Page 43 of Apparently, I’m Torture

He let go of my hand and stood, giving the setting sun a quick look. I answered his question before he could ask it. “I’m leaving in a few minutes anyway.”

I started gathering my things, my mind rushing over how I could possibly make this up to Stacey. Maybe this was a first step. Maybe we could brush things under the rug and start fresh.

Shawn might have asked for the favor, but she could easily have faked not having any current contacts in Kappa Delta. Shawn wouldn’t have blamed her for it, and I’d still have been tutorless, about to receive a formal complaint that could ruin my chances of salvaging my career. She stopped it from happening. She did that.

But her face was twisted with resentment as Shawn said, “Good. You can leave with us,” and led the way.

Five Years Ago

Chapter 16

Shawn

Wednesday Evening

Tristy’s Coffee Shop

“You have to tell me who it is,” Lilly demanded, her face inches from mine.

Damn Stacey. She couldn’t keep her mouth shut. She just had to tell Lilly I had feelings for someone.

“I think is easy guess,” Uncle Henry muttered, his body hidden behind Lilly’s freckled cheeks.

He knew. He knew, and he was teasing me right behind Lilly’s back. Embarrassment stung me hard, jerking from the base of my spine.

“Is she a teacher too?” Nikki asked, folding her arms over her pregnant belly. I could picture the wicked smile curving her lips. “Maybe she’s in your class, Lil.”

I stepped back from Lilly and stumbled onto the couch. We were in our backroom, everyone except our trainees. As soon as we were done closing up, Lilly cornered me and the rest followed.

There was no denying that every person in this room knew how I felt about Lilly, and knowing they knew made it feel way too real. It freaked me out. I panicked and blurted, “Guys, I made it up.”

Lilly bent forward, her V-neck tee hanging from her body. Struggling with the urge to look down the neckline of her shirt, I kept my eyes pinned on her face as she asked, “Why would you do that?”

I tore my attention away, fighting a jolt of lust. “I had to. If I told her I just wasn’t interested, she’d lose it. She’d probably break into my dorm, steal my shit and set it on fire.”

They didn’t need to know that Stacey wasn’t actually interested in me, and maybe spinning this lie would get Lilly off my trail.

She was with Trevor now; she didn’t need to know how I felt.

Mia piped up from the corner of the room. “Probably. She’s on the eccentric but beautiful spectrum, isn’t she?”

Tristan tilted his head. “You mean she’s on the crazy-hot scale?”

“Exactly. But I don’t think you can say that about women these days.”

Confusion burst on Tristan’s face. “Right. Sorry.”

Nikki laughed and leaned into her husband, letting him wrap his arms around her belly.

Lilly straightened and looked around the room. “Why are you all here? He’s never going to tell all of us who it is. Will you guys get out of here?”

Nikki smiled behind her hand and Mia raised a brow. “You want us to leave you alone with him?”

She pointed at the doorway. “Yes. Go.”

Waving her hands, she ushered everyone out the door, and they went, all of them getting way too many kicks out of this.

Lilly turned and stood in front of me again, her stance wide, hands on her hips. It was Lilly’s class-management pose. During role-plays, we all learnt the importance of using body language to command respect from our students, but all I did was drag my eyes up and down her small, curvy frame and laugh.