Happenstance by Jamie McGuire Read Free Book Online Page A

won’t bug us down here.” He unscrewed the
lid of the salsa, and the bag of tortilla chips crackled as he unrolled it. “You
hungry?”
    “I’ll take that banana,” I said, pointing.
    He tossed it to me. “I’ll wait.”
    “For what?”
    “Until you finish your homework. I’m going to find us a movie to
watch.”
    I watched him while he pushed buttons on the remote without
looking at them, turning on the DVR and browsing the movies on demand. I pulled
out my textbook. A piece of notebook paper stuck out from the page I needed,
and I worked on the nine questions I had left to answer. It took only about
fifteen minutes to finish, and Weston remained quiet, keeping his word.
    Once I closed my book and packed away my things, he excitedly
returned his focus to me. “Do you want to watch Triple Thunder , or The
Dark House on the Hill ?”
    “Both sound equally . . . entertaining.”
    “ Triple Thunder it is.” He pushed a button on the remote,
and the screen turned black for a moment. He chose a few more options; then the
movie began, opening with a sweaty guy running for his life in a desert.
    Halfway through the movie, Weston leaned back against the couch
cushion, his size twelves crossed at the ankle on top of the ottoman that
doubled as a coffee table. I had a more difficult time relaxing.
    Weston looked over at me, back at the television, and then back
at me.
    “What?”
    “You’re so uptight. Do you want me to take you home?”
    “I just . . . I don’t think your mom likes that I’m here. And I .
. .”
    Weston’s phone chirped. Alder’s name lit up the display. He read
the text in less than a second, then shot one back.
    “What if your mom mentions to Alder that I was here?”
    “She won’t.”
    “How can you be sure?”
    “She doesn’t want Alder to be mad at me. She’s already
envisioning Gates-Alderman grandchildren.”
    My face screwed into disgust. “You should probably take me home.”
    He sat up. “Why? You don’t like the movie?”
    “It’s not okay for me to be here. You have a girlfriend, and
we’re . . .”
    “Sneaking around?” Weston said with a sweet grin. “Fine.” He
picked up his phone.
    “What are you doing?” I asked while he tapped out a message.
    “Breaking up with Alder.”
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Six
    I grabbed his phone and held it away from him. “Are you
trying to make things worse?”
    “No. But you telling me you won’t hang out with me because of a
girl I don’t even like anymore . . . that’s an easy fix.”
    “Why would you stay with someone you don’t like for five years?”
    He shrugged. “Something to do, I guess. She’s not ugly.”
    “No,” I said, sighing. “She’s not. You sound like a huge asshole
right now.”
    “Do we have to talk about this?”
    “No, you can just take me home.”
    He groaned, and then sat up, facing me. “My parents have been
married for twenty years, and they don’t really like each other.” He paused,
and when he realized I wasn’t satisfied, he continued, “I liked her at first,
but I never liked the way she treated people. You, in particular. When I talked
to her about you, she just seemed to treat you worse. But every time I thought
about breaking it off with her, the drama I knew would follow didn’t sound all
that appealing.”
    “Five years is a long time,” I said.
    “You have no idea.”
    “So are you just going to wait until you leave for college?”
    “That was the plan, but now I kind of want to do it sooner.” He
leaned toward me, and I leaned away. He snorted. “You’re really going to make
me do this by the book, aren’t you?”
    “I’m not making you do anything,” I said, handing him back his
phone.
    “You’re making me miss this movie.”
    I glanced at the television. “It’s paused.”
    “Oh, yeah,” he said with a smile, pushing a button. The violence
ensued, along with screaming, gun shots, and helicopter blades whirring in the
air. Weston settled back into the