On the Outside Looking In (Wrong Reasons) Read Online Free PDF Page B

number?” he asked.
    “No,” I said, brushing past him.  I tossed my empty cup into the trash, turning back one last time, smiling.  “When I call you, you’ll get my number.”
    I pushed through the doors without another word.
    As I walked around the building, I contemplated the new number in my phone.  I didn’t think I’d ever call him, but it was hard to say.  He was persistent.
    But why?  He was so attractive and that girl, Manda, was very pretty.  What would he want with someone like me?
    I paused, my foot on the top step.
    Maybe it was a trick.  Maybe he was a friend of Owen’s, the puke that owned the Tail Feather Club.  He’d had a thing for Irelyn and Bailey ever since he met them.  Me, like an idiot, dated him briefly, but for a stupid reason.  I knew Owen only took me out in order to get Bailey and Irelyn’s attention, but I’d only gone out with him to get Spencer’s attention.  At the time it had seemed to be a win-win situation.
    But Owen figured that any girl who went out with him owed him something.  So many times I’d had to fight him off, slap his hands away from places where they hadn’t needed to be.  And so many times had he called me a tease or worse.  Yes, Bailey had done me a favor that night months ago when she’d set me up, arranged for me to see Owen trying to get her to sleep with him.  I’d known in the back of my mind that Owen wasn’t into monogamy, but I was still humiliated and embarrassed.
    “That’s over,” I said as I mounted the stairs and took them to my apartment.  It was over and I’d pretty much gotten over it.  But it didn’t make me a fool.  I wasn’t about to fall for that sort of thing again.  If Evan was that determined to date me, maybe someone put him up to it.  But who?
    Maybe Irelyn or Bailey, in an effort to find me a boyfriend so I could get over Spencer.
    Or Jessica.  Maybe she wanted to make a fool out of me in front of Spencer.
    “Stop it, Morgan,” I chided as I retrieved my bag from the kitchen table and carried it to the living room.  “Nobody is out to get you.  Just relax.”
    I pulled my laptop out of my bag and settled in the chair by the window.  As it booted up, I let my mind wander back to Evan.  Why did he want to hang out with me?  I had no idea.
    “Maybe I should go out with him once and find out why,” I mused, my eyes blurring as I stared at a point above the television.  “Maybe once he goes out with me, he’ll lose interest and leave me alone.”
    But did I want him to leave me alone?  Was I enjoying the attention of a very attractive man?
    “No,” I said, shaking my head.  “I’m not like that.”
    But my mind rebelled at the idea.  What girl didn’t like a little attention from a man – even girls like me?
    I returned my gaze to the computer, logging into my favorite web browser.  But before I started, I grabbed my phone and dialed the newest number.
    “Yeah, who is this?” he growled.
    “Morgan,” I said.  “Tomorrow night, pizza at Mario’s.  Seven-thirty.  I’ll meet you there.”
    There was a definite grin in his voice.  “Gotcha, sweet thing.  I’ll see you there.”
    I ended the call, grinning myself, and submerged into the world of Art History.

Chapter Four
     
     
    My Art History exam went better than I expected, even though I’d struggled to study the night before.  When my classes were finished for the day, I hurried home to prepare for my short shift at Beans.
    The entire time I waited on customers and struggled to make complicated coffee orders, my insides squirmed in anticipation of my upcoming ‘date.’  I wasn’t sure what to expect – romance or friendship?  Or maybe Evan was just lonely.  The only people I’d ever heard him talk about were Manda and Rusty.  Maybe they were his only friends.
    My shift ended at seven and I rushed upstairs to get ready.  After an amazingly quick shower, I dressed in skinny jeans, a long green sweater, and my