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Poor thing.
“Watch it,” I snap, barely avoiding a collision as he pushes through the hall.
When he turns around to see who would dare call him out, he seems surprised it’s me.
His expression shifts from surprise to happy to blank in a flash. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there,” he says flatly.
“Obviously.”
My annoyance must grab his attention because he turns back to me, confused. “Excuse me?”
“You obviously don’t ever see me, Cooper,” I say, stopping in front of my classroom. “No need to apologize for it now.”
I don’t know where I’m going with this. I should have just kept quiet and went about my miserable day. But now that I’ve confronted him, I have to deal with it. Me and my big mouth, I’m starting to feel like an angsty teenager.
He stops with me, the confusion on his face only growing. “What the fuck are you talking about Sloane? How do I not see you? And what am I apologizing for? Please fill me in because I’m completely lost.”
He can’t be this hardheaded. Did he think I wouldn’t find out about his escapades last night? He had to be aware photographers were following him. Hell, they’re always following him.
“I’m sure your ‘friend’ from last night would be happy to fill in the blanks for you.” I am coming across as downright petulant, and I’m irritating myself. I don’t act like this. “You know what, Cooper? Nevermind. You are free to do whatever with whomever you want. It would be wrong of me to assume anything about you or us, so please disregard my outburst.”
“What--”
“Have a good rest of your day,” I say, avoiding his eyes like I’ve been doing this whole time before turning and shutting the door to the studio behind me.
I don’t know what he looked like or if he tried talking to me, and I don’t care. This situation is my sign from the universe to forget about trying to start anything with Cooper Davies. I knew better than to allow myself to catch any feelings for him, but I went ahead and started falling for him anyway.
Stupid, stupid girl.
The studio door opens, and I whirl around, bracing for another volley of barbs with Cooper, but find Penny instead, looking a bit sheepish in response to my cold demeanor.
“Oh, hi, Penny. Come on in.” I start rifling through my papers to distract myself and look like I’m not falling apart, even though I am.
“Are you okay, Ms. Castle?” she asks, genuinely concerned.
I force yet another fake smile for her. “Of course. I’m great. Let’s get started.”
“You saw the Blindsided article, didn’t you?” She slides onto the piano bench, setting up her notebook.
Cooper had said Penny’s crush is on Ethan, but I’m still unconvinced. She’s awfully tuned in to Cooper’s actions for someone who isn’t interested.
“Yes, I did see it, but it has nothing to do with me.” My smile will crack if I have to hold it much longer.
“Okay,” she shrugs, digging her pencil out of her bag. “But if I were you, I’d be upset.”
Oh, I’m upset. Don’t you worry.
“There’s nothing to be upset about,” I insist, taking my place next to her on the bench.
Lies. All lies.
And when it comes to lying to myself, I am an expert at it.
twenty-three
Demon
Cooper
