Page 131 of Kickoff

“Aren’t you gonna say anything? I deserve an explanation. You’ve been avoiding me like the plague since school resumed.”

She snorted. “I don’t owe you anything, Mason.”

Mason? What happened to Mase?

I lifted her chin up with a finger, capturing her eyes, the turquoise pools, that I wanted to sink in for the rest of time, mesmerizing me. We remained like this for what felt like hours, neither of us saying anything. As if our souls could say it all. And then I saw it again. The tiny glint. The small hint that we were not done. That there was still something powerful simmering between us. Melinda must have felt it too because she stepped back as if my skin had burned hers.

“I-I missed you.”

She said nothing. Emotions crossed her eyes, lingering there for a small second before vanishing.

I made another attempt and grabbed her hand in mine, lacing our fingers. They fit just like I remembered. This time, she didn’t remove her hand or try to escape my proximity. “We haven’t seen or talked to each other in over six weeks.” I swallowed around my own emotions blocking my airways. “I was worried about you. I tried to give you space like you asked, but I can’t do it anymore. I need to know where we stand and if we can salvage what we had.”

“Mason, we had nothing.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

I stepped forward. “Wrong answer. Please say it like you mean it this time.”

“I won’t play games with you.” She never looked me once in the eye while she was speaking.

“I’m done playing games too. I truly believe we belong together. I’m just waiting for you to catch up with the fact.”

The iciness of her laughter sliced through my heart. “Well, it won’t happen. You better find someone else to be with.”

“Stop feeding me bullshit. What we had was real. Why won’t you recognize it?”

“I’m dating someone else. I’m with Jayden now.”

“Yeah, right. Clarke.” I clamped my nape with a hand, the feeling of my fingers around my spine grounding me. “Like you had to run away and fall for my number one enemy.”

“Jayden is not the bad guy here, Mason. He’s nice to me and doesn’t expect anything from me. He treats me well and makes me smile. There are no groupies after him everywhere we go. We have fun together and he was there when my world crumbled around me and I was all alone because everyone had turned their backs on me. It’s simple with him. He listens to me and… I don’t have to explain him to you.”

Her words acted like a punch in the gut, and I jumped back. “You’re kidding, right? I have never turned my back on you. Not once. I know you’ve been through something hard and recovery is a long road ahead and it won’t always be easy, but dating Clarke is not what you need right now.”

“Like you know better what I need. Yeah, right.”

“As a matter of fact, I think I do. Whether you wanna admit it or not, I know you. The real you, not the one you are pretending to be right now.”

She snorted. “You know me so well that you didn’t notice when I was struggling.”

I flinched like she had just kicked me in the stomach. “Why are you so mean? You know it’s nothing like that. Jayden Clarke is bad news. You don’t need more complications in your life. You need someone who really cares about you.”

“Like you?”

“Yeah. Like me. I’ve always been there for you. You can’t deny it. You and I, we’re great together. We’re much more alike than you think. We have history, and we can make it work. I’ll give you your space and wait until you’re ready to be with me. In the meantime, we can resume our friendship.”

“Here’s the thing, Mason. I don’t wanna be with you. Not anymore. Not even as a friend. I’m with Jayden. You gotta respect that.”

Sadness and fury mixed inside me. I fisted my hands at my sides, not sure how to protect myself from the punches she kept throwing at me. “Is this a new thing of yours? Part of your therapy?”

“What?”

“Hurting the ones who care about you?”

Her teeth left indents in her lower lip. “That’s not what I’m doing.”

“Isn’t it? Because from where I’m standing, that is exactly what is happening. Why won’t you give me a chance? Why won’t you give us a chance? What is so wrong about me that you won’t even consider dating me?”

“Because there is no us and there never will be one. I thought I made myself clear already.”