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I close my eyes. I should hang up. I should walk out of this office and find a man to dine with who doesn’t come with decades of emotional baggage and a mouth full of spite.
But my curiosity wins out.
“8:00?” I hear myself ask, the words feeling like a betrayal. “But if you show up with Pop Rocks, Sam, I’m plucking your eyes out with a salad fork.”
“Fair enough.” He lets out what sounds to be a half-hearted chuckle. “See you tonight, Lex.”
I hang up the phone and stare at my shaking hands. This is dangerous. Like, really dangerous. Because as infuriating as it is, no matter how many times he rejects me, I’m still that girl standing in front of the whole school, waiting for him to kiss me.
Sam
I pull into the circular driveway of my brother’s house, turning off the engine and taking a second to collect myself before stepping out onto the porch. Knocking twice on the heavy wooden door, I shift my weight from foot to foot as I wait. How am I going to explain this to Sebastian without completely admitting everything that transpired in Mr. Sterling’s office? Or admitting what I have planned?
A moment later, the door swings open to reveal Sebastian’s house guest. “Hey, Sam. Sebastian’s not home,” Cassidy says, wiping her hands on a dishtowel and giving me a warm, welcoming smile.
“That’s okay. It was actually you I was coming to see.”
She blinks, surprised, resting her shoulder against the doorframe. “Me? Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I lie, running a hand through my hair as I attempt to phrase my favor. “I was actually wondering if you’d meet me at the florist downtown?”
Cassidy tilts her head, her blue eyes searching my face with intense scrutiny. “The florist? What’s going on?”
My mind is in overdrive. I can’t share much. What can I tell her that, if she shared it with Bas later, he wouldn’t get overly curious or start digging into my business? Then again, who am I kidding? Hearing that I’m buying flowers for any woman will have Sebastian suspicious within five seconds flat.
I look her in the eye, keeping my voice low. “I’m interested in someone,” I admit. “And we haven’t always been on the best terms. I’ve got a lot riding on this, and I’d really appreciate your help to get it right. I need a woman’s perspective.”
Cassidy’s eyebrows shoot up, a slow, delighted smile breaking across her face. “Samuel Lee, is this actually the first time you’re buying flowers for a woman?” She shakes her head, pushing the front door wider. “Give me an hour to meet you there. I’m babysitting until Bella gets home. But you’ve definitely got me intrigued.”
As she turns to step inside, I let out a cautious breath. Step one is in motion. Now I just have to figure out how to approach Alexis with this insane request without having her spend the entire dinner reminding me what an asshole I’ve been.
Chapter Fourteen
Lexi
Twenty Years Earlier
I grip my pencil so hard my knuckles turn white. Staring blankly at the chalk-dusted blackboard at the front of the classroom, I try to take some cleansing breaths. Sitting in the third row of Mr. Harrison’s fifth-period history class is pure, unadulterated torture. And I enjoy history. It’s not the subject matter. It’s because Sam Lee is directly in the seat behind me.
Everything has changed between us. Whatever bond we’d shared as kids has been obliterated, replaced by an impenetrable wall I couldn’t climb over. He’d made me enemy number one overnight, completely ghosting our friendship and turning on me with zero explanation. I had no idea what I’d done to deserve his sudden, burning resentment, and any attempts to speak with him ended in regret I’d bothered trying.
As if making me an outcast wasn’t enough, he’d made it his personal mission to drive me stark raving mad with his endless, childish antics.
I lean forward in my chair, trying to focus on the notes on the board. But then I feel it.
The sudden shift in the air behind me. There is a subtle creak of a wooden desk as Sam leans forward.
My heart does its usual stupid, traitorous leap into my throat when Sam is close. The temperature around my neck skyrockets as I feel the faint, warm brush of his breath against the shell of my ear. My body completely betrays me. My skin sizzles at his closeness, a wave of goosebumps sweeping down my arms despite how much I hate him now. For two terrifying seconds, my breath hitches in my chest.
Why is he this close? What is he about to say?
Pop! Crackle-crack-pop!
A sharp, violent popping sound erupts directly into my ear canal.
I shriek, jerking violently away from him and whirling around in my seat to take him in. My heart is hammering against my ribs so hard I’m afraid one may snap in two.
Sam is slouched back in his chair, leaning his head back on his entwined hands, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. His dark blue eyes dance with pure, unadulterated mischief. He slowly opens his mouth, gritting his teeth long enough for me to notice what appears to be bright, neon-red Pop Rocks wedged between his molars. Before that same loud, crackling sound starts up all over again.
