Sugarbaby Read Free Page A

things back to where she wanted the story to go, “but my opinion is that Micah brought a shitload of trouble to town when he appeared. He had a real hard on about getting the best of Rex. Some kind of bad-boy-hates-the-shining-football-star-who-gets-all-the-girls thing.”
    And . . . yes! We were back to Rex. It’s where I always seemed to end up.
    I pressed my hand to the phone. If I told the girls I had to use the restroom, that’d give me a chance to check my messages, and I wouldn’t have to hear the rest of this. I didn’t even mind if they talked about Rex and Micah while I was gone.
    But before I went anywhere, Carley said, “Jade, I already know what happened with you and Micah. I’d heard he was a man about town, and it wasn’t until long after I met him at the party that . . .”
    She trailed off.
    I decided to suck it up and finish what she’d started. “That I hooked up with him at a kegger and brought on the Rex wrath.”
    The kids from a few rows down looked at each other, but I didn’t care. I was beyond caring. That night with Micah, I had been at rock bottom. My uncle’s health had been getting worse, and Rex was off at Texas-U, dating me long-distance, which had opened me up to all these doubts about how he still loved Shelby. I’d been his rebound girl, never a good position to put yourself in, but I’d been surprised as all get out that Rex had chosen me, the student council president, the book nerd.
    And those doubts had eaten at me even worse after Shelby had lured Rex into an online trap where she’d pretended to be another woman, just to show that he was a cheater. He’d been so angry about it that it was obvious to me his feelings for Shelby were still real and very, very raw.
    That was how I’d stumbled right into Micah Wyatt’s open arms after a few too many beers and tears.
    I wasn’t proud of myself for it, either. I was downright ashamed, especially after most of the town had turned on the hate for me. But this summer, when Shelby had come back as just as much of a pariah as I’d been and we’d stood up to Rex and his bullying friends, I’d learned that I didn’t have to take all the judgment lying down.
    Some days it was harder than others to remember that.
    Both Carley and Diana were watching me with something like pity. The kids down the way were even sneaking glances back at us, and
now
I cared.
    â€œI should hit the ladies’ before the movie starts,” I said.
    They let me go without a fuss, and I thought I heard Diana whisper, “Should I have shut up about it?” before I left.
    I made it as far as the stairwell, leaning against the red velveteen wall. Then I finally gave in to that cat-killing curiosity and took out my phone, hoping whatever was on there would amuse me, maybe even take me away for a few precious minutes.
    There were two messages—not enough to be stalky, but not so few as to make me feel entirely ignored, either.
    555-8465:
    Just a helpful hint for the future: proofreading is your friend.
    Then:
    555-8465:
    Okay, that’ll conclude the teasing. Have a fun night with Grandma.
    Whoever it was had definitely wanted to carry on a conversation. Were they a hermit who never talked to anyone? Someone who enjoyed hiding behind a computer screen instead of face-to-facing? Or
was
this a perv who thought I was desperate enough to jump and hump in his or her shower?
    Any way about it, one more text from me wouldn’t hurt, would it? They sounded harmless enough. One text and that’d be that.
    Jadyn:
    I appreciate you contacting me to tell me my text wandered off into the wild blue yonder. And thanks for the tip about proofing. I’m usually a better study.
    And . . . there. Case closed, movie starting in T-minus five minutes.
    So why was I still leaning against the wall, staring at the phone screen, wondering if another