Read All For You (Boys of the South) for Free Online

jokes. Despite our
earlier flirting that was saved by the green light, I don’t
want any of this. I don’t trust him.
    Worse, I don’t
trust myself.
    “McKenzie?”
    “Red’s
my favorite color.”
    “What a
coincidence, mine’s blue.”
    I make a face.
“How’s that a coincidence?” Then it hits me, the
little jokes have already started. “Very funny.”
    “So funny you
forgot to laugh?”
    I exhale, once again
wishing I’d never agreed to this. Wishing I’d told my dad
what happened, wishing I’d told Julia about my date tonight and
brought her along as a third wheel. God, that would have been
perfect.
    But no, instead I
got all nervous, excited, and embarrassed about tonight.
    “I agreed to
one date, but I didn’t agree to talk to you, or laugh at your
lame jokes.” I’m a shrew. A harpy, even. But I can’t
care, because there’s no way I’m going to make the same
mistake twice with him. I refuse to give him a second chance. He’ll
just have to deal with it.
    “So I’m
wasting my time.” His mouth tightens and his knuckles turn
white against the steering wheel. “Damn it, McKenzie, that’s
not fair—”
    “Not fair?”
I snap. How dare he take a self-righteous tone with me or complain
about the way I’m acting or not acting. “What’s not
fair is the way you treated me. What’s not fair is the way you
slept with me, lied to me about how special I was to you, how sorry
you were for everything, and then acted like I didn’t even
exist the next day.” My voice is rising and he’s pulling
into the parking lot of Tanaka’s and parking away from the
other cars. “What’s not fair is that for the first time
in three years, I wanted you to make fun of me, to call me lawn girl… anything .”
    My voice breaks and
tears are running down my face. All I want to do is run from him, but
I can’t, not until I get it all out.
    He stares at me, his
face drawn tight, but not saying a word. How can he say a word? How
can he possibly defend himself?
    He hasn’t ,
a voice inside my head reminds me. He’s
done nothing but own up to what he did to you. I ignore the weak part of me, that seventeen-year-old girl who wants
nothing but answers and love from the boy who broke her heart.
    “But you
didn’t. You saw right through me. Worse, you told Charlie and
all of your crew. Then they took over. I was cornered, assaulted, and
called names worse than you could ever dream up while you just stood
there, like a coward, doing nothing. Nothing .
I didn’t even go my senior prom because of you. I stayed at
home, acting like a bitch to my dad because he couldn’t
understand why I wasn’t going and I couldn’t tell him.”
Unbuckling my seatbelt, I fling open the passenger side door, grab my
purse, and get out. “So excuse me, if I have no sympathy for
our date not going how you envisioned.”
    I slam the door, the
tightness in my chest squeezing in on me. I can’t breathe and
have to lean against his car. Sobs burst from me, my entire body
racked with them. I’m tired of being strong, of telling no one,
and the one person I confessed to is my former tormentor.
    I barely register
the sound of his door opening, the crunch of his boots against the
pavement. All I know is that in my next heartbeat, he’s pulling
me into his arms and holding me, not saying a word. Not asking for my
forgiveness or giving me excuses.
    “I hate you,”
I sob. “I hate you for making me trust you. I hate you for
making my life miserable.”
    His response is to
only hold me tighter, mold me against him and stroke my back, my
hair, and… just hold me.
    “I hate you,”
I whisper into his chest. “And I hate myself even more for
allowing you to do it to me.”
    He crooks his finger
under my chin, gently pulling it up so I have to look at him. The
lights in the parking lot are so bright that I can see the harsh
beauty of his face. I can see the fullness of his lips, his high
cheekbones, and the tears in his eyes.
    I blink up at