Page 36 of Cloudy With a Chance of Bad Decisions
That was it.
Two words.
Alexlaughed.
And god, it was a pretty laugh.
Loud and unrepentant.
A riotous, wicked thing that immediately cooled my boiling rage to a simmer. My anger dissipated. I was struck by the beauty of the wrinkles by his eyes as he tossed his head toward the fluffy white clouds above.
Man, God really did have favorites.
When Alex’s guffaws softened into a honeyed chuckle, I had no choice but to concede defeat.
The tension between us was gone. It was impossible to stay angry when he was looking at me like that. Like he didn’t realize how awfully he’d just fucked me over.
Our tiny group of voyeurs settled. Juniper shook her head in amusement. I wasn’t sure what the look she leveled our way meant, or that I wanted to know.
“Well, that was uncomfortable,” Roderick said, obviously as relieved as the rest of us that no fight was going to break out.
“I can practically taste the chemistry,” Juniper cackled, and then to herself added, “Damn, I’m good.”
“Jesus Christ, June,” Roderick snorted, though he didn’t disagree.
The crowd was still watching, though luckily for me, they began to disperse. Without my anger as fuel, I had no choice but to acknowledge the mistake I’d just made. There was no denying that I’d just shattered my “perfect son” persona. The one thing I’d fucking wanted desperately to protect. My carefully constructed reputation ripped to shreds.
Regret.
That’s what this was.
“I like you, Georgie,” Alex told me, awe laced inside his tone. His voice was as quiet as it’d been when he’d called me adorable. Like these words were mine, and mine alone. There was a hint of surprise there too—surprise I didn’t understand.
Confusing. He was so fucking confusing.
“Well, I don’t like you,” I hissed in reply.
“Yeah?” Alex dipped his head again, eyes dancing. Our noses brushed, reminding me of how close we were to kissing. Immediately, I released his shirt. As though burned, I took a step back and put some much-needed distance between us.
Before he could manipulate me into tarnishing my reputation even more, I stalked off to lick my wounds in private.
This time, when I ran away, I played it cool. I should’ve done that earlier—before the fight. I had no idea why I hadn’t. I wished I could turn back time, but that wish was futile.
My body would not stop tingling.
Calm down.
Having a lovely laugh doesn’t make up for how infuriating he is. He’s messing with you. He doesn’t actually like you. Don’t let him win.
That was the conclusion I came to.
If I had to deal with him for another second, I was going to explode again. Once was bad enough. I could still feel my mother’s eyes on me—the frown on her lips causing shame to burn white-hot through my body.
So, yeah.
Avoiding Alex, despite everyone else’s meddling, was my new mission in life. How hard could it be, really? We’d be off to Hocking Hills tomorrow. And I could spend the week leading up to the wedding in the woods with my family. That’d been the plan to begin with. It wasn’t as though anything was changing because he’d be there too.
I piled up a plate of potluck delicacies and retreated to the sandbox near the porch. Sitting below where Dad and Joe were grilling, the scent of charredmeat wafted through the air as I settled beside the only person who hadn’t paid attention to my earlier outburst.
