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His attention drops to my lips, and he steps away. “Yeah, Kate. I wanna be your friend.”
For the first time in forever, the tightness in my chest eases, and I surprise both of us with a smile, all too aware of how dangerous this is for me.
I should leave.
I should say something mean and go to my class.
I should reinforce the boundaries I’ve created to keep myself safe.
But I don’t want to.
I don’t want to do any of those.
I want to be friends.
Boring friends.
I want to be with someone I don’t have to make excuses with. Someone who understands my disease and doesn’t make me feel bad about it. Someone who’s okay with boring nights at home. With cookies and television and rainstorms.
“What do you say, Kate?” Mack asks. “You wanna be my friend?”
I bite my bottom lip but force myself to shake my head when all I want to do is the opposite. “You don’t want a friend like me. Trust me.”
“Why not?”
“Because being friends with me is messy.”
“Kate––”
“I should probably get to class. I’ll see you around, Mack.”
I turn on my heel and get the hell out of there.
12
KATE
“Istill can’t believe you convinced me to come back here,” I mutter, eyeing the rack of weights as if they could jump out and grab me any second. The last time I was here, a bunch of guys saw my underwear through my leggings––including Macklin Taylor––and I vowed to never come back.
Unfortunately, Blakely is even more stubborn than I am.
She laughs beside me. “Not gonna lie. Every single time you say yes, I consider it a modern-day miracle.” She stops short and grimaces. “Shit, I forgot my water bottle in the locker room. Start warming up, and I’ll be right back.” She heads to the locker room while I wait near the weight racks when a familiar face appears in the mirror.
My breath hitches as Wes weaves between the treadmills on the opposite side of the gym with his best friend, Levi, at his side. They’re heading straight for me, but I don’t think I’ve been spotted. Not yet. I dart around a metal contraption for building butt muscles, my flight response kicking in at full force, and run into a wall.
At least, I wish it was a wall.
With wide eyes, I tear my attention from the damp, white T-shirt stretched across very muscular pectorals and travel up toward a pair of familiar blue eyes.
Kill. Me. Now.
“Whoa, you okay?” Mack asks, grabbing my arms to steady me.
Squeezing my eyes shut while ignoring how much I want a hole to appear on the Earth’s surface and swallow me whole, I mutter, “Not particularly.”
“What’s wrong?”
I glance over my shoulder to where Wes and Levi are standing. Thankfully, they still aren’t looking at me. They must not have seen me yet.
