AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But he doesn’t leave. He just stands there and continues to watch me, leaning against the bathroom counter.
“What the fuck, Richards? You got a problem?” I hate that my initial reaction is snapping at him, but he’s freaking me out. My cheeks burn as I’m flushed with paranoia. I can just tell he’s about to say something.
“So, Hailey and I started seeing each other,” he replies, and I furrow my brow in confusion.
“Okay…”
“I think she liked you at first, but I didn’t think you’d be mad about it.”
“I’m not mad. It’s fine, man.” I toss the wet paper towel in the trash and pray this conversation is over. But he steps in front of me when I try to leave.
“I figured you were seeing Litchfield anyway.”
The heat in my cheeks is rapidly replaced by ice in my veins as I stare unflinchingly at him. The words ‘what the fuck’ are on the tip of my tongue, but they don’t come out. I just want to see what would happen if I didn’t freak out and get all defensive like I usually do.
“You were, weren’t you?” he asks again, and I read every inch of his facial expression for disdain or disgust, but there is none.
“It was nothing,” I mutter, the lie tasting vile on my tongue.
“I’m sorry for what those assholes said on the day of the fight. Ignorant fucking pricks.”
“It’s fine,” I grunt.
“No, it’s not.”
He’s right. It’s not fine, but my brain is caught in a whirlwind after being ambushed by this conversation and coming out without even meaning to. And how much he doesn’t seem to care.
“The team’s got your back, you ugly fuck,” he says, clapping a hand on my shoulder.
And I laugh because thank fuck he can at least act like nothing’s changed, and I’m not a fragile baby just because I also happen to be ugly and gay.
“Thanks, Richards,” I say, shrugging away from his hold.
“So what happened with Litchfield? He’s out of your league or something? He’s too pretty for you.”
“Fuck you, Mason.” I laugh, knocking him into the wall. “I amnevertalking to you about anything ever.”
“Come on!” he whines, following behind me out to the nearly empty parking lot. “You hooked up with a hot teacher. I need details. I don’t care that he’s a guy.”
“Never happening,” I call back to him, holding up a middle finger as I walk toward Aphrodite.
When I notice the lonely BMW sitting on the other side of the lot, I pause. I remember the first time I saw that car, him sitting in the driver’s seat, and I know Mason’s right. Thomas is out of my league, but if I was the kind of guy who could grow balls and apologize for being an idiot, I would absolutely ask for another chance. Too bad I’m not though.
14
THOMAS
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”
I turn the key in the ignition again, but it does nothing. The dash is on, the gas tank is full, but there is absolutely nothing happening when I turn the key again. I swear this week couldn’t get any worse.
Parked in the school parking lot, it’s starting to get dark. I could call Everly, have her come pick me up and just leave my car here. In fact, I probably should just leave it here, light it on fire, let a family of rabid raccoons move into it. This stupid piece of junk has only brought me bad luck.
Well, technically it brought me Pax, which I thought was a good thing, but after that disaster at the shop, I’m counting it as bad luck now because I have literally never been so miserable after a relationship. Even though Nico hasn’t called me once, I don't seem to care. But seeing Pax every day...sucks.
I decide to leave the car problems for tomorrow and pull up the Uber app on my phone. I have big plans of going home, alone, getting drunk and trying to forget everything that happened. My finger hovers over the Request Pickup button.
What if I just called him? What if I used the car as an excuse to see him again, outside of the classroom? If I were to call roadside assistance, that’s who they would send out, right? So I’m just cutting out the middleman.
