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CHAPTER THIRTY
Nico
Harlow:Have you got time for a study sesh today?
I’ve been staring at the text for way too long. I want to reply and sayof course, I’ll always have time for you. But that’s not true, is it? I’m going to be caught up in Games prep now. I should’ve quit university. My father is right. Any useful information and the bits I’ve been teaching Harlow have come from the family, not my course. But I need to separate myself from her, keep away as much as possible. I can’t be around her so much and carry on keeping my distance. And now I need to more than ever. I wonder if she knows I’m leaving yet.
I’m in an awful mood at work as I try not to obsess over her, and after barely resisting the urge to shove a rude customer’s latte down their throat, Fleur quarantines me out the back where I can’t bite anyone’s head off. I’m restacking the dishwasher when the door goes.
“Hey.”
Spinning round, I take in Harlow’s face. I wasn’t expecting to see her today, so she catches me off guard.
“Harlow,” I say.
“You haven’t replied to my text. You can say no, you know?” She fidgets nervously with her fingers. Even though I’ve just spent the last few hours convincing myself I should say no, now that she’s here, I can’t.
“No, it’s fine, I’ve just been busy. After work?” Her eyes narrow suspiciously, but she doesn’t call me out on my obvious lie.
“Okay. Do you want to come to mine?” she asks.
“Sounds good. Although I’m running out of stuff to teach you, so I’m not sure how many more study sessions we’ll have.” I see the hurt in her eyes before I’ve even finished my sentence. She knows I’m trying to limit the amount of time I spend with her. I just don’t think she knows why. Nodding, she turns and leaves, and my heart wants to follow her out, wherever she goes.
***
“And that’s it,” I declare, sitting back from my laptop and stretching out my back. Finally, after a double session, we’ve been through all of the material Harlow requested. I’ve given her what she asked for at the very beginning.
“Wow,” she sighs. “That’s amazing. Thank you so much.”
“We’ve gone through everything. Is there anything else you want to add on?” I ask.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were quitting?” Not what I thought she was going to say.
“Uh...”
“I thought maybe we’d become friends? It was odd to have to hear it from Brian.”
I try to think of a reasonable cover. “Brian is a work friend too. I guess he just found out first.”
Her face falls at being lumped in with Brian, and I feel like an asshole. Before either of us can speak again, Ezra walks through the door.
“Hey,” he says to us both before kissing Harlow lightly. “Sorry to interrupt. Did I leave my charger here?”
“We just finished,” I tell him as I start to pack up my things. I can’t bear to be around her when it’s me who’s hurting her right now. It’s for her own good.Suck it up, Nico.
“I don’t think so, but you can check my room,” she says. He wanders into it and leaves us alone again, and I nearly cave.
“Harlow—”
“Would you have put it away?” Ezra calls, stopping me before I can apologize.
“Maybe,” Harlow replies before focusing back on me.
“I should go,” I say.
“Harlow... what is this?” Ezra asks, coming back to stand in the doorway holding up sheets of paper. They’re indecipherable to me, but Harlow obviously recognizes them, because she freezes. “I think you need to start talking.” An intense silence blankets us, and Sawyer comes home right then, walking into the stalemate.
“What’s going on?” he asks, checking on Harlow first and then looking at us.
