Page 39 of Collided

“What makes you— wait, did something happen between you two?” Marie parks the car and studies me.

I shake my head. “No…yes… I mean…” I stammer like a kid in the principal’s office.

She narrows her eyes, eager to know everything. “What did he do?”

I guess I have no choice but to tell her. It’s what friends do, right? Tell each other stuff.

“On Thursday, I stayed back at school because I was having a headache. Heath offered to give me a ride. He also bought me food and we talked. Then he dropped me at my place.”

“Oh my God.” Marie shrieks like that kid on a rollercoaster, the one who’ll take it again because it’s the definition of fun.

My cheeks burn. “It’s nothing.”

She gasps. “Nothing? Girl, it’s fucking something. I can’t believe it. Why didn’t you text me? I would’ve driven to your place then we would’ve dissected everything.”

I can’t invite her over with Dad paying random visits. It’ll be a disaster if he sneaks in when Marie is there. I’ll hate myself if something happens to her, and I can only imagine how much it’ll freak her out. I want to protect her.

“Heath and I…I don’t know what there is.”

Marie’s hazel eyes soften. She unbuckles her seatbelt and takes my hand. “It’s okay, you know.”

I frown. “What is okay?”

“If you’re feeling something toward him. I agree he’s a dickhead. But he’s a good guy and I can see he cares about you. Even if it's a little bit.”

“There isn’t anything between us. He was just being nice.”

“NiceandHeath don't go in one sentence.” She squeezes my hand. “I won’t intervene because you both can handle stuff. Just know it’s okay. I’m here if you need to confide in someone. I’mthe bestat relationships and friendships.”

I don’t know what overtakes me, but I blurt out, “Can I hug you?”

Marie advances and wraps her arms around me. “You don’t ask for hugs. You take them.”

I hug her back, feeling the world slip off my shoulders. I have no idea why she came into my life. But I like that she’s here. She makes me believe in friendships that I read in books—the forever kind.

A knock on her window pulls us apart. Heath and Sebastian stand next to each other, and I notice how they’re the same height, but Sebastian is more muscular than Heath.

Sebastian is wearing a white shirt and denim jeans. As soon as Marie locks her car, he hugs her and rain kisses all over her face. She giggles in his embrace.

Watching them is like watching my favorite book couple come to life.

A piercing stare burns my face. I turn and find Heath staring at me.

Like always he’s in a black T-shirt, and black jeans, but tonight he’s got black Converse on—like me, but mine are blue. I notice the silver chain hiding under his shirt, and the few silver rings on his fingers. He looks intimidating with how his muscles grip the sleeves, and his broad shoulders and chest fill the front. I know he doesn’t do any sports, and this physique is because of that underground place he fights at, but he has an incredible lean athletic build.

Coming closer, he towers over me. I have to crane my neck to meet his blue eyes. Lifting his hand, he brushes my hair off my shoulder and caresses the side of my neck. His touch is light like a feather.

“The finger marks are gone,” he murmurs.

A trail of shivers runs down my spine from his single touch. The rhythm of my heart picks up the longer his touch lingers on my skin.

I step away to divert the topic. “There weren’t any marks.”

“I’m not blind, Hope,” he says my name in a deep gravelly voice that further increases my heart rate.

This was why I wore the turtleneck. I wanted to avoid interrogation.

“I didn’t say you were. I’m just telling you they weren’t finger-marks. I burnt myself with a straightener.”

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