Him by Carey Heywood (reading strategies book .txt) 📕

He chews on the side of his bottom lip as he thinks it over. I'm still trying to push him off of me.

"Deal," he says suddenly. "I promise I won't tickle you."

I exhale and then gasp as his face drops to mine.

"Doesn't mean that I won't still have my revenge," he breathes.

We are almost nose to nose. Is he going to kiss me? I'm just about to close my eyes and dissolve into this fantasy when his tongue comes out, and he proceeds to lick the side of my face from chin to temple.

I'm horrified, and I must look it because he falls off of me to one side, laughing.

"Your face." He's having issues breathing. "You should have seen your face."

I push at him and jump up, unable to suppress the involuntary shudder his revenge gives me. It only causes him to laugh even more.

"You are so gross, William," I huff, marching towards his car.

He catches up with me and pulls me into a hug. "You licked me first."

I step on his foot, and he kisses the top of my head and lets me go. Pulling his keys out of his pocket, he unlocks his car. I grab my backpack and sink into the front seat. He throws his backpack in the backseat and gets in. I know he's looking at me, but I ignore him. He pushes my knee, and I shake my head, still refusing to look at him.

"Ah, come on, Sarah. Don't be mad at me," he pleads.

I huff and cross my arms over my chest. I'm trying my best to stay mad at him. It never lasts long, but he's making it easier right now because he still hasn’t stopped laughing. He licked my face. Ugh. What bothers me the most is for a spilt second I thought he was going to kiss me. I am probably more angry at myself than anything else. How could I even think that? I'm such an idiot.

"Wanna press the button?"

I snort. He seriously thinks pressing the sunroof button is going to make everything all better?

"Well if you don't want to, I will." He raises his hand.

"No, I'll press it," I shout, pushing his hand away and pressing the button.

I wrinkle my nose at him. Damn him. He knows I love pressing that button. I look over at him. He's holding back a laugh. I can tell. I roll my eyes and smile at him. I can never stay mad at him. He grins at me and parks in front of my house. I dash inside and straight to the bathroom. It's a miracle I didn't pee when he sat on me. After I wash my hands, I wash my face, my just licked face. He is such a punk. When I come out of the bathroom, he is leaning on the wall opposite of it, grinning at me. I roll my eyes at him, and he follows me into our kitchen. I pop some popcorn, and we go sprawl out on the sofa in the family room to watch TV. He sits up when his phone rings.

"Hey."

I mouth, who is it? He mouths back, Jessica. Ugh, I hate her. I look away, but I can't help but listen to what he's saying.

"You didn’t have to do that." He looks at me.

I shrug.

"But I don’t think she even likes him."

I look at him out of the corner of my eye. He's staring at me and messing with his hair. I mouth at him, what? He shakes his head. I take out my phone and check my horoscope, Taurus. Love is in the air. If you are in a relationship you’ll find yourself feeling closer to that special someone. Single love awaits on the horizon. Once I'm done reading mine, I read Will's, Capricorn. Your imagination is on overdrive today. Relax, take a step back, and reevaluate your goals. It is possible something has changed that will realign your future plans.

"Alright, fine, I'll ask her." He puts his other hand over the mouth of the phone. "Jessica invited Kyle to come to the movies as your, um, date."

My eyes widen.

"I can just tell her you don’t like him, and he doesn’t have to come."

My brows come together. "Kyle Nelson?"

He chews the side of his bottom lip and nods.

"I'm okay going with Kyle."

Will looks at me as though I started speaking in tongues. I smack his knee and point to his phone.

He looks at me again before lifting his phone back to his ear. "Yeah, Sarah says that's cool." He pauses as she speaks. "No, I'll drive. There's no point taking two cars." He's looking at me again. I make a face at him, and he smiles.

After Will hangs up, he stares at me.

"What?"

"I didn’t know you liked Kyle."

I shrug "He's okay, I guess. I've never really hung out with him. Besides, I hate being the third wheel to you and whatever girl you end up dating. Maybe it'd be nice to have someone too."

"You never feel like a third wheel to me."

I roll my eyes. There’s no way he could understand. I turn onto my side, pulling the popcorn bowl in front of me and stretching my legs out onto Will's lap. He leans back and puts his feet on the coffee table, his hands resting on my calves. Every so often he taps on my leg, a signal that he wants popcorn, and I turn to toss a couple in his direction. He's very good at catching them and always has the cutest oh yeah face after he does it.

"Are you wearing underwear?"

I'm amazed that my eyes are still actually in their sockets. I turn my head, incredulous. "Excuse me?"

"I can totally see your butt cheek."

My mouth drops as my hand moves to press down the back of my shorts. I guess somehow they rode up when I laid down. "Yes, I'm wearing underwear."

He shakes his head, looking at my