Strictly f*******n Intent

4. Wes

Wes

"You don’t want to drive?” I ask Sawyer as we grab our bags and head out the front door.

“Not today.” She shakes her head.

“What are you worried about?” I hear the hesitation in her voice. “Not that video still. I told you it’s taken care of.”

Over the summer, not long after Sawyer and I first met, a trespasser captured a private moment between our parents on video, and it went sort of viral. They were at a remote cabin in the woods, and shouldn’t have been visible to anyone. It was sheer luck the video didn’t catch their faces, so no one knows it was them. It’s long since been taken offline, but knowing it existed and that our classmates had seen it did a number on Sawyer. I thought she was over it, but maybe not.

“It’s not that.” She sighs as she opens the door. “I know people moved on to other news, but we’re going to be the news as soon as we show up together. I don’t like being the subject of everyone’s conversations.”

I want to reassure her that things will be fine, but she has a point. As a senior and a football player, I’m pretty well known at the school, and it won’t go unnoticed that I’ve got a new passenger. That will be news for a while, but it’s not the only thing that will make her anonymity disappear.

Sawyer somehow managed to avoid notice last year as a freshman who didn’t get involved in anything but the running team. That won’t happen this year, and not just because of me. She’s becoming one of the top runners on the team, her classes are no longer confined to the freshman wing of the school, and anyone who hears her last name will connect her to her father. But the biggest threat to her anonymity is the girl herself. She’s too beautiful to fade into the background, no matter how much she might want to.

Sawyer is tall, making it impossible not to notice her in a crowd. Especially her pretty green eyes. They’re such a light shade they’re almost iridescent, soft but infiltrating at the same time. That’s not the only bold contrast. Light skin with chocolate brown hair, thick brows and lashes on an otherwise delicate face, and a smattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks that make her look younger than her curves suggest. The combination of her features is so striking it’s hard not to stare. She’s that beautiful. It’s not a glamorous type of beauty though. It’s natural, something I don’t think she’s even aware of, which makes her that much more attractive.

I know I'm not supposed to notice these things, but I always notice, because I can't keep my eyes off her.

It’s not just her looks that appeal to me though, it’s her attitude. Sawyer may be a few years behind me in school, but she acts much older, more like a woman than a girl, and that’s a nice change from the frivolous classmates I’m used to. It makes our conversations more real. Meaningful.

“Yeah, we’ll be news for a bit. How do you want to handle it?” I pull out of the drive and head for school.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we obviously live together, but do you want to tell people our parents are dating, that you guys are family friends staying with us for a while, what?”

“I guess I assumed we’d go with the dating thing since that’s what’s happening.” She stares absently out the window.

“Up to you." I lift my shoulder as I cast her a quick glance. "I wasn’t sure how much you wanted people to know about your mom’s dating life since they know all about your dad’s.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” She lets her head fall to the headrest.

“Sorry. I didn’t want you to be caught off guard.”

“I know.” She fiddles with the strap of her backpack.

“Is that why you don’t like people talking about you? Because they talk about your dad all the time?”

Sawyer chews on her lip for a minute before answering. She looks so pained and vulnerable. I have a sudden urge to hold her hand, but I keep mine firmly gripped on the steering wheel so I don’t actually do it.

“It’s more what they say about my dad,” she answers. “To my face guys talk about what a great athlete he is but behind my back they idolize him for all the women he dates. Girls pretend to be offended but then whisper about how hot he is. Everyone assumes my mom was one of the random women he dated and not actually his wife. It’s so hypocritical. And wrong. And I can’t believe people don’t have better things to talk about.”

Not for the first time, I find myself angry at her dad, which sucks because I’ve always admired him as a ball player. I’m also pissed at all the people who engage in that gossip, because Sawyer’s the one who suffers from it. It’s going to happen again today, simply because we’re in the same car. She’s tough enough to handle it, but that doesn’t stop me wanting to protect her.

I hate what comes out next, because saying it aloud makes her further out of reach, but I know it’s the right thing. Hopefully, it will stop at least some of the gossip about her parents.

“Let’s say step-siblings. I know it’s not official, but be honest. You think it’s going to happen the same as I do, right?”

I chance a look at her from the corner of my eye and see her chewing her bottom lip again as she considers this. I force my eyes back on the road before I get lost in thought about how soft and pink that lip is.

“Yeah, I think it’ll happen,” she says softly.

“Okay then, future step-sister.” I smile with more humor than I feel. “Let’s go make headlines.” I park the car and watch the heads swivel in our direction as we climb out.