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  He picks up the puppy and reads the note. And then he snuggles against her soft fur and takes her inside.

  Chapter 9

  My phone beeps an hour later.

  Jaxon: Can you come outside?

  My heart skips a beat. He’s here. He’s right outside, right at this moment. I look down at my leggings and baggy shirt, but I don’t want to waste time changing clothes. Plus, he probably still hates me anyway, so it’s not like I need to impress him.

  I slip out of my room and walk quietly down the hallway. It’s after ten, and although my parents probably aren’t asleep yet, they’re in their room watching TV so they won’t notice if I step outside. I unlock the front door as quietly as possible and open it. Jaxon is standing there, the puppy in his arms.

  My stomach tightens. Is he going to give it back? My parents would kill me if I came home with a pet without asking them.

  But worse than explaining a new dog to my parents, would be knowing Jaxon hates me so much he doesn’t want my gift, which is the one thing he’s been wanting more than anything.

  “Hi,” I say, stepping outside and closing the door behind me. “You don’t want her?”

  “What?” he says, brows pulling together. “No. Of course I want her.” He smiles and pets her little head.

  “Then why did you bring her to me?”

  “I wanted to see you, and I didn’t want to leave her alone.” He pets the dog again and then explains, “My family is out of town, helping my grandparents move to their new house. I’m only here because I have school.” He looks at the puppy. “I didn’t want to leave her alone.”

  “So… why are you here?”

  His gaze slowly looks at me while the puppy wriggles excitedly in his arms. “I wanted to say thanks.” He holds up the dog. “For this. I don’t know how you pulled it off.”

  I smile. “She was in a shelter three hours away.”

  His eyes widen. “You drove that far just to get me a puppy?”

  I shrug. “I owe you more than that for what I did.”

  He’s quiet for a minute. “You didn’t have to do all of this.”

  “Well, you like her, right? Your parents will let you keep her?”

  He nods. “They’re extremely excited and can’t wait to get back. I told them my friend found her for me.”

  I grin. “Are we friends now?”

  He stares at me for longer than I like. “Yes,” he says. “I forgive you. I would have forgiven you anyway, even without the puppy.”

  I reach over and pet her little furry head. “I really am sorry.”

  “I know. I wish I could have just shrugged it off, but I’ve been mocked and laughed at when I was younger. It made me shy around girls. So when I really liked you and found out about—well, you know—it just sucked.”

  I look down, unable to meet his eyes with all the guilt I feel. “Can we start over? But only if you want. If you never want to talk to me again, that’s fine.”

  He laughs. “Let’s be friends. I can always use a Taco Bell partner for lunch.”

  I smile, but it sucks hearing him say the word friends. That’s not exactly what I wanted, but it’s better than having him hate me.

  “Do you want to hold her?” he asks.

  I nod eagerly, and take the puppy, holding her up close to my face. She loves licking faces, so I close my eyes and let her go to town. Her little puppy breath is the cutest thing, next to her tiny wagging tail.

  “I love her,” I say, as she curls up in my lap and licks my hand.

  “She is pretty freaking cute. When my told my mom I got a Golden, she screamed on the phone, she was so excited.” He laughs. “I never even thought to check shelters that were that far away.”

  “Luckily, you have me,” I say, bumping into his shoulder. “When my friend wants something, I make sure it happens.”

  We sit out here until it’s nearly midnight, playing with the puppy and chatting about safe topics. We never go back to the subject of dating, or liking each other, and that sucks because it’s all I want to talk about. But for now, we’re friends. And that’s better than what we were yesterday.

  Chapter 10

  Two Weeks Later

  Jacie laughs at something Marcus says. What makes me look over at her is the way she laughs—all giggly and overexcited and not at all like her normal laugh. I haven’t asked her yet, but I’m pretty sure she’s crushing on Marcus, who is Jaxon’s best friend.

  I reach over and steal one of Jaxon’s fries. “I should buy two lunches since you eat half of mine,” he says with a grin as he takes a bite of his burger.

  “That’s a great idea,” I say, stealing another fry. Jaxon and Marcus have been sitting with us at lunch almost every day lately. It’s been fun sharing our table with the guys and having different things to talk about. I think Jacie is especially appreciative of the new company because she can’t keep her eyes off Marcus, who is tall and athletic but also a genius in all advanced classes.

  When Jaxon smiles at me from across the cafeteria table, my chest aches. He is so unbelievably cute. But ever since we agreed to be friends a couple weeks ago, that’s all we are. Friends.

  We text and hang out and hit up Taco Bell for lunch every few days, but that’s all it ever is. I am grateful for his friendship because he’s an awesome guy, but there’s always this part of me that wishes we had something more.

  I long for another date with him, where it’s just the two of us. Not like how he and Marcus joined me and Jacie at the movies last Friday. That was as friendly as it gets. No one held hands, no one flirted at all. We were just a group of friends.

  I wonder if this is all it’ll ever be for us. If someday I’ll meet a new guy to date and Jaxon will still just be my friend. I hate that idea. I wish I could go back in time and meet him before I ever made that stupid bet. I wish the anonymous car vandal had slashed my tire just a week or so before. That way I’d have a clean slate with Jaxon from the beginning.

  When lunch is over, Marcus and Jacie split their separate ways because they both have gym next period. Jaxon walks with me halfway to my next class before turning to his, and sometimes this is the only alone time we get each day. I love every second of it.

  “I’m thinking of taking Maxie to the park today,” Jaxon says. Maxie is what his little brother decided to name the dog. He’d originally wanted the name Max, but then changed it to Maxie upon learning that the dog was a girl.

  “I think she would love that,” I say.

  Jaxon grins. “Do you want to come with me?”

  He almost seems a little nervous, which is silly. We’re friends now.

  “Sounds fun.”

  #

  This is the first time we’re hanging out with just the two of us. After that night on my porch when Jaxon forgave me, he’d called me the next day to invite me to dinner with a couple of his friends. I’d brought Jacie, and we’ve all hung out as a group ever since. But this is different.

  He picks me up after school and I scoop Maxie off the floor of the front seat and cuddle her in my lap. He’s bought a bright pink leash for her, saying it’s more fitting than the old leash he uses on his neighbor’s dogs.

  We chat about random things on the short drive to the park, and then when we get there, it’s oddly empty. Usually there’s a ton of parents bringing their kids here after school, but today I only see one woman jogging around the perimeter of the park on the walking trail.

  “Looks like Maxie won’t make any friends today,” I say as I set her on the ground and attach her leash.

  “I think she’ll still have fun,” Jaxon says. He lets me hold her leash as we walk her around, but eventually we take it off because there’s no people here and she’s still so small she can’t run very fast. If she tries to take off, we’ll easily catch her.

  Jaxon brings a tennis ball and Maxie loves chasing after it. I haven’t laughed this much in so long.

  “Maxie is so amazing,” I say, sitting on a park bench to c
atch my breath. I’ve been chasing her around for half an hour.

  “Dogs are the best,” Jaxon agrees. He sits next to me and calls to Maxie, who rushes up to him, her tail wagging.

  “You want to fetch?” he says in the baby voice he uses with her. He lightly tosses the ball and Maxie takes off after it.

  “Thanks for inviting me,” I say.

  “Honestly, I’ve been looking for an excuse to hang out with you…without our friends.”

  There’s a flutter in my chest, but I keep it lighthearted. “I’ll make sure not to tell our friends that,” I say with a laugh. “They’ll be offended.”

  Maxie returns with the ball and Jaxon throws it again, after wrestling it out of her mouth. He sits back and looks over at me, a softness in his eyes. “Mae?” he asks, his voice low.

  “Yes?” The butterflies in my stomach are out in full force.

  His eyes meet mine. “Can I kiss you?”

  A wave of relief washes over me. I smile and reach for his hand. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  ###

  Thank you for reading Heartbreaker! If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads. It doesn’t even have to be long; just one sentence helps out a lot!

  This has been the second book of the new First Love Shorts series by Amy Sparling. There will be 10 books total, all releasing on Fridays. Click here to see them all on Amazon.

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  Also by Amy Sparling

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  About the Author

  Amy Sparling is the author of The Summer Unplugged Series, Ella's Twisted Senior Year, Deadbeat & other awesome books for younger teens. She loves coffee, the beach, and swooning over book boyfriends.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Also by Amy Sparling

  About the Author