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He jerks his shoulders as if it doesn’t matter, but I can tell, deep down, it does.
“I just need to make it through this year without getting kicked out of school, and then I can get the hell out of this town.”
A small smile springs to my lips. “That’s exactly what I’ve been telling myself, too.”
Our gazes fasten as he searches my eyes in the darkness.
“Is it really that shitty for you?”
My throat closes up, making it impossible to swallow. Unable to speak, I shrug.
He takes my silence as an affirmative. “Tell me why.”
I get the feeling he’d happily slay all my dragons if I gave him the least bit of encouragement, and it’s difficult not to fall even harder for him. Just as Jasper wasn’t what I assumed, neither is Austin.
I consider admitting the truth. It would be so nice to stop pretending and be truthful with one person, even if it’s only for five minutes. Someone who knows what it’s like to be an outsider at this school.
We have more in common than I ever allowed myself to believe.
“For starters, I’m here on scholarship, and everyone knows it.” I force a smile and try to lighten the heaviness of my words. “They never let me forget it.”
“Why is that something to be embarrassed about?”
Surprised by the question, I straighten my shoulders. “I’m not embarrassed about where I come from. It’s more that people look at me differently and treat me like I’m less than.”
I almost forget his hand is still wrapped around mine until his fingers tighten, strength radiating through both flesh and bone. The warmth travels through my veins until it pumps through my heart.
“You know,” he says, turning onto my street, “I don’t come from money. Chicago is expensive, and my parents were barely able to make ends meet. It’s one of the reasons Mom and Dad decided that moving would be a fresh start for us.” His eyes cloud. “Guess that didn’t work out the way they expected.”
A heavy silence falls over us as he pulls up in front of my house. His gaze settles on the tiny ranch that sits on a postage stamp sized lawn. Even though I told him seconds ago that I wasn’t ashamed of our financial situation, heat claws at my cheeks.
“It doesn’t change anything. Take it from someone who’s gone from nothing to having more money than they know whatto do with. Maybe Mom isn’t worrying about our finances the way she was back home, but we’re still the same.” His gaze darts to mine, holding it captive. “You’re the most real person I’ve met here. Everyone else has proven themselves to be arrogant assholes.”
When I look away, his fingers settle under my chin, lifting it until I have no other choice but to meet the intensity shining within his eyes. Unlike Jasper’s punishing touch, his is gentle. There’s an unexpected tenderness to it as if he’s taking great pains to be careful with me.
“I would never judge you, Delilah.”
It’s only when my muscles loosen that I realize how tense they’ve become. It takes effort to find my voice. “Thank you.”
The attraction simmering beneath the surface intensifies, and it becomes necessary to fight my own instincts and hold myself back.
“There’s nothing to thank me for. Isn’t that the way it should be?”
“Not here.”
“It’s the way it can be between us.”
When he gifts me with a slow smile, my heart lurches painfully.
Broody Austin is a sight to behold, but a smiling Austin?
That’s enough to knock any woman on her ass.
“I bet the girls at your old school were devastated to see you go.” As soon as the words slip free, my eyes widen, and I slap a hand over my mouth.
Horror floods through me, suffusing every cell.
Did I seriously just say that?
