Page 86 of Sellout

My feelings for Parker grow more intense every day. The more time I spend with him, the more time I want to spend with him. When we’re not together, I’m thinking about him. And every time we’re together, I think about what his lips would taste like. I want to kiss him more than anything.

I know Parker feels the same as I do. At first, he tried to hide it, but he doesn’t anymore. I see the longing looks he gives me. I see the way his eyes linger on me. I don’t have to hear his heart beating to know it races whenever we’re together. Will knows it too. It’s why he’s so upset with me.

Because Parker thinks a dragon shifter has been seen around, he won’t let me out of his sight. He walks me to each class and reminds Will and Blaine to look out for me when he isn’t with me.

When Parker is waiting outside our first period class, Will glares at me as he storms past. Parker completely ignores him and grabs ahold of my hand, walking me to second period.

“Will’s in a bad mood,” I tell Parker.

He raises an eyebrow at me. “When is he not in a bad mood?”

“I seem to bring out the worst in him.” I lower my head.

Parker frowns. “Will’s problems are his own. It’s not your fault. I know he likes you. He just…” his voice trails off.

“Doesn’t like us together,” I finish for him. I quickly say, “Not that we’retogether,together. You know what I mean.”

He nods, stopping outside my next class. “It doesn’t matter what Will thinks. He should want to protect you.”

I press my lips firmly together, not arguing either way.

Will knows the truth—there is no dragon shifter. It was me that the other wolf shifters saw. Not that I plan on volunteering that information. Maybe Ishould, but I’m scared for Parker to know the truth. He will find out eventually, but I’m not ready yet. I don’t want to leave him.

“I’ll see you next period,” Parker says, giving my hand one last squeeze. “Don’t mind Will, he’ll come around eventually.”

Hopefully.

I lift my hand and wave at him. I stand there for a moment until he disappears.

When I walk into the class, Will is glaring at me. I do my best to ignore him as I settle into my desk. But Will is not one to be ignored. When the bell rings, a note slides onto my desk. I bite my bottom lip to stop the grin.

No matter how much Will wants to hate me, he doesn’t. At least now he’s talking to me.

I glance at the paper.If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from Parker. I can give you rides to school. Or Blaine. Just stop hanging out with Parker so much.

I frown at the words as I write back,I can’t. I know you don’t understand. And I can’t explain it. Maybe he’s not my soulmate, but we are connected to one another. He helps silence the voices. He brings peace into my life.

Will doesn’t glare at the paper as he reads the words, which is probably a good sign. He writes something back to me.

I know I should pay attention to the teacher, but I can’t bring myself to. How am I supposed to care about a human education when I’ve found out that I’m not even human?

I read the note as Will passes it back.You can use that excuse at school, but what about when you’re not here? I know you and Parker hold hands outside of this place, even when you’re not around humans. Don’t deny it.

He’s right, but I’m not going to admit it to him. If I do, it’ll just give him more ammunition to use against me and Parker. I know he’s probably bothering him about this too.

The teacher calls on me to answer a question. I rattle off the answer that is right in her head—she seems confused that I knew the answer because I never seem to pay attention. She’s right about that.

After she goes on with questioning other students, I write back to Will.

I don’t expect you to understand. But this isn’t something that I can just walk away from. Please don’t hate me. I want to be friends with you.

When Will reads the note, his eyes harden and he glares at me before crumpling up the paper.

Well, I guess our conversation is finished. At least for now. I’m sure he’ll bring it up again later.

I sigh, putting my elbow on my desk. I rest my head against my fist, wishing I knew what was going on. I want to explain what is happening to Will, but how can I when I’m not sure myself? All I know is that I can’t stand to be apart from Parker. We’re both doing the best we can to not take things past the level of friendship, but every day that gets harder. In Will’s mind, there is no excuse. Not after what happened with his parents. He’s not going to let this go, but neither can I.

When class is over, Will surprisingly sticks by my side. We meet Parker outside the door. Will narrows his eyes at Parker. I expect him to storm off dramatically. Instead, he takes a step closer to Parker.