Page 39 of Tell No Lies

“I need to get out of here and find Mike.” I stared down Mrs. Gonzalez, willing her to wrap things up.

Mckayla leaned toward me and whispered, “We’ll say we need to interview him and get a pass to get him out of class. No problem. You just need to chill out.”

Just as I was getting ready to burst, Mrs. Gonzalez sat down and refocused her attention on a book.

I bolted up and grabbed a camera as Mckayla took one of the student passes to get Mike out. She led the way through the science hall to Mr. Steen’s room and stopped a few feet away.

“Let me ask for him. I don’t know if he’ll want to come out if he sees you. Sorry.”

It hurt, but I knew she was probably right. Mike could be stubborn.

Knocking once, she stuck her head in and gave a charming smile. “Excuse me, Mr. Steen, but I need Mike Thomas for a few minutes for a yearbook interview. Would you mind?” Her voice was sugary sweet, the same one she used with the front office staff. I tried not to laugh so Mike wouldn’t know I was with her.

He came strutting out of the classroom and smiled at Mckayla. “Thanks for that. Class was ridiculously boring. What do you need?”

She bit her lip and pointed at me. Mike turned around, and instantly his beaming smile disappeared. Before he could leave, I stepped forward and reached for him. He pulled back and crossed his arms. I was so used to his megawatt smile that seeing him angry scared me a little. He was known as a beast on the field, but until now, I’d never seen that side of him.

I met his gaze and crossed my arms over my stomach, suddenly insecure. “I know you’re mad at me, and after everything you told me this morning, you have every reason to be. I don’t deserve any favors from you, but would you go for a walk with me? Please?”

Behind him, Mckayla looked hopeful and gave me a quick nod. I looked back at him and waited. Finally, he turned and started walking out of the hall. That was the best response I was going to get, so I grabbed the pass from Mckayla and followed him out. He remained silent when I caught up to him.

“I’m so sorry, Mike. Everything you said earlier was true. You’ve been an amazing friend to me since I got here. You’ve been so supportive, and I’ve done nothing to deserve you.”

I wanted to continue, but when he made eye contact, I stopped in my tracks.

“You still don’t get it. I can’t be your friend anymore.”

I froze at his words. The crack he’d put in my heart this morning was spreading, threatening to break me in half. “Mike …”

“No, let me finish. I’ve tried over and over again, but you don’t see me. I took you out and told you things I’ve never even told my best friends, and what do you do? You go out with Luke the very same weekend. I opened up to you, and you go off and become best friends with the one guy I warned you to stay away from. I’m never going to be enough for you, and I’m done trying. Everyone else sees how I feel about you. Everyone except for you. I’m done looking like a fool while you go out with every other guy but me.”

I was shaking by the time he finished. He was right. I dated Luke instead of him. I grew closer to Gage instead of him. I’d chosen Tucker over him, twice.

I didn’t deserve him. I didn’t even deserve to know him.

The pain in my chest was spreading as my eyes filled with tears that threated to spill over. I stayed rooted where I was, despite everything in me screaming to reach out for him. “I am truly sorry, Mike. You’ve been so kind to me, and I’ve done nothing to deserve you. I can’t change what I’ve done, but I can’t stand to lose you.”

As those words left my mouth, I felt how true they were. He was my rock. He had been there for me through this whole mess. I looked up at him through the tears and didn’t bother brushing away the ones that had broken free.

“I need you, Mike.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, and when they opened, he looked down at me. One step toward me was all I needed to throw my arms open and wrap them around him. I was openly crying now and made no moves to cover it up. I was broken, and he knew what to do to fix me.

Slowly, he pulled me against him, holding me tight. “I need you too, but I can’t stand back and watch you with other guys. I don’t want to give you an ultimatum, but I need to know that you choose me. I don’t want to just be your friend anymore. I want you to be mine, just mine.”

Keeping my arms around him, I looked up. “You want me? As …”

“As my girlfriend.”

Was this what I wanted? I knew I needed him in my life, but I also needed Gage and Carter.

Carter.

Being Mike’s girlfriend would mean I was giving up on him. Not that there was anything between us. Just my feelings, which he didn’t seem to care about. He was the one who’d told me to date guys from my school, after all.

Mike was everything I could want. He was strong and handsome and treated me like a princess. He made me happy, and I knew I was safe with him. I never let myself consider him as something more than a friend when I was with Luke, but now I could see us together. I knew I would be happy with him.

“Okay.”