Part of Me (Jessa & Paxton #1) Read Online Free Page B

that’s how I see him now. My comrade. My best friend. A total asshole, but also the friend that I was waiting for.  And this conversation is just another example of why that is. He will drop all of his own plans if he thinks someone needs him.
    And I know I’m not the only one who knows this because Paxton seems to have a great dad and a lot of friends in California who love him. Which is awesome. He’s finally free and doing what he wants. I want him here, but I don’t need him. Ever since I was twelve I knew that the only person I needed in this life was myself. I appreciate Paxton’s willingness to help, but I can handle my problems on my own.
    I want to stay on the phone with him, but I know I’m keeping him from his night time activities. Plus, I have to go deal with Dylan. “It sounds like you’re busy. I’ll talk to you later, Pax,” I tell him, smiling into the phone.
    “You letting me go already?”
    “Are you trying to tell me that you’d ra ther sit on the phone and talk about my problems rather than go get a piece of that girl that’s purring at you?”
    “I always want to talk to you, kid.”
    I close my eyes and smile. I’m picturing my first day of senior year- my first class of the day. I was sitting at a table in the art room with Emily, when the most beautiful boy walked into the room. For a second my heart was racing and then I realized it was that guy that had kissed me at the river before telling me to fuck off and walking away from me. I’m picturing the look on his face when he recognized me- the shit eating grin he gave me. I was fuming inside but he just smiled at me. I thought I was never going to see him again. I thought he was going back to Chicago and he thought, that when I said I was heading to school in that same city, I had meant that fall. But there we were, face to face again. A million thoughts raced through my mind as the boy that had rocked my world came stepping into that art room. Best case scenario – I thought maybe he would end up being my new friend with benefits. Worst case, and most likely, scenario I thought he would be my nemeses for the rest of the year. The word ‘friend’ never crossed my mind. Friends is not a place I ever pictured us going. But now it seems so right.
    “You still there?” he asks me.
    “Yeah, I’m still here.”
    “What are you thinking about?”
    “You,” I tell him, opening my eyes.
    “What about me?”
    “I was just thinking that out of all of the things you and I could have become, friends seems like the most unlikely.”
    “What were we supposed to become, beso?”
    “This is what we were supposed to become. I get it now. But when I first met you… I wouldn’t have ever believed it – that you would be my friend.”
    Paxton lets out a loud breath like I’m wasting his time with this walk down memory lane bullshit.
    “Anyway,” I tell him, pulling my head back into the present. “You have a girl to screw and I have a boyfriend to break up with, so I’ll let you go. If you think about it, call me back when you’re sober and there isn’t a girl on top of you.”
    “Yep,” he says quietly. “Catch you later, kid,” he tell s me before the line goes dead.

Chapter 2 - Paxton
     
    My whole life has been leading up to right now. As far back as my memory goes, the only thing I’ve ever wanted was to be able to come to California to live with my dad, Gabriel, and to never have to leave. It’s taken me twenty years to get to this point. Twenty years to put the state of Illinois, and every fucked up thing in it, firmly in my past. But like the bitch fate likes to be in my life, I’m still tied to that place.
    Because Jessa’s there.
    I spent the last year of my life making sure I didn’t get too attached to her, making sure I never let things get out of hand with her for this exact reason. I was cool with the situation. And if I was tempted, which I was… all the time, I managed to keep my eye on the prize.