Love Me by Jillian Dodd Read Free Book Online

Just a dinner, I guess.”
    She grins at me. The same stupid grin that her brother gets when he thinks he knows something that I don’t. “The French restaurant is very nice. It’s definitely a date.”
    I roll my eyes at her. “Great. Is that where he takes all his girls to woo them?”
    She grabs my shoulders and looks me straight in the eyes. “Keatyn, my brother has never had to woo anyone. You saw him at the Cave the other night. They flock to him. Practically line up. I happen to know that he’s only been to that restaurant twice. Both times with our parents.” She looks me over. “You’re all sweaty. You need to go get ready. What are you going to wear?”
    “I don’t know.”
    She grabs me by the elbow. “Come on. I’m going to help you pick out something perfect.”
     
    I’ve showered, shaved my legs, deep conditioned my hair, and am now curling it into the sexy supermodel curls I wore the night we danced under the twinkle lights. 
    Peyton is sitting on my bed flipping through a magazine when my phone buzzes.
    “Oh shit,” she says, looking at my phone. “It’s Dawson. He wants you to meet him for dinner. What are you going to say?”
    “The truth,” I reply, walking over to grab my phone. “We promised to always be honest with each other.”
     
    Me:  I can’t. I’m going out for dinner.
     
    Dawson:  With who?
     
    Me:  Aiden. We’re combining tutoring with some French food tonight.  
     
    Dawson: That sounds like a date.
     
    Me:  We’re both single now. We can both go out on dates.
     
    Dawson:  I only want to date you.
     
    Me:  Someone asked me today what you’re doing to try and woo me back. Do you think you’re wooing me?
     
    Dawson:  I’m pretty sure I did that last night.
     
    Me:  Sex is not wooing.
     
    Dawson:  Oh :(
     
    Me:  Dawson, I know the sex is good. We have a great friendship. But I just don’t know if you even like me enough to woo me.
     
    Dawson:  So you’re gonna date both me and Aiden?
     
    Me:  I’m not sure that Aiden wants to date me, but I am going to dinner with him. 
     
    Dawson:  I hate you right now.
     
    Me:  And I love your honesty. If it’s any consolation, I have hated you quite a bit recently too. 
     
    Dawson:   :(
     
    “He says he hates me,” I tell Peyton. 
    “He’ll get over it. You have to do what’s best for you. And even though I like Dawson, what he did sucked.”
    “Yeah, it did. My mom told me that you have to learn to love yourself before you can love someone else. Do you think that you love yourself?”
    She picks up one of my pillows and hugs it. “I think that’s good advice, but it’s hard to love yourself. Especially if you’re like me and have screwed up more times than not.”
    “Isn’t that part of loving yourself? Forgiving yourself too?”
    “Yeah, probably. Although, I’m having a hard time with that. My mom has cancer.”
    “I know. Aiden told me. It’s in remission, right?”
    “Yeah, but when we found out, my parents made some big changes in our lives. I was a little bitch about it. We had to make bucket lists. I was mad. Mad she had cancer. Mad they moved me away from my friends. So, on my bucket list I put that I wanted to go to boarding school. So, of course, they sent me.” She shakes her head. “Serves me right. I haven’t really liked myself much since.”
    I sit on the bed next to her. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. That was a lot to handle. And I know your parents did what they thought was best, but moving you away from your friends, your support system, would have been awful. I can see why you acted like a little bitch.” I smile at her. “Aiden told me about that time. About how he ended up here. He loves it, though. Do you?”
    “I just try to stay busy enough not to think about all my mistakes.”
    “My mom says that our pasts, including our mistakes, are what make us who we are. My dad died when I was eight.”
    Her eyes get big and she reaches out to touch my