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“That’s okay. We’re actually going that show t?—”
I’m leading Olivia through the crowded street before he finishes his sentence. The last thing I want is to have Hector and his intoxicated date sit beside us in the amphitheater. I’llfake a migraine and insist we leave before I subject myself to his presence for a minute longer.
To my surprise, Olivia doesn’t resist as I lead us towards our destination—or when I lace our fingers together and bend my elbow so our hands are pressed against my back when the bodies around us draw closer.
When we make it into the amphitheater, the crowd spreads out.
That’s when Olivia asks, “What got your panties in a bunch back there?” She picks up her pace to keep up with my long strides, keeping her hand in mine.
I debate saying nothing. I even consider lying. But then I remember Hector Cantu escorting Olivia out of her house on prom night, and it’s like I’m a heartbroken seventeen-year-old all over again. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not a fan of your high school boyfriend,” I clip.
“Hector wasn’t my boyfriend.”
“Well, he was someone important enough that you ditched me for prom.” The words roll off my tongue for the first time in over ten years.
I never told Olivia how I felt about her going to prom with Hector. I never even so much as hinted that it bothered me. Even though it obviously did. Our relationship was never the same afterward.
But despite that, Olivia’s eyes widen with shock. “Are you serious?”
Her surprise irritates me. “Deadly.”
She tugs on my hand, forcing me to either let her go or stop walking.
I choose the latter.
“I did not ditch you,” Olivia insists, looking up at me, wearing a defiant expression that I would find cute in any other situation.
I huff an unamused laugh. “Your memory needs work.”
“I askedyouto prom, Derek,” she says. “You told me you were going with Kyle.”
I know what she’s talking about, but she’s got the story twisted. Olivia brought up prom to me when we were studying in the library one afternoon, and I remember that conversation clear as day.
“I saidwewere going with Kyle to prom.” That had always been our plan. The three of us went together to any school function. It was a given.
“That’s not what you said,” Olivia replies, stomping her foot adamantly. She looks a little hurt when she adds, “I asked you to prom, and you basically rejected me. So when Hector asked me to go with him, I said yes.”
She thinks I rejected her?
The information makes me second-guess my own memory of what happened. But then I remember how it felt to see her gaze up at the star quarterback with flushed cheeks, and my anger returns.
“So you agreed to go with him, but you didn’t think to tell me and Kyle about your change of plans?” I challenge. “I showed up to pick you up for prom like an idiot.”
“How do you think I felt when you turned me down?” She throws back.
“I never would have rejected you, Liv.”
“But you did.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No, I didn’t,” I insist.
We’re starting to draw the attention of the crowd moving around us. Not wanting to give anyone any more material to sell to a tabloid, I tug Olivia’s hand and lead her to the nearest exit. We can come back into the amphitheater before the showbegins. At least outside there will be fewer people to overhear a conversation that’s ten years overdue.
Olivia waits until the metal door shuts behind us to rip her hand away and cross her arms. “Why can’t you just admit what happened, Derek? You rejected me. Another guy asked me to prom. I said yes. When you figured that out, your feelings were hurt. Even though I don’t know why. It’s not like you decided to talk to me about it after the fact.”
