More Than This by McLean, Jay (best books to read for teens txt) 📗

keep tearing my hands off her.

When we get to the party, there are hundreds of people already there. I have my girl under my arm and she seems happy, which makes me so fucking happy.

We’re sitting with our friends in front of the Karaoke stage and laughing because the people that legit think they are good, suck so bad it’s hilarious.

She’s sitting on my lap on her third or fourth beer and she’s giggling watching someone on stage. My hands are on her bare legs, her arms wrapped around my neck. My nose rubbing along her jaw, she shivers every time I do it and I love it.

“Hi, Jake.” Oh fuck.

I don’t even look up because I know who it is and I automatically grip Kayla tighter. She’s trying to hold back a laugh but I can feel her body shaking.

“Hi, Lacey,” she says, her voice syrupy sweet.

“It’s Casey,” she snaps. I flinch and Kayla feels it. She giggles again.

My eyes are closed and I’m freaking the fuck out because this girl, Casey, she’s legit mental, and I know I’m some macho asshole but I can admit that I’m scared when she’s like, within a 5 billion yard radius.

Kayla’s hand reaches up and starts soothing my head like a goddamn baby and it actually helps.

My hands keep trying to creep higher and higher up her bare thigh and she keeps swatting them away.

Casey hangs out with us for ten full minutes, pretending like we’re all best fucking friends, before she leaves and I can breath again.

The whole time she’s here, my eyes never opened and my head never left Kayla’s neck.

“She seemed nice.” Matt, one of Logan's frat brothers mentions.

Everyone stifles a laugh.

“Yeah…” Kayla says, “Her face and conversation say ‘I’m nice enough,’ but her eyes say ‘I have 8 dead bodies in the basement!’”

Everyone cracks up and I kiss her on the temple, like I used to. I missed her so fucking much, I never want to be apart from her. Ever.

***

Some guy is waving at me from across the room and I have no fucking idea who he is so I just smile. He looks at me awkwardly and then eyes Kayla on my lap.

“You know him?” I ask Kayla.

She looks up and I see her smile when she sees him.

“I’ll be right back.” She gets up and walks over to him.

He eye fucks her as she walks towards him and I’m almost standing when Logan reaches for my arm to pulls me back down.

Who the fuck is this kid and how does he know my girl? My girl. I shake my head at the thought.

I nudge logan with me knee. I jerk my head and Logan looks over to them.

He smiles.

I want to punch his smug face.

I’m about a ten on the buzzed scale, about a five on the wasted.

“That’s Phil, or Will… something like that,” Logan says.

“And…?” I ask, wanting more information.

“And that’s all you get, why? You jealous?”

I look at him.

“Quit being an asshole, you know I’m fucking jealous. Who is he?”

“You’re not allowed to be jealous, from what I know, she’s not your girl, is she?”

He asks this with his eyebrows raised, begging me to say something stupid. Declare my love for her or some shit. He’s not getting it, not today.

“Who is he, Logan?” I’m not in the mood for this shit and he knows it now.

He sighs. “He’s Maloney’s brother. I’ve seen him around the house a few times. He’s not a frat brother though. He’s like… higher education type shit, Junior, maybe senior. On his way to med school or something. That’s all I got.”

Med School? I’m the high school jock and he’s med school. Great. I’m fucked.

I stand and walk to a better position where I can watch them.

“Don’t be an asshole, Jake,” Logan warns, but I don’t care.

***

*Mikayla*

Some girl in the corner of the room has been eye fucking Jake the whole night. I don’t know who she is but it’s pissing me off. I’m sitting on Jake's lap when she comes over to our group.

She takes a seat on Matt’s lap. He looks startled for a second but then places his hand on her thigh.

This whole time, she never takes her eyes off Jake.

Jake doesn’t seem to notice, or he doesn’t care.

I do. Notice I mean, and care.

If she was a guy, I’d junk punch her, for sure.

Thirty excruciating minutes of her trying to seduce him from across the room, I’ve fucking had enough.

I go to stand up and leave but Jake tightens his hold on me. “Just ignore her.”

So he has noticed.

“You think it’s okay for her to sit there, and look at you like that? It’s making me uncomfortable, Jake.” I whisper, so only he can hear.

“You think it’s okay to talk to some guy I don’t know about whatever the hell you guys were talking about, the whole time he’s gawking at you like he wants to eat you?” he says back quietly, anger laced in his voice.

“Jake, he was not-"

“I’m a guy Kayla, I know what he was thinking.”

“Jake, who’s your friend?” Tramptits asks, interrupting us.

I look over at her and narrow my eyes.

Jake sighs next to me. I look at him.

“Christy, I’m trying to have a conversation with my girl here,” he says to her, shaking his head.

“I didn’t know you had a girl,” Tramptits coos at him.

He ignores her and looks back to me, trying to get back to our conversation.

“I just thanked him for being there today. He was the TA I told you about, and he told me about an apartment that was free in his building that-"

“What?!” Jake almost yells, then softens his tone. “You mean to tell me that asshole just happened to be at your work today, and now he’s telling you about apartments near him?”

I open my mouth to say something but Tramptits interrupts again. “Is something wrong Jake? Anything I can help with?”