are an aqua blue and gray. There are several bookshelves filled with books. The girl literally has so many some shelves are double stacked. She has four CD clothed cases.
I want to sit on her bed, but I feel like that may be violating her privacy. She sleeps there. Possibly in revealing pjs. Knock it off Jared. Stop thinking about her in skimpy nightwear. I move toward the window seat and wait. Beside me is the stuffed dog I got her. It surprises me she still has him.
Juliet bounds into the room a few seconds later. She scans the room and makes a few passes by her bookshelves and one under her bed. “Hmph. You can follow orders.”
“I can indeed. Do I get a treat?” Jeez, I just made myself sound like a dog.
She raises a brow and giggles. “Yeah, no. Tell you what I will do. I’ll play you for your friendship.”
“What? I thought we already established I was your friend.”
“Did we? I remember me saying okay to you wanting to be friends then telling you I had to go to the bathroom. But I didn’t say, yes, Jared we can be friends. Wanna play for the honor or not?” She hands over a controller and I take it.
She’s in for it now. “All right. Let’s do this. But if I win not only are we friends, you have to take me mudding.”
“I can live with that. If I win you have to stop dropping by.”
Shit! I better not lose this game. “Deal.” She sticks out her hand and I stare at it. “You don’t trust me?”
“I trust you enough,” she says.
I frown as I take her delicate hand into mine. I shake it a few times then we break apart. “It’s settled then. What game are we playing?”
“How about we play Monopoly?”
Is she serious? “Uh isn’t that a board game?”
She laughs. It’s musical and I love it. At the same time, I hate it because it means she’s making fun of me. “Yeah, it is. I also have the video game version. Less cheating happens on the video game version.” She bends and grabs a case then waves it in my face.
“Learn something new every day.”
“That you do. Want to play or not?”
I roll up the sleeves of my shirt and I say, “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Juliet
Jared and I have been playing this game for about an hour. We’re both nearly even in money. We’re both even in properties, hotels, and yeah, he’s smarter than I thought. Chase and Adaline can’t stand playing Monopoly with me in video game version or even traditional board game because I have an unbeatable strategy. However, Jared seems to have the same system.
I click to roll the dice. “Son of a bitch,” Jared growls. “You got freaking doubles.”
I do my little happy shake and say, “Ha in your face and I landed on free parking. Booyah!”
“Keep shaking that cute ass of yours in front of the screen you won’t be doing that little dance next roll. In fact, I bet all that money you just heisted me out of will be coming back to me very soon.”
I click the button again and sure enough, I land on one of his damn hotels. Marvin Gardens. That’s bull.
“Aw peanuts.”
“Fork it over, baby.”
I shoot him a glare as I pay his darn fee.
Jared chuckles. I smack his arm as he clicks to roll. The one die is a two the other a one. “That was unfair. You cheated when you struck me while I was rolling.”
“Pssssh. Who is here to really call that cheating?” I look around the room. “No one.”
“That’s it.” Jared lunges at me. I squeak as I’m being sent to floor my back smacks against my carpet. Before I can breathe, think, or even defend myself Jared’s lips brush against mine.
I’m completely stunned. We shouldn’t be kissing. He has a girlfriend. But I feel all tingly. Like little fireworks are popping off in my body, starting from my toes and shooting up to my mouth. I press myself to his lips then drop my controller absentmindedly to the floor. I weave my fingers through his soft, dark locks and continue to kiss him.
He parts from my mouth. “I’ve wanted to do that to you forever.”
“Why?” I leave off the part that he has a girlfriend. He shouldn’t be thinking let alone admitting to wanting to kiss me forever. Even if it is the best damn kiss of my life. It couldn’t have gotten anymore storybook perfect.
“Juliet I’ve had a crush on you since elementary school.”
I pop on an elbow causing him to draw back further from me. “What? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“You never noticed anyone. How could I confess something like that when you only talked to Chase, Adaline, or Layla? Anytime I said hi to you, you barely said a word back to me. Last year was probably the first time you said more than three words to me.”
“No way I … ” Crap he’s right. I never really talked to Jared. I usually thought he was being nice to everyone ‘cause he wanted some kind of vote on something. “I guess I didn’t say much.”
Jared sighs. “It’s partly my fault too. I didn’t think someone like you would even want me.”
“Why wouldn’t I want you? Every girl at our school is salivating for you.”
“That may be true, but I knew one who wasn’t. She didn’t even look at me. She didn’t give a crap if we went to states. She certainly didn’t hug me in the hall
s and tell me good luck.”
“Because that’s weird. I mean I wouldn’t want someone to randomly hug me then tell me good luck or nice job.”
He smiles. “And that’s one of the reasons I like you a lot. You weren’t trying to suck up to me for anything. You didn’t talk to me, so you can get my dad to call in some scouting favors for you.”
“People don’t do that do they?” I sit up and face him.
Jared shrugs. “Oh yeah. Freshman year, I got invited to a bunch of senior parties because of my dad being athletic director and the football coach. Trust me, I saw through the bullshit. I knew they were using me.”
I shake my head. “If you liked me so much why did you switch spots in all our classes?”
“Because it’s hard being around someone you like so freaking much and knowing they can’t stand you. It’s even more difficult being partners with that person and being looked at as if you were dirt on that person’s shoe. But the real kicker was every love-gram I sent you, you thought they were from Mark.”
I hang my head in shame. I’m such an idiot. I grab his hand and squeeze it. “I’m sorry.”
“Do you still want to finish this game?”
I am usually great at answering questions, but this is one I’m afraid to answer. The easiest solution is to stay silent, right?
The silence pours between us for what feels like hours, then he clears his throat. “Or we could talk some more?”
I nod.
“Good, I guess I will start. You asked me why I changed my seats, but I think you really want to know is why I didn’t make a move before Mark?”
I say nothing because that’s exactly what I want to know. It’s been burning a hole through my skull not knowing.
“Whenever I got the nerve to ask you out I did something really stupid like dropped my drink on you. And when I botched that up a few times I thought it was for the best. You’ve been to my house. My dad has strict schedules for me and Justin. It wouldn’t be fair if I couldn’t give you the time you deserved, so I backed off.”
“And now?”
He smiles. “I want to try.”
I shake my head. “We can’t. Kimber believes you’re in a relationship with her. Why?”
He groans. “When she got me to take her to that movie I drove her home. She kissed me. I didn’t stop it from happening.”
I back away from him. “We can’t do this then.”
Jared stares up at the ceiling and mutters a curse word. “Okay. I understand.” He meets my gaze. “I think I should go.”
“Did you drive here?”
“Tyler.”
I get up, grab my keys and sigh. “Let’s go.”
“It’s cool. I can get him to take me back.”
I shake my head. “It’s fine. I’ll take you.”
Layla enters my room as I’m sprawled out on the bed. “Did you and Jared have a good time?” she giggles.
“Could you do me a favor and stop trying to set us up. He has something going on with Kimber. I’m not about to go there. She’s my teammate even if I can’t stand her.”
Layla settles on my bed. “They aren’t together Ty would have told me.”
“Apparently, Tyler doesn’t tell you everything,” I say as I prop up on my elbows. “Jared admitted to me that he not only took Kimber to a movie they kissed. Her Facebook stats say she’s in a relationship with him.”
She whips out her phone and starts tapping her thumbs furiously against the screen. “What are you doing?” I ask. With her dyslexia, she uses a voice app, so her texts don’t become so jumbled and unreadable.
“I’m texting Tyler.”
“Wait. Did you already send it? What are you texting him?”
She hands me over her cell.
I cringe as I take the phone from her and read:
Layla: Ahcib haw a gikifbiend! WTD!
Her phone buzzes in my hand.
Tyler: Babe. I have no idea what that said. Call me.
“He said call him.”
“I’m not calling him! I’m furious with him. He should have checked and made sure his friends were completely single. I’m so sorry Juliet. I really am.”
“It’s fine. Please call Tyler. He’s probably going to start freaking out and come over here.”
“And he’ll be greeted with a door to the face.”
I shake my head. Sometimes my sister gets a little hot-tempered. “I told you I’m fine. Honestly. Just don’t bring Jared over anymore.”
She frowns. “I just want you to find your happiness. I thought Jared was the perfect one for you.”
I turn away from her. “Yeah well, looks like that’s not the case. Will you please call … never mind he’s calling you.”
“Don’t answer.”
Too late. I swipe my finger across and say, “Hey Tyler.”
“Juliet. What the hell?”
“Layla is currently ticked off at you. You apparently have been trying to play matchmaker together and messed up. You know your buddy Jared isn’t exactly single there, friend.”
“Shit! Juls I swear he’s not dating anyone. That was some messed up garbage. Is that why he left without telling me?”
“I don’t know.” Layla tries to take the phone from me, but I shove her arm away. “Does he really like me as much as he says he does Tyler? Don’t lie.”
“It’s always been you, Juliet. When Mark dated you, we had to hold Jared back from snapping Mark’s arms or legs. He was pissed and crushed. Then he thought you were happy so as much as he hated the idea of you being with Mark he accepted it. Then the dance happened and let’s just say there is no love loss there.”
His words hit me like bricks to my chest. “Thanks.” I hand the phone to Layla. “Be nice,” I say then I smile at her to let her know I’m okay.
“I can’t believe you didn’t warn me that he kissed Kimber. I could have told you ahead of time that my sister doesn’t break team codes. It creates issues.”
She makes a noise. “Did I say you follow that code? No, I’m glad you don’t. She’s different,” she says into the phone.
“And she’s right here,” I shout.
Layla rolls her eyes and walks out of my room.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jared
I texted Juliet Sunday night and she didn’t respond. I texted her before school, and she wrote back, “We’re never happening. Stop texting me.” I don’t know how things went terribly wrong so fast, but it did. The other problem, I’ve no idea how to correct it when she refuses to talk to me.
Before first period I thought I might get a chance to speak with her, but she blasted me in my shin. “Stay away from me, you ass-clown!”
“What did I do?” I ask.
Adaline points a finger at me. “You know what you did.” Then they stomped down the hall together.
What the hell? I thought we were going to try being friends. I snatch Mark up by his collar. “Did you do something?”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about dude.” I push him into the lockers. “Jeez man, what is your problem?” he snarls.
“If she’s not speaking to me because of some bullshit stunt you pulled I will kill you.”
He shoves me. “I didn’t do anything but if you’re talking about Juliet I hope she did ditch you. You get everything just handed to you like some freaking golden ticket. I’m glad she’s not buying into the crap everyone else here does. She finally sees you for the jackass you are. You’re no better than anyone else here.”
I shove him back.
“That’s right Jared, show everyone what kind of temper you really have,” Mark eggs on.
I take a step back and notice there is a crowd formed around us. My dad is cutting through the crush of people. “Move it! Jared. Mark. My office right now!”
Shit. Today cannot get any worse. “Jared! Baby!” Kimber throws her arms around me and presses her mouth to mine. I try to weave out of her grip or at least let that scene go unno
ticed, but everyone has seen. Even freaking Chase, I want to stop him and tell him not to tell Juliet but it’s too late. He’s hauling down the hallway.
“Jared! Now!” my dad yells. I unlatch myself from Kimber. She pouts but there is nothing I can do at this point. I told her I didn’t want this.
I move toward my dad’s office. I’m preparing for the ass chewing of a lifetime. I know that’s what is coming to me.
As I take a seat on the couch the door slams shut. I keep my sight glued to the floor. “What is going on with you two?” my dad yells.
I say nothing. Mark pipes in, “He started it!”
“What exactly did my son start?”
I can feel both of their stares on me. “He had a crush on this girl. Juliet Valentine. I dated her, and we broke up. Your son is all pissy because she won’t even talk to him let alone go out with him. He’s taking it all out on me because he has no game when it comes to girls.”
I wish I hit Mark in the face. Maybe then his jaw would be broken, and he wouldn’t be yapping to my dad about any of this. Yes, Mark got the girl first, but he conveniently left out he cheated on the girl. He also left off the fact that he said something to scare her off because she refuses to talk to me. I know it has something to do with him.
“Is any of this true?” my dad asks.
I continue to look at the floor. “Yes.” Some of it was true.
“I told you a million times! Girls cause drama. Drama leads to poor plays and poor judgment. This will ruin your career. Don’t throw it all away over some high school puppy love! Get to the damn NFL before worrying about getting a girlfriend!”
Please let him lose his voice or something. I can’t take this lecture any longer. This is my life. My freaking life and I will never play in the pros because I will purposely not try out. I will refuse to play in college. I won’t regret it because I never wanted it anyway.
He rambles on and on about duty, responsibility, and regrets. The only thing I wish I’d done sooner was kiss Juliet and have her as my girlfriend. Not let my dad dictate my life and all the things I need to be doing.
Right Kiss Wrong Guy (Offsides Book 2) Page 17