No Place Like Homecoming, Dallen, Maggie [beach read book .TXT] 📗

me the night before. Sure, her tears looked legit, and I had no doubt her freakout today was real, but the way she was with me? This connection I’d thought we had?

There was nothing genuine about any of that.

“I need a ride,” she said, her fingers plucking at a stray thread on her costume.

“Why?”

“Because my parents...my parents…” She stopped and swallowed. “I just can’t get a flight, okay? But I have to get back and I heard maybe you might need some help paying for the costs and—”

“And that’s what this has been about,” I finished. My stomach felt like lead. Which was stupid, because she was just confirming what I’d already known. It wasn’t like I’d expected an explanation, and I didn’t want to hear her excuses.

I hadn’t honestly thought that she’d suddenly seen me in a new light. Like a couple of conversations and suddenly she saw more than anyone else had ever seen.

Stupid, Flynn. So freakin’ stupid.

“You need to get back to your boyfriend, right?” I managed a casual tone that totally belied the churning pit in my gut at the thought of Isla with another guy.

She wasn’t mine. I had no claim on her. One kiss didn’t mean anything.

But my entire body thought otherwise because my every muscle went rigid as I waited for her to confirm it. A few heartbeats went by as I waited. And then I turned to look at her as I waited some more.

She was drawing in these deep breaths, her gaze fixed on her own fingers. Despite my frustration, my heart ached at the sight of her struggling. Her features were tight, like she might cry at any second. Was it guilt for cheating on some guy back home? Or something else.

“Isla.” I tried to keep my voice gentle as I reached for her hand, forcing her to still her frantic fidgeting before she picked the entire skirt apart. “Do you have a guy waiting for you at home?”

She looked up with tears in her eyes and her voice wobbled. “No. Not anymore.”

Ugh. Crap. Now I just wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her everything would be all right. “Not anymore?”

Her throat worked as she swallowed. “He forgot about me.”

I let out a huff of disbelief and amusement. I couldn’t help it. The very idea was so ludicrous.

Her brows pulled together in question.

“I guarantee he didn't forget about you, Isla.”

“How would you know?” she mumbled.

“Because you…” I tugged on her hand until she looked up again. “You are unforgettable.”

Her expression crumbled and a sad sob escaped. “W-why are you being nice to me?”

I couldn’t resist any longer. With that question, I tugged on her hand until she fell against me, her head tucked against my chest as I wrapped my arms around her. “I don’t know,” I said, a smile curving my lips because...that was the truth. After last night, I’d promised myself I wouldn’t even speak to this girl again, and here I was comforting her.

“You shouldn’t be nice to me.” Her voice was muffled against my T-shirt and it was followed by a sniff.

“Well, it’s kind of hard not to be,” I said. I squeezed her tighter. “You’re pretty pathetic right now, you know?”

Her laughter came out along with a sob, and the sound made my chest tighten to the point where it was impossible to talk. So we sat like that for a while.

I knew it wouldn’t last forever. There was a whole party going on upstairs, and a lot of worried people would be coming to check on Isla any minute now. But while it lasted...it was freakin’ amazing.

Having her in my arms like this was right.

It didn’t make sense. Not even a little bit. I wasn’t supposed to like the girl. But I did.

“If you wanted to drive out east with me, you know you could’ve just asked, right?” I asked after a long silence.

She sniffed and pulled back to look at me with red, teary eyes. “Flynn, I didn’t...I mean, last night, I never should have—”

“Let’s just forget it ever happened, yeah?” My heart thudded painfully against my ribcage as I spoke.

I didn’t want to forget.

I wanted to kiss her again.

I wanted to kiss this girl again so badly it hurt.

But I wasn’t about to play the fool again. I might feel like I knew this girl and she knew me, but the truth was...she was still a mystery. Still a stranger.

And more importantly, I didn’t have room in my life for anyone but my family.

Her gaze moved over my face, and she looked like she might argue, but then she pressed her lips together and nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

Great. Good. So we were understood then. A bitter taste filled my mouth, but I couldn’t summon my earlier anger. And I couldn’t turn away from her when she needed me. No matter how much I might want to.

I gave in with a weary sigh. “Look, if you come with me, you have to find your own way back.”

Her brows arched high. “You’re not coming back?”

I shook my head, waiting for the questions I’d been dodging for weeks now. But after a minute she just nodded. “Okay.”

I pulled her back so she was resting against me. “Okay,” I echoed.

She wasn’t crying anymore, so that was something. But my chest still felt empty. Like I’d just lost something vital.

Thirteen

Isla

On Monday I discovered the hard way that Savannah was kind of a mother hen.

A tall, gorgeous, blonde mother hen.

Sure, she’d seemed all standoffish and cold when I’d first met her but apparently I was part of her crew now that I was a fellow princess, and this put me on her motherly radar.

“I’m fine,” I said for the tenth time as she hounded me by my locker.

She narrowed her eyes. “Did you eat breakfast?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Mom.”

“Savannah, are you coming?” One of her obnoxiously pretty cheerleader type friends called to her from the far end of the hall. She cast me another