Page 33 of Apparently, I’m Torture

Burying the laugh that was climbing up my windpipe, I bit my lip and lifted a shoulder, trying not to poke the blonde beast’s fragile ego. “It’s not you, I just don’t…” I sighed, trying to decide on the excuse I’d give her. But I was tired. I didn’t want to spin another lie. The truth, or part of it, would have to placate Stacey. “I have feelings for someone else.”

The gasp from her was enough for me. I almost stood to leave, but she gripped my arm and pinned me in place. “Wait. You like someone else?” Her eyes widened; mouth dropped. “Oh my god. It’s Lilly, isn’t it?”

I tried to scoff, pull my arm from her and shake my head, but she steamrolled me. “It makes sense. You two spend, like, every second together. No wonder you don’t want to go to graduation with me.”

Stunned yet satisfied, Stacey let me go and slumped back against the booth.

I took a breath and tried again. “Lilly and I are friends. I’m not interested in dating anyone this close to graduation.”

She shot me a look of disbelief. “Yeah, right. You just said you had feelings for someone. Don’t try and backpedal now.”

Ah, shit.

I hung my head in defeat. “Okay… fine. But I meant what I said. I’m not dating anyone right now.”

“What about after graduation?” she asked.

I lifted my chin and studied her, but there wasn’t any misplaced hope. I didn’t think Stacey was asking about my future dating plans. “I’m going to teach at Classical.”

She raised a brow. “With Lilly? She’s dating my cousin, you know.”

The reminder tore up my ribcage, slashing my chest from the inside. “I know. I’m not going to South Bronx. I had an offer from their Brooklyn school, and I accepted it.”

“Really?” her eyes narrowed. “Me too. So, you’re definitely not following Lilly to her dream job?”

“I can’t. I can’t handle being around her.” I lifted my hands, laying it all out. “It’s like you said. She’s with Trevor. I’m just trying to move on.”

She gave me a curl of her lips and leaned back. “Wow. Shawn Jackson, sexiest guy at Pace University, can’t get the girl he wants. That’s kind of tragic. I can’t believe you chose your school just to get away from her.” She tilted her head. “But that works for me.”

I smirked. Sexiest guy at Pace University? That’s the first I’d heard of that. “It works for you? How so?”

Her blue glance narrowed. “Since you’ve been so, like, honest with me, I think I can trust you with this. But you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

I nodded and watched her take a breath, like she was steadying herself for a big reveal. “I don’t really want to date you, Shawn.”

I raised a brow and waited.

“I was put up to asking you. It was kind of like, a weird request, and I can’t tell you who asked me to do it, or why, but since we’re going to be working together, I figured you should know. You’re not actually, like, my type.”

A laugh burst out of me, and relief settled onto my chest. “Okay, no problem. I get that I’m not your type, and that’s fine, really, but how does my teaching at Brooklyn work for you?”

Her eyes widened, a flicker of worry entering those irises, but it was quickly replaced with a coy smile. “I meant, like, because you’ve got the best grades in our class, and we’ll be working at the same school. We can focus on our careers together.”

I paused for a beat. I didn’t believe that was what Stacey really wanted to say. It was easy to see that she was keeping something to herself. But if she was going to keep my crush on Lilly a secret, I wasn’t going to pry into her business.

I had big plans of my own. After graduation, I was going to step into Brooklyn and throw myself into my career. Choosing to teach there wasn’t just a desperate attempt to get over Lilly; I really wanted to make a difference.

And even though she was likely hiding something, Stacey’s support, at least for now, couldn’t hurt, could it?

“I guess we could do that.”

I flicked my glance to Lilly; glad she couldn’t hear any of this. “You’re not going to tell her about… me, are you?”

Stacey followed my stare and let out a laugh. “Hell no. She’s dating my cousin, why would I want to mess that up for him? He’s had a crush on her for as long as we started studying.”

I counted my blessings as a new burn of jealousy licked up my spine. Fucking Trevor. But if Stacey was going to keep this to herself, it was the best I could ask for.

She raised a brow at me. “So, we’re going to be working together at Brooklyn. That’s exciting. Oh.” She sat up and planted her elbows on the table. “I wanted to ask you about this guy named Jacob.”