Page 168 of Holding On To Good

Except, someone like her probably did. No doubt she’d been raised on fairy-tales about true love and happily-ever-after, and warned about what happens when a good girl gives it up to some asshole who only wants to lose himself in that curvy body of hers.

She didn’t like him. She’d just told herself that so she wouldn’t feel guilty about wanting him.

Even if hearing her say she did about cut him off at the knees.

For one of the few times in his life, he’d done the right thing. The honorable thing. He’d pushed her away.

And instead of thanking him, instead of realizing he’d been doing her a goddamn favor, she’d acted pissed. Disappointed.

Hurt.

So hurt, he wished he could go back and undo everything he’d said and done.

He shouldn’t feel guilty. He should be relieved. He’d freed himself of all the messy, useless emotions she brought out in him, but instead of feeling like he’d dodged a bullet, he wondered if he’d made a huge mistake.

“Uh-oh,” Hayden said. “You’ve got that I fucked up so badly nothing short of groveling is going to make it right look. What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“No? So you’re sitting here moping and brooding and pouting because you didn’t do something completely asinine that ruined your chances of being with Verity?”

He shoved the plate aside, his appetite gone. “Nothing to ruin.”

Hayden straightened and crossed her arms, tilted her head to the side and studied him, a stubborn, nosey, pushy brunette bombshell in tight, faded jeans and a low-cut, white T-shirt intent on making sure the last few hours of his Sunday was just as much a shit-show as the first twenty had been.

He should’ve just gone home.

“Just tell me this,” she finally said. “Did you break that sweet girl’s heart? Because you know she has five extremely protective older brothers. I mean, from what I understand, they usually like to just thump on each other but I’m sure for Verity, they’d make an exception and thump on you.”

“I didn’t break her heart. She was just fucking with me.”

Hayden’s lips pursed. “She was, huh?”

“She was looking to take a walk on the wild side. You know. Waste some time before she leaves for college. Maybe prove to her brothers she’s not under their thumbs.”

Hayden’s lips twitched, her eyes lighting with humor. He was just amusing the hell right out of her tonight. “So you’re saying Verity Jennings was using you as some sort of belated teenage rebellion?”

“We’re different. Her and me. I’m not like the guys she usually hangs out with.”

“No,” Hayden agreed slowly. Thoughtfully. “I’m sure you’re not. Did you ever think maybe that’s why she wanted to hang out with you?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He never should’ve opened his mouth in the first place. With either Verity or Hayden. “She’s probably going to some fancy college at the end of the summer.”

“Not sure how fancy Ohio State is, but yeah, she’ll be heading out of Mount Laurel soon enough.”

Ohio State. He’d heard of it—he wasn’t completely stupid—but he didn’t know anything other than it was huge and had a top ten football team every year.

Ohio State. Not Pitt or Carnegie Mellon or Duquesne—all in Pittsburgh, just a twenty- minute drive from here.

“How do you know where she’s going?” he asked instead of what he really wanted to know—which was for her to tell him everything else she knew about Verity.

Hayden grabbed a bottle of Bud Light from the cooler. “I know many, many things,” she told him, opening the beer. “Some wondrous. Some insightful. Some terrifying.” She handed the bottle to a customer, taking his money in exchange. “For instance,” she continued, “I know that Columbus is only three hours from here which isn’t too far if two people—one living here and one attending OSU, for instance—wanted to continue hanging out.”

Right. Like he was going to drive into Columbus a few times a month during his free time.

He didn’t have free time. He worked—days, nights and weekends—which Hayden damn well knew. And when he wasn’t working, he needed to stick close to home for his mom. Plus, his truck was a piece of shit. He doubted it’d make it more than a couple trips that far before biting the dust even with Tommy helping him work on it.

Besides, once Verity got to college, she’d probably be busy with all her new friends or studying or attending football games.

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