Fairest Read Online Free Page A

chest. “You
just
started talking to me when you’re around other people. You don’t get to be my friend, or whatever, when it’s convenient. You and your friends might think I’m trash, but I’m not trashy.”
    â€œI don’t think you’re trash or trashy.” His brows drew down as his temper flared. “I really like you, Skye. Hell, I kissed your cheek last night and waited on you outside your dorm where everyone could see.”
    â€œIs that supposed to make me feel better?” I glared at him. “I have no idea what you tell your friends when I’m not around. For all I know, you could tell them I begged you for a ride. Besides,” I lifted my chin, “I’m not about to be one more girl in your long list of conquests. I have more self-respect than that.”
    He slammed the album shut, making me jump, and stood. “I think you’ve been given some bad information. Conquering isn’t on my list of extra-curricular activities. I like you. Now, I know I like kissing you. I’m pretty sure I’d like dating you.” I rolled my eyes at him. “You won’t even give me a chance.”
    â€œThe first time I spoke to you outside the library, you looked at me like I had lost my mind,” I shouted at him. “I’m not going to kiss someone who is ashamed of me, no matter how cute I think he is.”
    â€œI’m not ashamed of you.” He dropped the album on the bed. “Wait…you think I’m cute?”
    I hugged myself tighter and looked away from him. “Duh, everyone thinks you’re cute.”
    â€œYeah, well, I don’t care what they think. I care what
you
think.”
    I looked up at him. “Oh, I bet you care what your dad thinks. What’s he going to say when you tell him you’re dating Miss Cluck Moo? I bet he’ll be thrilled about that.” Whit hesitated, and his expression told me he hadn’t considered that aspect of the situation. “Yeah, I thought so. I think you should go now, Whitney.”
    â€œI hate it when you call me by my full name,” he growled. “It makes me feel like I’ve disappointed you.” When I didn’t speak, he started to leave but stopped when he was beside me. “I don’t like disappointing you.” He gave me a kiss on the cheek and then left.
    I stood in my room, staring at the floor for a long time, even after I heard the front door bang shut. When I finally shook myself free of zoning out, I gulped down my watery Coke and went back into the kitchen to finish the tea.
    While I stirred in the sugar, my phone beeped to tell me I’d gotten a text. There were two. The first one was from Whit and read, “Lock up. Call u later.” I made a face at the phone and then read the second one from my daddy. “Sry. Emg mtng Japan. All wk. Go to GA. Luv u.”
    I sighed. I didn’t want to go to Savannah if he wasn’t there. I got along with Lizette fine, but since we had next to nothing in common, we didn’t exactly enjoy hanging out together. Still, I understood why he had to go and why I had to go to Georgia. He would freak out if I stayed in New York for a week without an adult.
    Since he opened the first Cluck Moo when I was eight, my daddy had worked hard, and by the time I was twelve, there were Cluck Moos all over the United States. Now, my daddy wanted to go global, in particular, to Japan, and it looked as though it might happen. It was good for him and business. It just sucked that it had to happen over Spring Break.
    I went back to my room and took my laptop out of my other bag. After a quick online search, I found that Shinedown was playing at the House of Blues in New Orleans on Monday night. I’d been there a few times, and I really liked the city. For a split second, I thought of asking Whit if he wanted to go.
    â€œReality check,” I told myself and batted away that thought.
    I