“Because I don’t want her to suspect anything. After the accident, I stopped taking her out and I really haven’t talked to her much. She knows something’s going on and she’ll be even more suspicious if I suddenly break up with her.”
He’s staying with her, which means I definitely shouldn’t have been fooling around with him. Why did I do that? How could I be so stupid?
“Okay, well, I’ll see you on Monday.” I go past him, walking fast toward the door, wanting to get out of here.
“Ella, wait!” I hear him behind me, then feel his hand on my arm. “Don’t go.”
I turn to him. “We shouldn’t have done it. You have a girlfriend. You should be withherright now, not me.”
“And yet she’s not the person I want to be with.”
My heart’s pounding, wanting to continue what we were doing upstairs, my body screaming for me to do it, but my head won’t let me.
“I don’t like Aubrey,” I say, “but I’m not going to do this to her. You need to end things with her before we even think about repeating what we did upstairs.”
“We don’t have to do that. I just...” He looks down, rubbing his jaw. “I don’t want to be here.”
“Then go somewhere. Go get something to eat. Take a drive.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He looks up at me. “I meant I don’t want to be—” He stops and shakes his head. “Never mind. Go ahead and go. See you on Monday.” He turns and walks away.
What was he going to say? That he doesn’t want to be alone? Is that what he meant? He looked really sad when he said it. I’ve never seen him look sad.
Maybe I should stay. But what if it’s all an act to get me to continue what we started in his room? Maybe he thinks I’ll have sex with him.
I should go. I shouldn’t be alone with him. Just a few weeks ago, he was practically assaulting me behind the school. Being alone with him in his house, anything could happen. But I don’t think it would, and I don’t feel afraid. Something’s changed withBriggs. Like he said, there’s been a shift in our relationship. I don’t fear him as I did before. Well, I kind of do, but it’s nothing like I felt before. Now my fear of him is based on the feelings he’s causing me to have — feelings I don’t want to have for Briggs.
There’s noise coming from the kitchen. Briggs must be in there making dinner. And then he’ll eat it, all alone, in this big, lonely house.
I shouldn’t do this, and yet my feet are walking down the hall that leads to the kitchen. I open the door and see Briggs, his back to me. He’s standing over the sink, gripping the counter, his head hanging down. Behind him on the center island is a plate and the containers of leftover Chinese food.
“Have enough for two?” I ask, coming up beside him.
He rears back. “What are you doing here? I thought you left.”
“I was going to, but then I had this craving for Chinese food and I remembered you had some left over. Any chance you’d share?”
A slight smile creeps up his face, but sadness still clouds his eyes. “Sure.” He points to the containers. “Take whatever you want.”
“Where do you keep the plates?” I ask, opening a cupboard. “Found one.” I take it out and dish some of the food on my plate, putting the rest on Briggs’ plate. “You want it heated up?”
“Yeah, but I can do it.”
“I don’t mind. It’ll give me a chance to try out your fancy microwave.” I walk over to it. “I’ve never seen one like this. It looks like a regular oven.”
“Because it is. That’s a wall oven. The microwave is down there.” He points to it in the island. “I’ll get the plates.”
I’m not really hungry, but I could have a few bites. Even if I just stay for an hour, maybe it’ll be long enough to wipe that sad look off Briggs’ face. Why do I even care? He’s made me sad plenty of times and not given a damn. I’m not even the cause ofhis sadness, and here I am trying to make him feel better. Why am I doing this? I should just leave.
“Thanks,” Briggs says, putting my plate in the microwave. “For sticking around.”
“Sure.” I look at him and wonder why he askedmeto stay but not Parker or Finn.
I hope he’s not planning to do something to me. I don’t get the feeling he is, but the Briggs I know can’t be trusted. The only reason I’m staying is because this isn’t the Briggs I know. The one from last night wasn’t either. He was actually nice to me last night. He was fun, easy to talk to, and a good listener. I hope that’s the Briggs that’s here with me tonight.
If not, deciding to stay was a huge mistake.
Chapter 23
