SWAY (Part 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

but Ryan’s behavior still nagged at me.
    I saw David first. He held his arms open and folded me i nto them. He quickly kissed my mouth, leaving one of his arms draped around my neck. “Great job, babe,” he said. I knew he didn’t understand what he’d just seen, but was proud of me anyway. Then I suddenly realized why Ryan reacted to me the way he had. It was because of David. Justin must have introduced them. I smiled at the realization. Ryan Mullins was pissed that I was with a guy like David, that I had ultimately chosen David over him. 
    In all the excitement, I had almost forgotten about Justin, who was standing in front of me now with a girl . Their fingers were intertwined and he looked severely nervous.
    “Hey Reynolds, shut out. Sweet.” He slapped me on the arm as if I was a boy.
    “Thanks, Bishop.” I never called him that, but it somehow felt necessary. I mechanically slapped him back strictly because he was b eing weird, and it was because of her .
    I’d felt amazing, but was quickly losing momentum due to Ju stin’s little surprise. He obviously had a girlfriend he was ready to tell me about, hence the hand holding. I had to give it to him. Justin could keep a secret when it came to his dating life. As much time as we spent together, I had no clue this girl existed.
    While Justin was talking to me, I had been discreetly sizing her up. There was no way she went to public school, even though she was dressed in street clothes. My guess was catholic school due to the sy mbol hanging from the thin gold chain around her neck. Her skin was pale except for a faint hint of pink on her cheeks. Her hair was naturally blond, her eyes pale blue. She didn’t wear makeup. She didn’t need to. Her face was pretty as it was. 
    “This is Eve, Annie,” Justin said, still uneasy. Maybe it was because all of his past girlfriends had hated me, and I had returned the f avor.
    “Hi, Eve,” I smiled.
    “Justin talks about you all the time,” she admitted shyly, in the sweet tone I’d imagined her words would arrive in. Her eyes flickered to David for a second, and then back to me. She smiled a little, seeming relieved that my taste in boys wasn’t as conventional as hers. I’m sure it eased her fear over whether or not mine and Justin’s relationship was truly platonic.
    “It’s nice to finally meet you,” I lied, because I hadn’t heard the first thing about her, which was how it always went. Justin only intr oduced me to a girl when he was ready to commit to her, which I imagined saved us all a lot of grief.
    I hated when he got a girlfriend because it drastically cut our time together, but I never said anything. I just let the girlfriend do all the bitching because there hadn’t been one yet that had liked me being around, and apparently none of them were smarter than me, or else they would have at least pretended to, in order to stick around longer.
    I hoped Eve wouldn’t be as dramatic and paranoid as the last few girls Justin had dated. After meeting me, it seemed jea lousy and suspicion over our relationship consumed their tiny brains, making me an unwelcome obstacle they set out to destroy. When I was around they would adhere themselves to Justin as if attempting to make me understand that I wasn’t getting him. That he was taken.
    “Girls can be so ridiculous,” Justin would say when one of them threw a fit about me, or wanted to play twenty questions about us. Did you ever go out with her? Have you ever kissed her? Do you think she’s pretty? Why is she always at your house? Blah, blah, blah.
    Eve seemed sweet, different in general than the other girls Justin had brought around. She didn’t seem to despise me instantly, and hop efully would be more accepting and trusting of us, like David. David thought the world of Justin and hadn’t ever felt threatened by our relationship at all—probably because he was sure I wasn’t having sex with him, because of the whole waiting until marriage