Page 53 of I Don't Need Your Protection

“Yeah, right. You’re too smart to be distracted by me.”

My mouth opens, but no words come out. My tongue is all twisted.

He chuckles softly. “You’ve never had a boyfriend, have you?”

“Is it that obvious?” I lift my backpack and hide behind it.

He chuckles again as he lowers it to the table. “Hey, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Addie. I’m actually jealous of you.”

“Jealous?”

“Yeah. For you, everything is new. If I knew I would meet you one day, I never would have gone out with the other girls. I wish you would be my first everything.”

I just gape at him. “You’re BSing me.”

He shakes his head. “I swear I’m not. I like being around you. You make me feel…” He stares off in the distance as he contemplates his thoughts. “You make me feel seen.”

Oh, wow. I can’t believe he just said that to me. From the outside, he looks all cool and sure of himself, and he’s the most popular guy at school. But who knows what his life is really like? Maybe he doesn’t think he can be his true self with his friends. Maybe they don’t understand him. Maybe his home life isn’t the greatest.

Before I have a chance to respond, he snorts, mutters something about forgetting all this heart-to-heart mushy crap, and focuses on the assignment sheet. “So I did think of something. What do you think about starting a new clothing line? I don’t know much about the fashion industry, but you can never go wrong with clothes, right?”

I twist my nose. “I bet every team will do clothes. And anyway, it’s probably hard to stand out with a clothing business. They’re way oversaturated and we might have a hard time getting investors.”

“I’ll just ask my uncles to invest,” he says. “Easy peasy.”

I give him a look. “Mrs. Powell said we have to treat this as though it’s real. She’ll see through the BS. You think she’ll give us a good grade if your family members invest in our company?”

“It’s cute how into it you are.”

“It’s fifty percent of our grade.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He groans and sits back in his seat. “So what do you want to sell?”

“Well, you’re thinking something high-end, for the wealthy class. But I think we should make a product that speaks to a larger audience. The lower and middle class.”

He nods slowly. “Yeah, that makes sense. See, you’re so smart.”

I like the fact that he’s complimenting me, but maybe he’s overdoing it? I wonder if he’s nervous to be around me. He seems cool on the outside, but maybe it’s all an act?

“So let’s see,” I say as I rub my pen across my lips. I catch Warner’s eyes dip there, and my cheeks flame. “Um…” I wrack my brain. “Not a food, because that market is oversaturated, too. What about goods or services?”

“Are you good at anything?” he asks.

“No. I’m like the most boring person on the planet.”

“You are definitelynotthe most boring person on the planet. But I’m not good at anything, either.” He taps his fingers on the chair’s armrest. “Want to use Google?”

I give him another look. “Mrs. Powell specifically instructed us not to use Google.”

“Right. Darn. Is there something you like? A favorite gameor maybe a toy you loved as a kid.”

I sit up. “Oh my gosh! You just gave me the perfect idea.”

“What is it?”

“We can make stuffed animals!”

He frowns. “You want to make dolls?”