“They’re at Austin’s place. James and Marvin are fighting. James is drunk.”
“Oh. Did Jackson ask for your help?”
Will nodded, leading me to my next question.
“You’re not going?”
“No. I’m here with you.”
I saw him massage his neck. He pressed so hard with his fingertips that it left marks on his skin.
“Will.”
“I said that I’d stay here with you, June, and for once I wanna—”
“I was wrong today. I shouldn’t’ve told you to choose between James and me. It was immature of me to ask you to do that.” I bit my lip.
“Maybe, but I want to make things work between us.”
“Ignoring your friends isn’t the way to get things to work between us. The only way we can work is if you don’t ghost me and you’re honest with me, Will.” I said this decisively, and his peck on my lips was just as decisive.
I closed my eyes and let our mouths lock to perfection.
“Shall we?” I suggested.
Bewildered, Will raised both his eyebrows. “Are you serious?”
“Sure, it’s no problem.” I downplayed the situation.
I wanted to trust William, but trust was a risky game.
Jackson picked us up around ten minutes later, and as soon as we got there, Will jumped out of the car to separate Marvin and James. The meeting place was always the same. The outside of the building was packed.
“What’s going on?” I asked Jackson, who was standing next to me.
“Something about Marvin’s cousin. Who knows.”
“Man, fighting over a girl has really become the cool thing to do,” I commented.
Jackson stared at me for a while, and I shot him a confused look back.
“What is it?”
“I wanna see what you’d say when they do it for you, White.”
“Huh?”
“Sure, play dumb, but you should know it doesn’t suit you.”
Jackson had made it clear on multiple occasions that he hated me. If I could only figure what he had against me.
“Look, I don’t want to fight for someone I don’t give a flying fuck about,” James burst out, pointing at the brunet with the bob to Marvin’s right.
“Maybe it’s better to bring him home. He’s drunk,” announced William, as spectators of the unfolding tragicomedy skit surrounded us.
“Why, isn’t he always drunk?” I said sharply.
“No, he can’t handle hard liquor.”
