Page 46 of Obsessed with the Heartbreaker

Kevin leaned against the wall I was standing beside, roguish grin on. “Maybe so, but I wanted to see you again in this context, if you know what I mean. I wanted to have the chance to see you let loose.”

Let loose?

This guy had douchebag written all over him.

And I guess I was one too, for planning to use him against Henry in the first place.

My tone was dry when I answered, “I’m afraid that isn’t in my repertoire of abilities.”

I should probably have been making more of an effort to be nicer in conversation if I wanted to stay here long enough for Henry to notice me, but, against all odds, the guy’s eyes glittered with amusement.

“I like a challenge.”

God.

This was a bad idea.

I’d come here with one purpose only: confronting Henry. I wanted to face him and speak to him honestly once and for all. Telling him what was going on with Connell was out of the question, but asking him about us? About why he kept pushing me away, about why he had to shit on our friendship? That I could do.

And I wasn’t going to leave until he told me the truth. Good or bad.

I needed to know.

So I brushed off the temporary discomfort of having tosocialize, and engaged Kevin in conversation.

Apparently, Kevin wasn’t justanystudent—and, knowing the type of guys Henry went for, I should have guessed. Snowboarding in Europe and throwing himself off planes were two things that Kevin enjoyed doing and that he was well known for, at least in certain circles.

(Definitely not mine.)

I’d wondered the other night whether Henry had been thinking about hooking up with him, and the more the conversation went on, the more I thought he probably had.

Because this guy,Kevin, was the epitome of Henry’s type.

Someone interesting. Someone withfascinatingfacts about themselves, interesting hobbies or passions, not to mention amodel. Someone who had alifeand wasn’t basically a recluse who only cared about grades and getting the right internship.

Someone who definitely wasn’t me.

I’d known about this. I had, in fact, come to terms with it a long time ago. It was just afact, nothing I could do about it.

And I didn’t want a relationship with Henry anyway.

Friendship, at least long term, was definitely not in the cards for us, not just because of how different we were, but also because I was technically helping Connell behind Henry’s back, which would inevitably make him hate me eventually, even if I’d tried to help him.

I knew that.

Still, I wanted—Ineededsome admission. For Henry to tell me that our friendship had meant something. That I hadn’t been imagining our connection.

I needed proof that this was real, even if it was a little fucked up.

But as Kevin kept speaking and the reality of the situation I’d put myself in began to sink in, I started doubting I would ever get it.

There was a faint prickling sensation on the side of my face that told me Henry was staring at me, but each time I looked, he’d already looked away.

Like an idiot, I kept asking Kevin about his latest trip and his hobbies, avoiding speaking about myself at all times. Sadly, it gave my mind free license to think about the Heartbreaker, to wonder whether my replacement had dared to close the distance between them and put a hand on Henry’s leg, whether the Heartbreaker was starting to relax and get his game on.

Get your filthy hands off him, I shouted in my mind to an imaginary version of Henry’s companion for the night.

“He does that with everyone, you know? Don’t feel bad. One time is all anyone will ever get from him,” Kevin said surprisingly close to my ear.

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