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“The actual fuck?” she said, her voice dangerously low.
I nodded again. “Yeah. So, words were said. I told them both to basically fuck off and neither of them were worthy of me, and I walked away. Apollo tried to get me to give Valen a second chance and agreed to continue faking this bullshit until – if – we can get out of it without killing anyone. But the worst part, Floss?”
“There’s a worse bit?” she whispered.
“Valen said…” Tears threatened again, but I held them back. “He said he’d love me until his dying breath, but until then he had to hate me…”
She gave me a sympathetic smile and brushed the newly falling tears from my cheeks. “What did you tell him?”
“That I was in love with him, but even epic grovelling might not make me forgive him.”
She laughed.
“What?” I asked.
“Good,” she said. “Make him work for it for once.”
I shook my head. “He won’t.”
She shook her head as well. “You don’t know that.”
“We are talking about the same guy, right? The one you accused of having the emotional range of a pebble?”
She nodded and brushed my hair off my face. “Yeah. We are. Apollo’s not standing in his way anymore, babe. The four of us are the only ones who know beyond a shadow of doubt that you and Apollo aren’t for real. If Apollo’s in Valen’s corner, do you think he’s not going to try to make amends with you by getting you and Valen together?”
I took a deep breath. “That sounds exactly like Apollo.”
“Well, the Apollo you tell me is in there.”
She might refuse to see that Apollo – and maybe she was right that he didn’t exist anymore– but I noticed she didn’t argue with me about his existence anymore.
I smiled despite myself. “Yeah.”
“So, just give them time.”
I shook my head. “I’m not waiting for my life to start anymore, Floss. If Valen proves himself worthy, then fine. But I’m going to live my life.”
“Fucking-A,” she laughed.
Then reality squashed a little of my newfound strength. “Although, if I do forgive Valen, I don’t know how I’m supposed to be with him while I’m still faking being with Apollo.”
“Look,” she said carefully, and I knew something big was coming. “If Valen manages to prove himself worthy and we forgive him, I will double date with you and ‘Apollo’.” She even did the air quotes. “Between the four of us, we’ll find a way for you to be together.”
I shook my head, this time smiling. “You and Apollo. Between you, you’ll make it work.”
“You better believe it.”
“You might find you two make a good team.”
She actually shivered. “Ew. No. Apollo and I will never be a team.”
I didn’t really believe they would, but I did believe they’d put their differences aside for me if they had to. But then, that all hinged on Valen making an effort and me forgiving him. So, thus far, Team Apollo and Florence was nothing more than a moot concept.
Chapter Nineteen
On Monday, life went back to the way it had been at the start of the year.
Apollo and Valen were indeed thick as thieves, they planned their kidnappings and car races and fights and whatever else the men decided needed doing, side by side as our world intended. They were seen at the Saints’ shenanigans again – polite way of talking about their drug- and alcohol-fuelled orgies. There were no obvious signs of fractures between them as they lorded over the school the way they always had.
