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I wallowed in the past, working to figure out what was between us. That pull. It had been there even then, and it still was. I couldn’t deny my need to go to him when he entered a room. It’d been the same back then yet different.
I folded the note carefully and placed it back where it’d been. I closed his wallet in front of me. Slowly, I shut the door on the past and examined what was between us.
After a while, a small thread of hurt and anger returned. I had been guilty back then, but that didn’t explain why he’d lied to me about his name. We had been different people back then.Did he honestly think I would continue to make fun of him? Was he the one sending me the threatening notes?
Yes, I’d called him terrible things. The worst had been mocking his stuttering, calling him stupid, and telling him to go away—for good. I was wrong in what I’d done, regardless of the boatloads of despair I’d been drowning in.
That was then, and this time, he’d come after me.
I was the stupid one. I hadn’t recognized him, and I’d believed his lies. I even fucking liked him—and I slept with him.
I swiped my phone off my desk and stabbed at his number. He picked up on the second ring.
“Hey—”
He sounded happy.Not for long.I put every ounce of my anger into his name. “Shane.”
“Shit.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
SHANE
Istopped in the middle of the walkway to class, my phone gripped tightly in my hand and pressed against my ear. People moved around me. It was too public for the argument, but I had no choice except to engage with Winter.
She knows who I am.It was so messed up. Her finding out had been inevitable. Still, after last night—the first night in I couldn’t even remember how long—it was the best fucking night of sleep I’d had in weeks. I couldn’t tell her that, though.
“You’re a liar.” She growled the accusation.
I couldn’t do this here. Too many potential witnesses were around, and after my recent encounter with the police because someone had said they’d overheard an argument between Luke and me, I couldn’t take any chances. I pushed through people and ducked into the closest building, taking the stairs at a fast pace until I was in the basement. It was quiet and empty—precisely what I needed.
“You’re a liar too,” I fired back. “It wasn’t an accident that you almost drowned. Your mom is a killer. She murdered your sister. And you lied about that.”
“Are you kidding right now?” Her voice went up an octave. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know plenty.” I matched her tone, anger licking up my spine in a line of fire. “Ever look on the internet? Your family history is splashed all over it. Hard facts.”
“Really? Maybe we should dive into your past. I bet I’ll find tons of stuff on you too.”
“You can try.” At least mine was an accident. Hers involved murder and even had rumors that she was responsible.
“At least I didn’t sleep with someone under a false identity. Who the fuck does shit like that? Fuck you, Shane.”
She hung up on me?I pulled my phone away from my ear and looked at the screen.Goddammit!That wasn’t how I saw the day going, especially after our night together. I shoved my phone back in my pocket and raked my hands through my hair, relishing the pain as I tugged on the strands. She had me all turned around.
I’d thought she was different. That had been my first mistake—no, thesecond.I’d misjudged her when we were kids too. The problem was with me.Fuck!I took the stairs two at a time and slammed through the door. My phone buzzed again with an incoming call. I yanked it from my pocket and hit accept without looking at the number.
“Shane.”
Great—Professor Elian.I didn’t have time for her. “Stop calling me, Cindy.” My day just went from bad to worse.Screw classes.I was skipping.
“You haven’t been taking my calls.”
“Because we have nothing to discuss. And don’t you have a class to teach?” I needed her off my back.
“I miss you. Come to my office.” Her voice turned raspy, urgent. “I’m free for the next hour.”
“What don’t you understand?” I couldn’t be any clearer in my delivery. Nothing about how I asked that was pleasant. “I’m not interested. Go find someone else to harass.”
