Aknot forms in my throat as I watch Izzy reunite with Grayson and Ethan. Her…boyfriends.
Her laughter drifts towards me, light and full of warmth—the sound that’s haunted me for months now. It’s a strange kind of torture, watching her like this, with them, and knowing I can never join in.
Grayson, the vampire, stands a little too close to her, his eyes flashing with something ancient and unspoken. He’s got a predatory edge to him that would make anyone instinctively take a step back.
Ethan, on the other hand, is warm and grounded, the kind of presence that fills the space without even trying. His energy hums with rawness—a reckless type of savagery—that I can almost taste from here.
And Izzy… She’s the center of it all. The center ofthemall. It’s like watching a star surrounded by its planets, and for a moment, I can’t look away.
I’ve always felt like a third wheel—errr, fifth wheel? Sixth wheel?—when I’m with her and the others. I know she cares about me, can feel it in the small touches she gives me and the way her smile lights up when I’m in the room. But I can’t shake the feeling that it’s not the same. I’m not sure if it’s because she doesn’t see me that way, or if I’m too afraid to let myself believe it.
I’ve seen the way her face lit up when she was talking about Grayson, the twins, Reid, and even Mr. Montgomery. She told me all about them during the time we’ve been here, and though she hasn’t said the dreaded M-word, I know that’s who they are to her.
Her…mates.
Her fucking mates.
How can I compete with that?
Grayson catches my eye for a brief second, but I quickly look away, my stomach tight. I’ve never met the vampire before—have only been told about him—but I wonder if he knows the truth. If he can see it written all across my face. There’s certainly no way Ethan missed the longing glances I cast her way at school when I thought she wasn’t looking.
I’m fucking pathetic.
I take a single step away, but I don’t leave. I can’t. Not when Izzy’s here, so close, so real. Not when every part of me is screaming at me to remain beside her, now and forever.
The ache inside of me grows stronger. I want to be with her so badly, it’s like a physical pain. Ineedto be with her.
But what if I tell her and she doesn’t feel the same way? Am I willing to risk our friendship? Sometimes, I think she wants more too, but I could be misreading the situation.
I turn and begin to walk down the hallway, back in the direction we came from.
“Are you leaving?” Soraya asks, a frown twisting her lips.
I glance back towards Izzy, Ethan, and Grayson. She hasn’t even noticed I moved yet.
The sword in my chest twists.
“I don’t think I’m needed here,” I say stiffly.
Soraya’s expression fills with sympathy, but she doesn’t say anything else. There’s nothing left to say.
Without a word, I hurry down the hallway. I don’t know where I’m going, but anywhere is better than there.
Watching the woman I love wrapped in the arms of two other men…
Knowing that it’ll never be me…
I don’t know how much more of it I can take.
Soraya, surprisingly, catches up to me before I reach the cafeteria. I didn’t have a destination in mind until my feet led me to the cavernous room. But now that I’m here, I realize there’s nothing more appealing than eating my feelings away.
“You ran out of there like your ass was on fire,” Soraya says when she reaches me, laughter dancing in her eyes.
“Yeah, well…” I shrug awkwardly and move towards a table.
The cafeteria is practically empty, and I realize it’s because classes have resumed. Good. The fewer people around me, the better.
“You know, I’ve read this story time and time again. Guy in love with girl. Girl in love with guy. Both of them unaware that the other pines for them.” Soraya moves to sit across from me, folding her hands together on the table. “Sound familiar?”
