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“Ah, thank you!” she squealed, holding the phone tight. She was practically giddy with happiness. Then she glanced down at it and read, “1-888-GET-LOST,” and her smile faded.
I winked. “You’re welcome.”
“You’re seriously—”
“Hey, Thorne!” someone called out, and my head snapped up.
My pulse doubled its pace at the sight of him standing in the doorway, filling the small space with his height and broad shoulders. Reaching up, he raked a hand through his already rumpled hair before his green eyes focused on me and my lungs seized.
Gabby shot out of her seat like a dart. “Sorry to hear about you and Scarlett,” she all but purred, and I wished I’d socked her in the nose while I had the chance.
But Thorne ignored her, and when I glanced up at him again out of the corner of my eye, he closed the distance, his gaze laser-focused on me.
My heart kick-started and my palms began to sweat. I reminded myself of all the reasons I ended it, all the reasons we were better off apart. Because there was no way his feelings for me were real. Because our relationship had only hurt my family, not helped them. Because long-distance relationships never worked. And he had everything he wanted. He didn’t need me.
Only, as he hovered over me, all of my reasons seemed to crumble. Suddenly, they weren’t so concrete anymore.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, head down, because maybe if I kept the upper hand and controlled the flow of the conversation, I’d stay strong.
“I came to talk to you.”
I risked a glance at him, ready to tell him it wasn’t the right time when he placed his fingers under my chin, lifting my gaze to his. “I’m not letting you walk away.”
“Um, can we, maybe, talk later?” I whispered, casting a quick glance around us. He wasn’t exactly trying to keep his voice down as my classmates looked on, clinging to every word. Half of them fumbled with their phones, no doubt taking pictures and recording us. “It’s not exactly the best place or time,” I said, hoping he’d get the hint.
“It’s exactly the right place and time. If I wait until you’re alone, you’ll avoid me. And I’m not leaving until you speak with me.”
“I will not!” Anger needled under my skin as Thorne arched a brow. “You can’t just make me talk to you.”
He laughed and shook his head. “You’re terrible at taking orders.”
When I stiffened, he continued, “We started out as a ruse, a friendly arrangement to suit our mutual needs—”
“We used each other.”
“Right,” he said, tone firm. “We did. But that’s not all we are. We changed. And I’m not leaving this room until you admit it.”
“You have to leave. Class is about to start,” I said as Mr. Greene entered the classroom, his gaze zeroing in on Thorne.
Thorne shrugged. “Let them call security, then. Because I’m not moving unless they physically escort me out.”
“Oh my gosh, that’s so romantic,” a girl in the back of the class said.
I glanced at Mr. Greene, who shifted on his feet, then shrugged and began shuffling his things. “You have one minute,” he said.
“What kind of school is this?” I mumbled before I turned back to Thorne, head spinning, skin a live wire as I met his eyes. “We were good together, but we were always temporary. I don’t know what you want me to say?” My chest ached. Any moment, I’d break down.
“I want you to say that when we kissed, you felt something. I want to hear that in those moments you weren’t pretending. I want you to say with a straight face that your heart doesn’t beat out of your chest at the sight of me like mine does with you. I want you to tell me it meant nothing. That being apart won’t rip you to shreds.”
“People are listening,” I whispered.
“I don’t care.”
My chest heaved. I clenched my hands in my lap, trying to keep my emotions at bay, but the tiny thread holding me together unraveled. “So what if it does? This,” I said, waving a hand between us, “is a dream. It won’t work.”
“Why not?”
“Because . . . “ I searched for a reason. There were so many. His fame. Long-distance. But those suddenly seemed so fragile, more like excuses than reasons. And then I thought of Batter and Bake, and I said, “Us being together? It’s destructive. We ruined—”
