What a Boy Needs

Dedication:

Jaden's story is dedicated to the people who took a chance on Sebastian and his story. I have been blessed with the most incredible readers in the world. Your passion and support for these four characters means more to me than I can say. Sebastian, Aspen, Jaden, Pris and I wouldn't be where we are without you.

Also, to the boys I was friends with in high school. You guys were crazy, wild, funny and got into trouble—but you were also loyal, protective and some of the best friends I’ve ever had. I thought about you often while writing Sebastian and Jaden’s stories.

And lastly, to my husband.
You were one of the boys I’m talking about above. How did we get so lucky?

Acknowledgment

HUGE thank you to
my
family for not ditching me when I’m deep in a story.
My kids for understanding.
My husband for listening to me talk about these characters often and
for at least pretending to “get it
”.

My mom who thinks I can do anything and actually makes me believe it.

My Trio of Awesomeness: Wendy Higgins
you are all heart, like me
. I know I can always go to you with matters of the heart and you will understand.
So awesome.
Jolene Perry who gets just as excited about things as I do.
When I need someone to take a “jump” with me, it’s you. We might gripe at ourselves later for not thinking it through, but at least we did it together!
And
Kelley York
who is my voice of reason.
You are always logical and reel me in when I look at things with my heart that I should examine with my head instead.
I co
uld not write a book without you ladies
. You’re the best critique partners a girl could ask for.

Al
so to
Jessica
Skondin
,
Steph
Campbell, Jen
, and Kristy
Zavorka
for reading.

Last, but definitely not least to
Valerie, Andrea,
Autumn
, and Amber. Thanks for everything.
I feel so blessed to have met and made friends with you!

Chapter One

I stiffen.
Heat rips through my body like someone injected it into my veins. It starts in my chest
,
cracking and crystalizing my insides as it spreads. There
'
s a part of me
,
the smart
part
,
that
knows I
'
m being an idiot. I
'
m freaking out when I don
'
t have a right to
.
But
there
'
s the other part
,
the
one that hides deep inside of me so I can pretend it doesn
'
t exist
,
that knows it should be
me
sitting with Priscilla right now.
My hand in her hair.
My lips on her neck.
I should be stealing food off her lunch plate and saying something stupid because it
'
s so like
us
for her to be pissed at me.

I
'
ve been making her mad ever since that time in kindergarten when she yelled at me for Sebastian
'
s lame ass pulling Aspen
'
s ponytail. Aspen started chasing Bastian like she was supposed to
,
since he
'
s the one who did it
,
but Pris narrowed those dark eyes at me like it was my fault
,
before she charged.

I let her catch me.

I like it when she catches me.

But last summer
,
she stopped chasing. It sucks.

So
does my internal monologue every time I see her. It
'
s really starting to piss me off. I
'
ve gone soft and I hate it
,
but I can
'
t seem to make myself do anything about it
,
either. Instead I grin
,
talk shit to Bastian
,
tease Aspen
,
and pretend it doesn
'
t tear me up every time I look at her. That I don
'
t know it
'
s my own damn
fault
,
and that there
'
s nothing I can do to change it. It
'
s for the best.

In case you haven
'
t caught on
,
it
'
s been a long school year.

The
Pris dating Craig thing is new
,
but it doesn
'
t feel like it.

I want my fist to meet his nose.
Multiple times.

Aren
'
t I just peachy?

I've become a serious buzz kill. Priscilla
,
Sebastian
,
Aspen
,
and I have been tight forever. It
'
s always been the four of us
,
but last summer Sebastian fell for Aspen. It was only a matter of time anyway and it
'
s cool. I
'
m happy for them and all that
,
but it
'
s made stuff for Priscilla and me tough because I want to be with her
,
too. I want her way more than I should
,
but I also realize it
'
s a no go. She deserves way better. For her sake
,
I hate that it took her so long to realize it.

Someone slams into my back
,
making me stumble. I whip around and take a swing at Sebastian
,
which he dodges
,
bouncing on the balls of his feet to try and look like he
'
s some kind of heavyweight boxer.

"
Don
'
t make me take you out
,
Doc
,
"
I tease. The whole thing with him and Aspen started because Sebastian ran some stupid
,
anonymous business online where he called himself the Hook-up Doctor. Aspen contacted him to hook her up with this idiot who used to work at the pizza place with them
,
only
he didn
'
t know it was her and she didn
'
t know it was him. He started to fall for her and everything was all set for
a
movie-ending happily ever after until he pulled a bonehead-Sebastian move.

It all worked out in the end because if he wasn
'
t so blind
,
he would have known they wanted each other probably since that day in kindergarten. Priscilla and I were his only failed hook-up.

I slam the door on those thoughts.

"
Please
,
I could take you with my eyes closed—shit
,
ouch
,"
Sebastian limps after accidentally stepping on Aspen
'
s foot.

"
Hello?
You
stepped on
me
. I should be the one saying ouch!
"
She pushes a strand of her light brown hair behind her ear. Sebastian
buries
his face in her neck the same way Craig just did with Pris.
Aspen
'
s hand threads through his black hair.

"
Sorry
,
baby
,
”
Bastian leans forward.
"
Gimme a kiss.
My lips have healing power.
"

Aspen swoons and I almost vomit in my mouth.
"
Healing power? Did I mention I fell on my ass this morning? It hurts right here
.”
I turn and point to my left cheek. Sebastian tries to kick me
,
but I jerk out of his way
,
laughing.

"
Ha
,
ha.
"
He smirks. He knows that was a good joke. He just doesn
'
t want to admit it.

"
You
'
re just jealous I thought of it.
"

We fall in line together as the three of us head toward Priscilla at our table.
Pris sitting with her boyfriend at the
t
able that
'
s belonged to the four of us since our freshman year.

Seriously
,
it
'
s like I can
'
t stop those little comments from body-slamming their way into my brain. This isn
'
t supposed to be the way it works. I
'
m not sure
how
it was supposed to work since I
'
ve always known I couldn
'
t go there. Not with her
,
even though she makes my pulse jack-hammer. But before
,
I could ignore it. After all the shit went down with Aspen and Sebastian last summer—after I found out she tried to find a way to make me see her in a different light—it makes things a whole hell of a lot harder to ignore.

I
'
ve always seen her.
Always.

I
'
ve just been trying not to.

"
What
'
s up?
"
I fall onto the bench across from them. I give her a little nod
,
but don
'
t pay at
tention to the douche.
Really
?
Craig? He
'
s always been a clown. I don
'
t know what she sees in him.

After twisting the top off my Cherry Pepsi
,
I down a drink.

"
Hey
,
Jay
,"
Pris replies
,
but gives her attention to Aspen.
"
Did you finish your math homework?
"

"
Pris
,
you realize we graduate in two weeks
,
right?
"
Sebastian cuts in.
"
I
'
m pretty sure there
'
s a coolness rule that says you
'
re not supposed to do homework anymore. It
'
s expected and shit.
"