Love Me

He shakes his head like he doesn’t believe me.

“That sounds like bullshit. Let me guess, you just kissed?”

“Yes, we did. Oh, not like that. Like we actually just kissed. And not for very long, because it started pouring.”

“Uh huh, sure. I’m done. I can’t do this anymore. How do you say fuck off in French?”

Aiden who apparently has been standing behind us says, “Casse-toi. But she’s telling you the truth.”

“Yeah well, cassy-twa to both of you,” he says. He gets up, slams his chair into the table, and stomps out of the café.

Aiden says, “Hell, if I woulda known that would work, I would’ve stolen some of your panties and hung them in my football locker.”

“It’s really not fu

“I’ll sit and eat di

Riley wanders over with Ariela on his arm. He looks really happy, for a guy whose neck is varying shades of bruise.

“What happened?” he asks.

Aiden looks like he’s going to say something, but my eyes fill with tears.

“I gotta go,” I tell them.

Tears are blurring my vision as I leave the café. I need to sit down and gather myself, so I go to the nearest spot.

As fate would have it, it’s the bench where Dawson first really kissed me.

I put my head down into my hands and cry.

I don’t know what I’m going to do.

I feel the bench shift slightly.

Dawson puts his arm around me, pulls me into his chest, and whispers, “I’m sorry. I believe you. This is all my fault. If I would’ve told Whitney no, we wouldn’t even be in this mess, would we? You wouldn’t be dating Aiden. We’d still be going out, right?”

“That’s right,” I sputter out and then start bawling again. I’m bawling about all of it. Brooklyn. Him. Aiden. Him. Vincent. I just want to go home.

Dawson rubs my back gently. “No relationship is perfect, Keatie. What matters is if you still want to be together when things get really hard.”

I half laugh, half cry, “That’s the problem, Dawson. I like it when you get really hard.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

I look up at him. His gorgeous, sweet brown eyes. His beautiful hair.

“Oh, wow. Um, here.” He pulls his polo up off his stomach and uses it to wipe my face. “Let’s go get you cleaned up. Then we’re go

I nod okay.

We go to my room. “Tonight is pretty much over for me, and it’s not even six.” I sigh. “I’m not going to the game.”

“You’re not skipping. You’ll get in trouble with the dance team. Just put some makeup back on. It’ll be fine.”

“I don’t want to go to the movie after the game.”

“You have to go. You’re my date.”

I throw my arms around him and start crying again.

“You can’t go to the game bawling.” He looks perplexed. I’m sure growing up with three brothers, he’s not used to this.

“Okay, let’s talk first, figure this out, get all the crying out.”

“You’re supposed to be in the locker room in ten minutes.”

“I can be a little late. So, you want honesty, right?”

I bite my lip and nod.

“This is honesty. I love you. I’ve told you that. On the other hand, do I think you are my one true love?” He stops, rubs his hands together, and shakes his head. “I honestly don’t know. You helped me. Healed me, really. I feel grateful. But do you remember that first night when we talked at the Cave?”

“Yeah, you told me your goal was to ask Whitney to Homecoming.”

“And you told me that Aiden spoke to you soul. Or kissed your soul.”

I nod, remembering.

“Keatie, I don’t know if we’re soul mates. I don’t even know how you know that. Do you?”

“I don't think I believe in soul mates or true love anymore.”

He pulls me gently onto his lap and snuggles me into his chest.

“Yeah, you do. Under all that sexy is a true romantic.”

“I mean, I want that. Doesn’t everyone? That special someone made just for them.”

“I think everyone hopes for it. But then we get our hearts broken and it makes us cynical. After what happened with Whitney, I felt pretty cynical.”

“Did you think she was the one? Like, did you want to marry her?”

“We used to talk about it sometimes. She always described our future life, but I could never picture it. I thought it was just because I’m a guy, but now I don’t think so. I think it just wasn’t right. What do you think we should do?”

“What do you want to do?”

He shakes his head. “Honestly, I can't wait to graduate and go to college.”

“That makes me sad.”

“I don’t know if we’re soul mates, Keatie, but we’re go

“Do you want to give up the sex?”

“Hell no. Do you?”

“Well, it complicates things, and I do feel a little guilty about it. Should we feel guilty about it?”

“As long as we’re both single, we have nothing to feel guilty about.”

“I don’t want to let you go.”

“I’m not going anywhere, and there’s no one here I want to date. So, we’ll see how it goes, and I’ll try my best not to be a jealous idiot. It helps knowing you’re not sleeping with him.”

“I told him I wouldn’t sleep with anyone else until I knew for sure I was in love.”

“I’m a life lesson, huh?”

I laugh in a sad way. “Maybe. Dawson, I know I have a prospective student to attend to, but I don’t want to go to the movie. I know we were supposed to have a date. Will you be mad if we don’t go?”

“Hell, no. I hate that movie.” He gives me a sweet kiss on the cheek and glances at the clock. “Shit. I gotta get going.”

“Okay,” I say as he walks out the door.

You got lucky.

6:12pm

I walk down to the field house, my emotions everywhere.

Part of me wants to run away.

To forget this place. Forget these people.

But as I look out over the campus, I realize that I don’t want to leave this place. Or these people. I don’t want to run away from my problems. I want to stay here and figure them out.

And, maybe, hopefully, figure myself out in the process.

I whip open the door to the field house to find Cooper Steele standing in the entry.

“What?”

“We need to talk,” he says as he pulls me in his office and shuts his door. He drops down into the chair behind his desk, rubs the stubble on his head, and says, “This place is crazy. I’m supposed to be guarding you. How am I supposed to watch out for you when I’m constantly busy? And how did I suddenly find myself in charge of an event I didn’t even plan?”

I can’t help but smirk. “Whitney and Peyton are on the Social Committee that pla

“I know they want me. They’ve already got me doing all this stuff.”

“Uh, no. That’s just to get close to you. I mean they want you. Sexually.”

“Sexually? They’re in high school?”

“Yeah, but they’re both legal and in some sort of competition to see who can sleep with you first.”

“This is my job. I’m not going to screw it up by sleeping with some high school girl. They’re both in my Health class too. It’s weird talking about health and human body issues to girls whose pants I would’ve been trying to get into just a few years ago. Now I’m supposed to teach abstinence.”

I laugh. “That’s pretty fu

“I’ve already discovered the most important weakness.”

“Really, what’s that?”

“You.”

“Me? What do you mean?”

“Garrett wanted me here so that you’d have someone close, but I can’t be with you all the time. If Vincent shows up, you’ve got to be ready.”

“I am ready. I mean, I’ve always gotten away before.”