Page 105 of Make Me Want it Too

It will also be the first time we’ll be around each other not under the guise of this false relationship, and I don’t know how it’s going to go.

My phone buzzes and my heart leaps, hoping that it’s him.

It’s Bex.

Bex:

hey, I’m sorry about all of this

can you let everyone know I’m safe? I just need a little time away to think

and will you let Jake know again that I’m so sorry? I just can’t right now

I’ll explain later

I reply that I will tell him and that I’m glad she’s safe and I love her, but she doesn’t respond.

Guess I need to find Jake before I leave.

I’ve been standing outside Wood’s apartment door for ten minutes. Hyping myself up. Getting in my head.

This is it.

I get out my key.

It’s unlocked.

I open the door.

Wood’s sitting at the kitchen island. Alone.

He looks up when I enter the apartment. In a flash, his eyes brighten and the dimple appears in his cheek before returning to a more neutral expression—so quickly that it feels like I made it up. Maybe I want him to be happy to see me so badly, my mind is playing tricks on me, gaslighting myself.

“Hey,” he says, standing and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Hi.”

Neither of us say anything for a beat. Two. Three.

The silence hangs between us like a living, breathing thing.

I don’t know where to start. Part of me hopes he’ll go first.

I start to say something but stop.

Maybe I’m being dumb. Maybe I imagined everything. I’m feeling feelings, but what if he’s not? What if I make a fool of myself?

Standing here looking at him, gorgeous. Perfect. What would he see in me? Why did I ever think he might like me?

“I’m sorry,” he says, taking a step toward me. “I shouldn’t have punched Spencer. It was immature and stupid. It wasn’t like me, and I shouldn’t have done it.”

“It was scary, and you shouldn’t have,” I agree.

He looks to his feet, nodding.

“But he deserved it.”

Wood looks up, hands still in his pockets. “He did.”

---