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Her eyes bore into mine, looking…searching into my soul.
My jaw clenched and the muscles in my cheeks twitched. “Thanks for the pep talk, Garcia. Do I need to slow clap?”
“Still an unapologetic asshole,” she whispered. Lila looked thoughtful for a second before she leaned closer, her face a mere inch away from mine. “I dare you…”
Bewildered, I let out a laugh. “What?”
Lila didn’t laugh. In fact, I’d never seen her more serious. The look on her face made me capitulate, and my laughter turned into a coughing fit as she waited, patiently.
When I cleared my throat, she nudged her chin high and gave me another one of her I’m-serious-right-now looks. “I dare you to get into Harvard on your own, to keep your scholarship without your parents’ help.”
I blinked.
Then blinked a-fucking-gain.
She was kidding, right?
“Chop chop. Gotta work your ass off, Coulter.” Lila paused and gave me a mock gasp. “Oh wait… don’t tell me, are you chickening out? Gonna lose this dare? Tsk, so disappointing. Here I thought the Maddox Coulter will never turn down a dare.”
She was goading me, waiting for a reaction.
Fuck it.
She got me.
Lila got the reaction she wanted.
I gripped the back of her neck and brought her face closer to mine. She had to lean forward, half of her body bending over the table. Her lips parted with a silent gasp, and her eyes darkened. “I accept this dare.”
Her lips twitched, and she smirked. Yeah, I was definitely rubbing off on her. Miss Perfectionist was now a she-devil.
“Good luck because you’re about to get your ass kicked. First level of this dare, you have to pass this calculus test.”
“Easy fucking peasy.”
“Really?” She raised an eyebrow, not at all convinced.
“I’m a genius, Sweet Cheeks.”
Little did she know…
She cocked her head to the side, her hair falling over one shoulder. Lila looked every bit the wet dream she was –sexy, smart as hell, bold and passionate.
And my friend.
My dick was regretting this and begging for mercy.
Goddamn it.
She gave me a sugary smile. “Game on.”
***
Four hours later, Lila closed her textbook. She leaned her head back against the chair and stretched, a small groan escaping her lips. I didn’t know how she did it, but Lila barely came up for air in those four hours. Her eyes barely came off her textbook.
I closed my own notebook and studied my little friend. “Ready to go home?”
“Yeah, I’m exhausted.” She piled her things in her shoulder bag and stood up.
“Will you let me give you a ride this time?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
Lila paused. “No.”
I didn’t push because the day she lost her shit on me was still a vivid memory in my mind. She panicked when I asked her to get in the car; I saw it in her eyes, on her face and the way her body trembled.
My fists clenched at my sides. The question was on the tip of my tongue as her lips pursed.
“The bus will be here in ten minutes. You can leave now if you want.”
I stood up next to her, and we walked out of the library. “I’ll wait.”
Because…
Just… because.
We waited at the bus stop. Lila shivered, and I could hear her teeth rattling from the cold.
“Lila,” I started.
“Hmm?”
My lips parted; I went to ask the question that has been burning inside me for the longest time, but I couldn’t form the sentence. Lila lifted her head up and stared, waiting.
“You refuse to get in a car… is it because of your accident?”
Lila gave me a wide-eye grimace, and I instantly regretted probing. The crestfallen look on her face, as if she had been sucker-punched and viciously hrown into a lake where she couldn’t swim back up for oxygen – that almost gutted me.
Her eyes were tortured, and they reminded me of myself when I looked in the mirror.
“Your parents…”
“They died in that car accident,” she whispered. Each word felt like they had been torn from her throat, raw and painful. “I was… I was the only one… the only survivor. They… died…they didn’t… pull through.”
I cupped her cheek. “Is that why you can’t get in a car?”
She nodded, one slow nod. Lila silently spilled her secrets, so trusting of me, and my heart thudded in my chest.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the bus approaching. She must have noticed it too because her eyes darted that way, and she quietly sniffled.
Lila looked like she was swallowing a bitter lump of tears. My fingers brushed against her cold cheeks, and she gazed at me with burning eyes, her chest heaving.
One single tear trailed down her cheek, and I caught it before swiping it away.
I’m sorry, I wanted to say.
She gave me the tiniest smile, so strong yet so delicate. It’s okay. Thank you, her eyes told me.
Lila took a step back, and my hand fell away from her face. I wanted to keep her pinned to me, wanted to hug her… but when she nudged her chin high and regarded me with red eyes, shining with fierce intensity, I let her go.
