Oh, right.It was mine.
I push open the lounge door, grateful for the emptiness, and make my way to the counter, dropping a bag into a mug of hot water and watching the steam curl up, breathing it in. Coming here, going to work, it was starting to be fun.
Now, everything I do is paired with a dark cloud of heartbreak named Nate Wesley.
But there’s nothing a good cup of tea can’t fix. I almost feel normal again, ready to face the mess and to busy myself until the pain in my heart becomes a dull ache I can ignore.
Lost in thought about how I’m going to get paint off ofeverything, I almost don’t see them.
Nate and Savannah.
The moment I do, all of my carefully constructed calm is ripped away. She’s leaning toward him, touching his arm, chest pushed out so her prominent breasts are front and center. And he’s allowing it to happen.
Heat floods my cheeks as sadness and anger come together in a violent tornado of emotions. I’m not usually jealous. I know Nate isexperienced, but he always made it clear that he wanted me. But that’s not the case anymore. And this isSavannah.
She threatened me.
She orchestrated the whole thing.
She’s the one that got away.
Nate’s head lifts, like he can feel me watching him. But I don’t stick around. I turn on my heel the moment his eyes meet mine, walking quickly toward my classroom, before he can see how much he hurt me.
“Iris!” His voice cuts through the hallway noise, but I walk faster, every step fueled by my need to get away from him. If I have to know they’re together, I’ll fall apart, and I don’t think I’ll ever be put back together.
“Iris, wait!” I fumble with the classroom door, shoving it open and trying to slip inside. Before I can close it all the way, his hand presses flat against the wood, stopping it cold.
“Leave me alone, Nate. Go back to Savannah.”
“What? Savannah? You think I—”
I shove at the door, but it doesn’t budge against his strength. “I don’t want to have to think about it!” I throw back. “I don’t want to think about you at all!”
“Okay, that’s it,” Nate says, shoving his way inside, the sudden force making me stumble back a step.
“What the hell?” I snap, my voice shaking as much as the rest of my body. “You can’t just—”
“I’m not letting you run off again,” he shouts back, locking the door behind him. “Not until you hear me out.”
“I don’t want to hear you,” I fire back, “Leave me alone and go be with her!”
“Have you completely lost your mind?” The words areincredulous, his hands fly through the air.
“Me?” I choke out, my anger overruling all of the sadness I feel. “She threatened me, Nate. And now you’re standing in the hallway eye-fucking her like I don’t even matter!” The words tear out of me, sharp and furious. I don’t yell like this, but I’m just so angry. At him, at her, at myself for letting this happen to me in the first place.
“I know I don’t matter to you anymore, but you could at least—”
“What do you mean she threatened you?” He asks, cutting me off.
“She found out about me.” I admit, the fight draining out of me as quickly as it came.“She said if I didn’t tell you, she’d tell everyone.”
“What the hell? Why didn’t you tell me?”
I cross my arms. He’s still not getting it. “I didn’t want to tell you, Nate. I thought I could handle it. I did handle it.”
He shakes his head, frowning with every word. “You should’ve come to me. You should’ve trusted me, Iris. If somebody threatens you, you tell me. I don’t care who it is.”
Anger trickles through me once again. Who does he think he is, trying to be protectivenow? “I’m not your girlfriend, stop saying that.”
