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He boyishly shrugs. “I’d worried such a pseudonym might give me away, but I was in a cheeky mood.”
“Why the fuck are you here, Anderson?”
“I bought you. For the night. I thought they explained what the auction was for?—"
“Don’t be a smart ass. Tell me why you really did it.”
His smirk still penetrates me. Just like when we were younger. He was this handsome, wealthy boy who I’d have had a crush on, had he not been an utter asshole back then. I always felt insufficient around him. Either I wasn’t pretty enough or rich enough to be in his presence.
There was the time he called me a loud breather—like I breathed wrong. What the fuck does that even mean? At the time, I merely asked, “Oh, like your mom?” and walked away.
Anderson shifts his weight. “Is it so unbelievable that I’d want to spend the night with you?”
“You weren’t funny back in the day, and you’re not funny now. Is that what this is? This is all just a big joke to you? Did you do this to point out how poor I am in comparison to you? To make fun of me for resorting to this?”
His lips smooth into a patient line, and he comes toward the bed, unbuttoning his tuxedo jacket. I curl my feet up from the end of the bed as he sits there. Taking up my space. Like he’s owed it. Screw that. I nudge him with my feet beneath the blanket, so he gets up, then moves to the other side and sits next to me.
This is worse. I shouldn’t have kicked him. He’d be further away if I hadn’t kicked him. Now he’s close enough for me to smell his oceany cologne.
“I didn’t do this to make fun of you in any way, June. Not at all.”
“Then why?” I blurt between gritted teeth.
“Would you believe me if I said I did it to spend time with you?”
A sharp cackle jumps out of my soul. “Would you believe me if I said there is a unicorn in the room with us right now?”
“I’ve missed that wit, June.”
“You know what, Anderson? I always knew you were a sadistic bastard, but this is a new low. Even for you.”
His rough voice purrs, “Even for me?”
“You are the guy who had his friend call the school to tell me my cat had died as a joke. So yeah, even for you, this is fucking low.”
“I am sorry for that, June. And for so much more. I?—"
“This isn’t the time for your confession, Anderson! Do you think I give a shit about your guilt? After everything you put me through?”
To his credit, he blinks and stays silent for a solid minute. “Probably not. But I won the auction to spend time with you. That’s real.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He takes a deep breath and forces it out in a huff. “I?—"
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He laughs and shakes his head at me. “You were always smarter.”
“And kinder.”
“No, not to me, you weren’t?—"
“You didn’t deserve kindness. You deserved wrath.”
