“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask, my gaze drifting to the blood on her shirt.
My blood.
It was a lot more than I expected. Both of our shirts are ruined.
“Because I don’t understand why you have to be so stubborn. You were punched in the face because of me.”
Instantly, I shake my head. “You didn’t do this, Dove.”
“Ugh! And will you ever tell me why you call me that?”
“Nope.”
“Tobias.” She drops to the seat next to me and lays her head on my shoulder with a sigh. “Thank you for coming with me.”
“You’re welcome.”
I move the ice back to my eyes and wince. She must feel me because she sits up and grabs it.
“Here, let me help.”
“I can do it.”
“Just stop arguing with me and let me help.”
Her commanding tone catches me off guard.
“Fine.”
She leans in farther to gently move the ice pack. I shift to help her, lining up our faces. Her gaze flicks from the ice to my eyes.
She bites her bottom lip for a second.
“Do you think people will ever stop asking us if we’re more than friends? Or assuming that we’re hiding something?” she asks. Her voice is quiet, as if this is a subject we can’t be caught talking about. To be fair, we deny it all the time, but we never actually discuss it.
“Probably not.”
“Does it ever … never mind.”
Considering the fact that my face feels the way it does because Griffin accused her of cheating with me and it’s clearly on her mind, I choose to keep this topic going.
“Never mind what?”
“Nothing.”
“Since when have you hesitated to talk to me about something?”
The silence in the room thickens as she swallows. “Because we never talk about this.”
I nod slowly.
“No, we don’t. We know where we stand, so I guess we never needed to.”
“Yet, somehow, it’s always a topic of discussion for our friends.”
She sits back and sighs.
“What do you mean?”
