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I’m knuckles deep in her panty drawer when she moves in the bed behind me.
Knowing that I’m pushing my luck and probably about to be caught, I wrap my fingers around one pair and shove them in my pocket before silently leaving her room and swiftly escaping the building.
Chapter Seventeen
Hadley
Cole knows too much. He knows about Tim, about my parents. He knows that I’m still hiding something.
But I’ll never tell.
No matter what he does to me, what cruel pleasure he thinks he can torture me with, I’ll never utter the words.
Because saying them makes them real. And if I’m going to survive senior year, I need them to stay on the edge of my conscience, where they belong.
After our fucked-up night together, I’d woken to an empty bed. I’m still lying here, contemplating everything that’s happened. I’m not surprised Cole left. The second he lets down his guard and starts to let himself get close, he pulls away again.
I throw back the covers and sit on the edge of my bed, stretching my arms and legs. The delicious ache radiating through my limbs reminds me of what we did last night.
What you let him do.
I’m about to head into the bathroom when something catches my eye. I traipse over to the dresser and run my finger over the pink polka dot panties hanging out of the top drawer.
“What the hell?” I yank open my drawer, panic rising inside of me. The second my fingers graze the small wooden memory box, relief floods me. But something is wrong. I never leave the drawer open. Ever.
Cole.
He wouldn’t...
But he would.
Cole would think nothing about snooping through my drawers if it served his purpose.
Fuck.
Did he see it?
Did he look inside?
A wave of nausea crashes over me and I stagger back, dropping onto the edge of the bed.
If Cole did see the contents then he knows... and if he knows...
My heart gallops inside my chest, making everything grow small. I clutch the box, curling my free hand around the edge of the bed. “Breathe, Hadley. Just. Breathe.” I try to force myself to inhale deep, calming breaths. The panic attack ebbs away, but then the tears hit.
I allow my grief to consume me. If I try to shut it down, I know it’ll only bite me in the ass when I least expect it.
I’m still sobbing when my cell phone starts vibrating. Leaning over, I grab it. It’s Remi. I could ignore her and text her later, but I don’t want to give her reason to worry any more than she already does.
Taking a deep breath, I blink away the tears and answer.
“Hey.” I wince at how fake it sounds.
“What happened?”
“Nothing, I’m fi—”
“Seriously, Hadley. You are not fine. Talk to me, please.”
