AllFreeNovel
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“What is that?” I ask cautiously.
He looks down at the bag and back up at me. “A sub for me.” He answers carefully. “And a bowl of fresh fruit for you.”
I exhale a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Fruit?”
He smiles shyly at me. “Just fruit.” He places the bag down on Brianna’s desk. “I spent all yesterday doing, um, research. I’m sorry I tried to take this too fast.”
Seriously? He’s apologizing? This is not how I thought this was going to go. I must admit, I’m starting to see what Brianna see’s in him. He looks so soft in his gray sweatpants and yellow hoodie. His hair is loosely pushed back, like he simply ran his fingers through it – and the way he apologizes shyly, it’s adorable.
Don’t go there, Kayleigh.
He carefully walks closer and wraps his arms around me. My head rests against his chest. He smells good, like a mix of jasmine and honeysuckle.
“Forgive me?” He whispers. I can’t trust myself to speak, so I nod instead.
He pulls away and takes the food out of the bag. I take the bowl of fruit and the plastic fork he hands me, and he takes his sub and sits on Brianna’s bed. We eat in silence, until he finally breaks it half way through his meal.
“So, I was thinking. We should go running together more.”
“We should?” I ask, surprised.
He nods as he finishes chewing and swallows the mouthful. “Yeah, I mean if that will help you with eating more. I had fun last time.”
“Me too.”
He smiles shyly, causing me to laugh. Holden Rivers, shy? I never would have guessed.
After we finish eating, we each take out our notes for the project. We lay on our stomachs and Holden presses play on the first of many videos. I forgot how fun that day was, the good part of it at least. He sports a broad grin as he watches the reactions of all the people we paid for at the grocery store.
“I’ve done it a couple more times since.” He confesses.
I turn to look at him. “Done what?”
“Paid for people’s groceries.”
A part of me is shocked, but a larger part of me isn’t. “That’s really nice of you.”
He shrugs as if it’s no big deal, and goes back to watching the videos. I can’t help but feel a tingling in my chest as I watch him. Here is this guy who I thought was the biggest ass, when really, he’s a total sweetheart. Does anyone else know this side of him? He told me about his anxiety, and how no one else knows. Is this another thing like that?
We switch to the video from the diner. Holden flinches as he watches himself raise his voice at Bree.
“Wow. I was really mean.” He sounds sad.
I pause the video. “It was just an act. You needed to be.”
He flips over onto his back and stares up at the ceiling. I check the clock and notice it’s already 4:45. Where did the time go?
“I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder if I treat her the way she deserves.”
I sit up and cross my
legs Indian style. He lazily turns his head to the side to look at me. “She loves you.” I tell him.
“Yeah. I know. That’s part of the problem.” I look down at him curiously and he continues. “She’s told me a few times, but I just haven’t been able to say it back.”
“You don’t love her?” I ask hesitantly.
He shrugs. “No? I don’t know. She’s a great girl and all.” He stops and sighs. “They say you just know when you’re in love with someone, and I just don’t know with her. So, I guess, no - I don’t.”
