Foes & Cons by Carrie Aarons (english books to improve english txt) 📕

saw through to my soul. How can someone who gave me the sweetest of moments be so cruel as to sabotage me and rip it all to shreds?

Sawyer has left me dozens of messages since that night. He’s called, texted, and even stopped by once and I made Dad tell him I wasn’t home. Dad knows something is up, but is giving me the respect and space to work through it. Not that I’ll ever be able to forget what happened. I don’t want to talk to Sawyer; I don’t even want to see him.

I don’t know where to go from here. The dejection sits so heavily on my bones that I feel like I’m being crushed.

And while I cling to the one person who knows me best, who loves me best, I wish I could get away from this town.

College can’t come soon enough.

27

Blair

Do you know what happens when you ignore the boy whose hands were in your underwear just four nights ago?

When you don’t return his calls or texts, when he tries to track you down at your house or the office that your respective fathers share and you avoid him?

Yeah, that boy chases you down in the halls at school, catching the attention of every fellow student along the way.

It’s just after fourth period that I spot Sawyer across a hallway and dart back down it in escape. I don’t want to see him, especially after what happened with the whole Hailey debacle. I bob and weave, heading for an opening in the crowd, and find myself in the middle of the bustling common area that doubles as the cafeteria.

By this point, the whole school, much less the town has heard what happened on New Year’s. Nate and Laura were the ones who got me out of there, and tried to talk me off the ledge the entire ride home. Of course, that was all done through drunk text messages in the back seat of a car since Laura’s mom came to pick us up. Gosh, it’s lame being in high school.

The two of them think it was all a misunderstanding, and that Hailey acted of her own accord. They claim that Sawyer seems changed and pointed out that he wouldn’t have tried to reach me so many times if he was in on the stunt.

My head is still so clouded with distrust and a past I can’t seem to forget, which is why I’m literally running away from the problem.

“Blair!” Sawyer’s voice echoes through the Commons even though there are at least four hundred other students moving through here on their mad dash to classrooms.

I walk faster, my boots clacking on the tile floors.

“BLAIR!” He’s nearly yelling now, and there are so many people in here who are now looking his way.

My mad dash is through an obstacle course, and although I can see an escape, I can’t get there.

Then I hear it.

“Blair Oden!” Sawyer’s voice is more than a yell now, it’s booming across the cafeteria.

I freeze on the spot, because there is no use anymore. I turn, mortified, as hundreds of eyes do the same. The gorgeous specimen who was half-naked on top of me not more than a week ago is standing on one of the cafeteria tables. A gray Chester High School soccer long-sleeve stretches across his broad chest, and I have to actively keep my eyes from dropping to the crotch of his black jeans because I now know what’s underneath.

Whispers go over the crowd, but the cafeteria is virtually silent. I want to huddle on the floor and crawl my way out, but I’m rooted to the spot at the same time.

“You won’t return my texts or my calls. You’re dodging me in every sense of the word. So I guess I have to do this here. It’s better this way, after all. I want everyone to know.”

His eyes are locked on me and only me, and for a split second, the whole room falls away. It’s just us, his green gaze fixated on my face, and my heart beating only for him. Everything that’s come before this is forgotten, and I find myself leaning in, waiting on the tips of my toes to see what he is going to say.

“I love you. I’m in love with you, crazy about you. I know I’ve fucked up so many times before,” some students start cheering at the use of the curse word, “but I’m telling you now, in front of anyone who wants to tell anyone else what they saw here today, I love you. I will never hurt you again, if you’ll just love me back.”

I think my jaw, my heart, and my stomach are somewhere on the floor. I’m not entirely sure, since my whole body seems to be numb yet vibrating at the same time.

“Did he just say …”

“Wait, I thought they hated each other.”

“Her? He loves her?”

The world slowly comes back to me, but I can’t stop staring at Sawyer. The students around us are cheering, and I hear the skeptical whispers, but my heart only sees him. He looks so hopeful, so genuine, and I just want to melt into his arms.

“Get off there!” a teacher’s voice calls, and Sawyer hops down.

The crowd parts as he makes his way over, and no alarm bells are going off in my head. Where I used to feel doubt, distrust, fear, there are none of those things. He just publicly declared his feelings for me, in the loudest and most obnoxious way possible. The old me, of twelve seconds ago, would think this is part of some elaborate prank.

But I don’t think that’s what is happening. I think Sawyer really does love me.

He’s close now, his expression earnest and our bodies attracting to each other like magnets.

“Why would you do that?” I choke out, my cheeks on fire.

He stalks up to me, blowing right past my personal space. “Because it’s true. Because I’ll never do anything to