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His strong jaw clenched as he loomed over me, battling with himself about what to say. After a long moment, he let out a hard breath. “Because I just wanted you. The thought of you leaving made me livid.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “I want you to forgive me, Freckles. I want us to start over. I want you to let me back in.”
“What?” I was shocked by his words.
He leaned in. “I want you to trust me again. I want you to sneak into my bed every single night, and write me stories to act out in your journal. I want you to stay here and go to HHU instead of leaving for California…I want you, all of you, every single bit. I just wantyou, and I can’t think of anything else.”
His words blanked my brain. I stared at him until I could speak again, and he waited for me.
“What? So now you have proof that Josh—”
“I don’t care about that fucker. I wanted you before I knew it was Josh who leaked the article. I wanted you when I was furious at you. I wanted you when I thought you’d broken my heart. I don’t think I’ll ever stop. I don’t think I’m capable of that.”
I had no reply. There were no pithy comebacks or accusations I could make right now. I had no teasing jokes or ways to lighten the tension between us. I could only stare.
“Since we’re being honest with each other, you should know that I intend to change your mind about leaving, however I can. Love like ours isn’t something ordinary, and I’ll fight for it. You should be ready for that,” he finished and then finally took a step back, giving me space to breathe.
Love?
“What does that mean? Are you declaring war on me again?” My heart was in my throat, yet it felt light for the first time in a while. His words were turning me inside out, and I could barely help the smile that blossomed on my lips.
“I guess so,” he confirmed, but then quickly shifted gears. “You wanted to change my dressing?” he prompted after a moment of me staring dumbly at him.
“Oh, right,” I said faintly, trying desperately to get my head to work again. Cayden had just thrown down the gauntlet, and I had no idea whether I wanted him to win or lose.
Lily
“So,let me get this straight. He knows it wasn’t you who leaked his info? Has he apologized?” Eve stared at me, agog. She lived for this kind of gossip.
I supposed if it hadn’t been about me, I’d probably find it more entertaining.
“Yep,” I said, and took a long pull of my water. The cafeteria was busy and noisy as hell. It was the first time in a week where I’d walked in and nobody had bothered looking at me. It seemed the gossip had finally died down, thank God.
We were eating in a back corner and hoping that the peace lasted. I’d seen Ellen come in with Josh, both of them casting us sheepish glances before sitting. What the hell? Were they just going to pretend that none of that had happened? Did they even know what had happened to Jack? Though to be honest, I didn’t care much about Jack’s death myself. Not after everything he’d done to Cayden.
“And he straight up said he wants you to stay and go to HHU?” Eve asked, looking enthralled. I’d finally caved and told her everything. We had stayed up all night talking about it.
“Yep,” I confirmed.
“Man, I’m changing teams. I’m Team West now.” She took a big bite of her sandwich.
“I thought you hated him?”
“Yeah, I did, but that was before the other night. That was before he bled for you. The guy could have a scar there for the rest of his life…for you.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” I muttered, guilt wedging in my throat. I couldn’t unpack the guilt and blame of the situation, it was too convoluted. I had to let it all fade into the past. It was the only way to move on and not go crazy.
“Now that his goals align with mine, I’m switching sides. If he can get you to go to HHU with me, then he’ll be my hero forever,” Eve said with a grin.
Right at that moment, the chair next to me pulled out, and a huge shadow loomed over me for a second before lowering into the seat. I didn’t have to look at Eve’s entertained face to know Cayden had joined us. The sudden hush that had fallen around us would have achieved that on its own.
“Started without me, Freckles?”
He pushed my lunch tray over a little to make room for his own, which was heaped with food.
“Are you seriously going to eat all that?”
“I’m a growing boy with a big game coming up,” Cayden quipped.
The rest of the Ice Gods descended on the table, and Eve looked like she wished she had some popcorn to eat while she sat back and watched the show.
