Perfectly Messy Read Online Free PDF Page A

You too,” Lucy answers for me. She tugs on my arm, ready to escape. Her arm wraps easily through my own, and I rest my other hand on top of it. I keep it there, praying Carl the Creep sees it and gets his answer.
    “So, how about some Chipotle?”
    “I’m game,” she says.
    Hell, yes. She’s always game and that’s exactly why she’s incredible. This girl can take anything life throws, but I’m going to make sure life doesn’t throw crap at her anymore. It’s not happening, not while I’m around. Lucy deserves all awesomeness, and I’m going to give her that. Even if it’s not politically correct.

Chapter Three

     
    Lucy
     
    The salt from these chips is so addicting. Justin chuckles as I lick my fingers. “Here. Take the last one. I’m full.” Yeah right. The niblets of what’s left of his steak tacos have been picked clean. Taking the chip, I break it in half and hand part back to him.
    “How about this?”
    “Well, now that you’ve ruined the chip, it’d be a shame not to.” We take turns circling our bit around the guacamole, making sure to scrape every remnant of it clean. It’s too precious to waste.
    “You know why you’re impressive?” Justin leans in, and my insides flip flop. Even after a month of dating, I’m a jumble of butterflies every time he moves near me.
    “Why?” I ask, trying to be a little snarky and flirty. It’s a lame attempt, and his laugh proves I failed.
    “Because you eat an entire barbacoa burrito bowl on a date.”
    “Well, there’s no use hiding my appetite from you. You saw me eat long before we dated. And this,” I nod down to the empty paper in the basket below, “is not worth skipping to impress a guy.”
    “Would you not eat to impress a guy?”
    “Not anymore. But once, yeah, I would. Back when I followed the rules.”
    “For the record, guys think it’s cool when girls eat.” Justin holds out his hand for my trash. “And, you never need to follow the social rules with me, you know that, right?” His gaze holds mine for a moment longer. Is he flirting, or talking about what just happened with his parents? I don’t know how to answer, so I hand him my red Chipotle basket like an idiot. I may not need to follow the rules with him, but it’s obviously different with his family.
    The whole situation was so foreign. I never imagined I’d meet them in a banquet hall dressed in lace with all of these random big wigs watching us. Then being tossed to the friendship category by Mr. Marshall the moment some contributor notices me? I must have done something, but I can’t figure out where I made a misstep. Holding myself together was hard, but I thought I did okay. Tonya, Dot, and Mrs. Marshall seemed to get me. But then the moment the world turned to watch, it felt so fabricated—so unlike Justin. It sucks that he has to dive in and out of that environment so often.
    Justin returns from the trash, taking my hand on the way to the car. Normally, he has a stronger grasp so I give his hand a little squeeze. He smiles, but doesn’t say anything as he holds open the door. Maybe I should bring up what happened. Did he even notice how weird it was? Crap, what if that’s normal for him and he thinks everything went well.
    He drives us a few blocks before pulling over into a grocery store parking lot.
    “Are you out of milk? Eggs? Sugar?” I force my British accent, which may as well be Canadian, but I know he loves the absurdity. He cracks a smile. There. Good.
    “Sorry,” he shakes his head. “Tonight sucked. I put you in a crappy situation—a total freak show. I never expected that. My parents are good people, but unfortunately that didn’t show well tonight. That guy stepping in, with his crazy ideas and huge bank account, ruined everything.”
    I take a moment, letting his words sink in. My muscles loosen and, for the first time tonight, I don’t feel like a horse jammed into a snail’s shell. He gets how off the evening was.
    “Thank God,”