BoysLikeYou.indd Read Online Free PDF Page A

poured herself some iced tea
    before offering the jug to Nathan. He shook his head and stared
    down at his plate. “He’s the same, I guess.”
    “I see,” Gram replied softly.
    I didn’t.
    “Who’s Trevor?”
    Nathan’s head shot up, and the look in his eyes was so bleak
    that, for a moment, I forgot to breathe. His eyes were blue, dark blue like the Atlantic on a cold winter day, and at the moment,
    they were filled with something I was all too familiar with.
    Pain. But not just pain. It was so much more.
    Something inside me twisted, and a wave of nausea rolled
    through me.
    “Sorry,” I said quickly. “That was rude.” I glanced at Gram
    and shook my head. “None of my business.”
    I tore some meat off a rib bone and shivered, suddenly cold.
    Sweat beaded along my brow, and even though I felt like I was
    freezing, it was, in fact, hot as hell in the house.
    This weird roaring started in my ears— it was thick and
    pressed into me, so I knew I was already running to catch up.
    If I didn’t get hold of my shit, Gram and Nathan would have a
    front- row seat to a one- of- a- kind freak- show panic attack.
    I went through the steps my therapist had taught me.
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    BOYS LIKE YOU
    I exhaled, fingers trailing through the condensation that
    gathered along the bottom of my glass as I tried to slow down. I
    counted, concentrating on the numbers, starting at twenty and
    working my way back. My chest hurt, but eventually my heart
    relaxed and the pressure eased. It took a bit, but after a while, the fuzziness went away and everything became clearer.
    It was then that I realized Nathan was staring at me as if I’d
    grown two heads and Gram’s eyes were misty, her lined face
    drawn in concern.
    “Are you all right, Monroe?” she asked carefully.
    “I’m fine,” I muttered and shoved a piece of meat into my
    mouth. I forced myself to chew it slowly and washed it down
    with a long, cold drink.
    5:30. Nearly there.
    I didn’t say one word for the rest of the meal. I didn’t really
    need to; Gram more than made up for the fact that Nathan
    wasn’t in his happy place anymore and that I had never really
    gotten there.
    I listened as Gram chatted about some kind of peach festival
    that was on in Twin Oaks for the weekend while studying
    Nathan covertly. I didn’t feel like talking, and he was more interesting than the rose pattern on Gram’s wallpaper.
    His brown hair was longer than it had looked underneath his
    bandana, and I could tell he spent a lot of time outdoors because his ends were lighter. When he turned his head, the pieces shimmered like warm butter, which really wasn’t fair because I knew
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    Juliana Ston e
    more than a few girls who laid down big bucks to achieve the
    same look.
    With his blue eyes, square jaw, and hot body, there was no
    denying Nathan Everets was packing some pretty serious genes.
    He smiled at Gram, and I could tell that she was charmed,
    but then how could she not be? He was polite, well- spoken, and
    really good- looking. I wondered if she sensed the darkness that
    ran just beneath the surface like I did. He was hiding stuff. I saw it, but then again, I guess that’s no surprise since these days I was all about the darkness.
    He made some comment— I couldn’t tell you what they were
    talking about— and Gram laughed. She laughed like a school
    girl, all deep- chested and animated and giddy. I wondered if
    Nathan was a player. Or if he had a girlfriend that he was faithful to. If so, I found it odd that on a Friday night, he was stuck
    making small talk with us instead of having fun with his friends.
    He and Gram ate peach cobbler while discussing football,
    and my eyes glazed over. I hated football. I mean, really, what
    was the point in lining up across from some huge Neanderthal
    whose only mission was to kick your ass all over the place?
    I didn’t get it. When they started talking about