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I turned and stared at him with such intensity that I was surprised a hole wasn’t forming. I straightened my spine and squared my shoulders, wanting to appear unbothered despite the inner turmoil.
“I’m not worried,” I said. “I can wait.”
“For what?”
“For her to realize I’m the better choice.”
The atmosphere was tense as we squared off in the deserted hallway. Josh scoffed.
“You’ve never been the better choice, Asher.” He said. “You’ve never been able to keep a steady relationship your entire life. You use girls like toys until you’re done with them, and you’d just do the same to Sawyer.”
Our gaze never wavered as the tension escalated.
“That’s not true. Sawyer is different.”
He chuckled without humour. His corner lip lifted as he scoffed in disbelief.
“You’ve said that about every girl that gives you the slightest bit of attention.” He said. “Face it, Asher, you only hurt people.”
His words hung heavy in the air, a stark reminder of the recent rift between us. I charged for him, but Liam stepped between us as if he were lurking in the shadows, expecting this interaction.
“Asher, you need to step back,” Liam said, but I ignored him and tried to break from his hold. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Of course I do.”
He dug his feet into the ground and knocked me back.
“Josh, get out of here.”
The hostility in Liam’s voice surprised me. I’d never heard him speak like that to anyone before. He kept shoving me until we rounded the corner.
“Take deep breaths.”
I searched my pockets for a cigarette, but I wrapped my fingers around the stiff piece of silver. The pendant. I burst past Liam, ignoring his pleas for me to not do something stupid, and marched up to Joshua, standing at his locker. He turned to me with raised brows. I gripped his hand and shoved the pendant into his palm. Without a word, I headed for the exit. Who cared about detention?
“Was that the pendant?” Liam called, running until he was beside me. “The one you told me Sawyer lost?”
“It was.”
“You went to look for it?”
“I did.”
“Why did you give it to Joshua?”
I stopped with my palms flat against the exit door and turned to him with a scowl.
“Because,” I said, void of emotion. “He’s the better brother.”
??
27
“You’re my Wonderwall.”
Wonderwall, Oasis
Joshua
