AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It fucking does!” I shriek. “Why the fuck did you take the picture, Knox? Tell me.”
He drops his gaze and rubs the back of his neck. “Stone and I had a bet going,” he tells me, and I stagger slightly, the betrayal cutting deep. “But I swear, I didn’t show it to him! I kept it to myself.”
“Until now.”
“No. This wasn’t my doing. Hailey… she got ahold of my phone last night and—”
“Hailey?” I hiss. “You’ve got to be kidding me! So, you said all that bullshit about
this break-up being for me, and then you went and hook up with your crazy ex-girlfriend? You are a piece of fucking work.”
He shakes his head. “Nothing happened. I was just drunk and high, and I crashed at her house. Come on. You have to know me better than that.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Pretty sure I never knew you at all.”
“Bambi,” he breathes.
The anger inside of me bubbles over, and I start to walk toward him. “No! I’m not your fucking Bambi. I’m not your girlfriend. I’m not even your friend.” I shove my index finger into the center of his chest. “You wanted to end us, right? Well, congratulations. Now I’m fully on board.”
I go to walk away when he grabs my wrist. “Delaney, please.”
The pain in his eyes is evident, the first sign of it I’ve seen since he took a torch to our relationship. Only this time, I don’t care. I yank myself from his grasp and turn to Carter and Grayson.
“Get him out of here.”
Ignoring his pleads and shouts for Gray and Carter to get his hands off him, I go straight back into the empty classroom. I used to think Knox Vaughn was the best thing in my life, but now he’s nothing but dead to me.
I SIT ON TOP of the picnic table in the courtyard, not wanting to be in the cafeteria where everyone is still talking about the picture of the year. It’s not every day that racy photos get sent around school, and certainly not of their potential valedictorian. Therefore, the further I can be from that gossip, the better.
“Mind if I join you?” Carter asks, taking the seat next to me as I scoot over. “How are you doing?”
I shrug. “As good as can be expected, I guess.”
He nods thoughtfully. “Well, I got Wyatt to send out a text that cleared everyone’s message history when they opened it. So, unless they saved the picture, it’s gone. And he’s going to be keeping an eye on it for the next few weeks.”
The effort is appreciated, but the damage is already done. Still, he’s trying.
“Thank you,” I tell him.
“I also really need to apologize.”
I shake my head. “You don’t. It’s okay.”
“I do. Jumping Knox like that, while it was well-deserved on his part, it was out of line. You were right. I was jealous.”
“No, really?” The sarcasm drips from my lips.
He chuckles and nudges me with his elbow. “My feelings for you have never been a secret, but I don’t think I’ve ever straight out said it.” He turns his head to look at me. “I like you, Delaney. A lot.”
The honesty is sweet, and while a part of me wonders what my life would be like if I had originally chosen Carter instead of Knox, the timing couldn’t be more off. I may be ready to leave Knox in the past, but I’m definitely not ready to move on just yet.
“You’re sweet, Carter, but I’m not—”
He holds his hands up. “You’re not ready, I know. I can respect that.”
The corners of my mouth raise. “You can?”
“Of course, but I hated when you were mad at me. So, are we good?”
