slowly, his gaze never leaving mine.
'Help yourself,' I told him. I held the plate out to her.
'Want some?'
Kira wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but there wasn't
realy any way she could've missed Austin's look. She
shook her head. 'No. I can't eat that stuff. I'd have to
exercise for a week.'
'Paige, you been exercising for a week?' Austin shoved
his hands in his pockets, down deep, and the jeans sunk
lower on his hips to show a strip of tanned bely beneath
lower on his hips to show a strip of tanned bely beneath
his T-shirt.
'No. I'l take my chances.' I tore off a piece for myself and bit into the heavy sweetness, then licked sugar from my
fingers, too.
It wasn't nice, what we were doing to her, but it wasn't my
fault she wasn't very good at it. It wasn't my fault he stil
wanted me even after al this time. I looked again for Eric
and spotted him being handed a T-shirt. In a minute he'd
be heading this way. I didn't want to introduce Eric to
Austin.
'Austin and I were going to watch the barge concert. Do
you…do you want to come along?'
I gave her a real look then, my once-upon-a-time best
friend. She didn't try to reach for Austin again, and the
corners of her mouth and eyes drooped. I remembered
how once we'd practiced putting on eyeliner in her
mother's bathroom, and how Kira had been the one to
teach me how to use a tampon when my mother had been
inexplicably too embarrassed. She'd punched a guy in the
nuts for hassling me and lent me her favorite lipstick
without a second thought. She wanted Austin, and I knew
without a second thought. She wanted Austin, and I knew
I should let her have him since I didn't want him anymore.
So, I did.
Chapter 29
'Another time.' I spotted Eric closer now, his T-shirt dangling from a front pocket. 'I'l catch you guys later.'
I left without a backward glance and hurried through the
crowd to get to Eric before he got to me. 'Hey.'
'Hey.' He looked at my half-eaten funnel cake. 'Is it good?'
'You can have some.' I'd lost my appetite for it.
With a shrug, Eric took a piece and chewed it. 'These
always smel better than they taste.'
I risked a glance over my shoulder, expecting to see a sea
of strangers. I saw Austin, his face tight, and Kira, staring
up at him. 'Yeah. Listen, do you mind if I bug out? I've got
a kiler headache al of a sudden.'
Eric's brow furrowed, and he reached to rub the back of
my neck. The gesture, automatic but casual, ought to have
made me feel better, but I wanted to cringe away from his
