First Choice (Sam Wilkinson/Nash Grier)

Chapter 14

I rushed to my locker at the end of the day. I knew Sam would be at his and I had to tell him I wasn't going home with him because Nash had offered to give me a ride with him since he was coming over anyways. I told Nash not to wait up because I'd meet him at his car, trying to avoid the three of us being in the same vicinity.

When I walked up to Sam he had his back against his locker, head tilted back and eyes closed. He had earphones in and I could hear the beat of the song he was listening to. I poked his arm and his eyes shot open, a large hand darting up to pull out an earbud as his caramel eyes met my dark brown ones. "You ready to go?" He asked, stepping away from the locker.

"Umm, I'm actually getting a ride from Nash. He's coming over to hang out so it just made more sense." I said, my heart heavy as his expectant smile melted away into a frown. "Oh," he nodded as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his khaki pants, his shoulders drooping. "Well, I just wanted to make sure you didn't wait for me." I said, fiddling with the strap on my shoulder. He stared down at his gray Vans and nodded again.

"I'll see you later then." I said, spinning on my heel. "Jasmine, wait." I heard him quietly beg. Just keep walking! But I couldn't make my legs move, like I was glued to the floor as I felt his slim fingers wrap around my wrist. I brushed my hair from my face as he pulled gently and spun me back around to face him.

"I hope you aren't going to let that fight ruin what we have," He said as he rubbed gentle circles with his thumb across the bottom of my wrist. "We've been friends for a long time and these feelings you have for me," He paused taking a deep breath, biting down on his bottom lip.

"They will go away. And I don't want to lose you over them. I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I just want us to go back to the way it used to be."

"You led me on, Sammy. You lied to me, and I can't trust you." I didn't want to talk about this now. "Don't say that, Jasmine." He raised his voice, pulling me closer to him and wrapping his arms around me. He pulled me to his chest and buried his head in the crook of my neck. "Come on." He sighed, clutching me against him lovingly. "It's me, Sammy. Of course you can trust me. I promised to always be there for you and I meant it." He whispered. "I promised not to leave you, so don't leave me."

A flurry of emotion wafted through me as I brought my arms up and wrapped them around his torso, his body instantly relaxing against mine. "I won't Sammy." I promised.

"I missed you today." He chuckled, and I longed to see the smile I could hear in his voice. "I missed you too." I breathed. "Good." He spoke before pulling away, his hands lingering on the small of my back.

"Can we just forget about all of this and go back to the way it was before?" His eyes searching mine. I nodded and his lips darted down to kiss my cheek. "Thank you." He sighed, resting his forehead against mine. "Sammy, I've got to go. Nash is waiting for me." I whispered. He scowled slightly, "Ok, you guys have fun," he mumbled as he let his hands fall to his sides again.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning right?" He asked as I started down the hall. I grinned as I turned my head and nodded. I knew he wanted it to go back to normal, but whatever had just happened had opened a whole new set of emotions. I knew Sam wanted me. And maybe it was a completely different way then I wanted him, but it was enough to just be wanted by him. Sam wanted me around as much as I wanted him around, and it was actually one of my biggest insecurities about our friendship.

I couldn't count how many times the thought that I was a burden to him would creep into my head on a daily basis. I, of course, couldn't get too worked up about this. I wanted these feelings for Sammy to go away. Not multiply. So from that moment forward, I decided to try my best to think of him in a strictly platonic way.