Page 54 of Forbidden

Chapter Twenty

Rosalie

I tookmy dad’s car and drove to Joanna’s apartment on the other side of town. I didn’t know if Shane drove up by himself or if he’d tell me to go to hell when he saw me, but I needed to talk to him. Too much had gone unsaid for too long.

As I rang the doorbell, I heard Shane’s voice from inside. I couldn’t believe how nervous I felt. I tapped my foot nervously as I waited for the door to open. When he opened the door, my heart did its cartoon leap.

Shane was wearing a fitted t-shirt and jeans. His hair was messier than last night and without the glasses on, he looked just like my high school crush again.

“I didn’t expect you here,” he said.

“We need to talk.”

“That’s all I wanted from you last night.”

“Fine, I’m sorry. Can I come in?”

“I don’t want to talk here. I still have the room at the hotel, is that okay?”

I nodded. “Let’s go.”

* * *

The hotel looked biggerthan I remembered, and it was much more crowded than it ever was on the Saturday nights Shane and I used to spend there. There was a convention at the hotel that week and the place was packed.

As we entered the elevator, a large group of tourists with their cameras squeezed in with us, forcing Shane and I to stand close together.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you planned this,” I said.

He didn’t say anything, he just smiled. His fingers brushed against my hand and I looked up at him, but he didn’t look back at me. When the elevator stopped at our floor, his hand closed around mine and he pushed through the elevator to get out.

We held hands through the hall to the hotel room. Neither of us said anything, but I couldn’t help but feel like my younger self five years ago when we first came here. I was excited to spend some time alone with him, even if it was just to talk. I didn’t realize just how much I had missed him and how much a part of me he was until that moment.

After we entered the room, I kicked off my shoes and sat on the bed cross-legged like I used to do. He opened the mini-fridge and pulled out a pint of cookie dough Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

“I dropped it off last night before I went to the airport,” he said. “I really didn’t expect you to get so upset. Do you want to tell me what that was about?”

“I’m an idiot. I didn’t want to hear what you were saying, so I freaked.”

“I need more than that.” He held a spoon of ice cream up for me to eat.

“Remember what I told you the last time we were here?”

“Yes, you said you met someone. I remember that like it was yesterday. Just being here with you feels like no time has passed.”

“That’s exactly what happened. Seeing you at the airport, kissing you, even if it was innocent, brought me right back to where we left off. When you said you had a girlfriend--"

“You said I have a girlfriend.”

“So what? You weren’t going to tell me?”

“I’m not sure how relevant it is. Besides, you didn’t say you were single, and you dumped me because you met someone else.”

“I lied,” I said. “I lied to you that night, and I’ve regretted it every day since.”

“Why would you lie about that? Do you have any idea what that did to me?”

He turned away from me and walked to the window and looked outside.

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