Page 71 of The Playbook

She let out a bitter laugh. “We are notdone, Logan.Idecide when we’re done.Notyou.”

“Whatever you say, Nikki. Either way, I’m still not interested.” I peered past her to see Grace watching.

Nikki swiveled around. Grace ducked her head and gave Garrett a tight smile.

“Her? For real?” She whirled back toward me and let out a scoff.

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matterwho, Nik. It’s just time to move on. We’ve tried several times. It doesn’t work.Wedon’t work. And I don’t want us to. We’re going off to different colleges soon and everything. It’s not like we would’ve gotten married and produced that nuclear family of two-point-five kids or whatever the fuck it is.”

“You’re dumping me.”

I closed my eyes to compose myself.How many fucking times did I need to say it to her?For one thing, we’d have to actually be together for me to dump her. And for another thing,yes, whatever it took to get the hell away from her.

“Yeah. Guess I am—”

“You’re not,” she snapped.

I let out a laugh. “Nikki, you can’t tell me—”

“I can and I am, Logan. We aren’t over. You can go fuck your little nerd, but once you get it out of your system, you’ll be back. When you realize she’s nothing, you’ll call me. As soon as you figure outeverythingyou worked for will be for nothing because she’s not one of us, you’ll be back in my bed. We both know it. So, no.We aren’t over. We’llneverbe over.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll see you around. You have my number.”

Dragging my palm across my cheek, I wiped away the remnants of her kiss. I watched with clenched teeth as she sashayed away, hips swinging.

She was nuts, but I guess I always knew that. It just hadn’t bothered me so much before.

Deciding I didn’t give a shit about anything she said, I turned to find Grace, but she wasn’t with Noah and Garrett anymore. My heart thudded hard as I scanned the crowded hall for her. It didn’t take me long to spot her retreating back as she pushed through the throng of students before disappearing into the bathroom.

The warning bell rang, and students began slipping into their classrooms. I pushed my way to the restroom and waited outside until the halls cleared, knowing damn well she hadn’t come out yet. Sighing, I shoved the door open and strode into the empty room. Soft sniffling came from a stall.

“Gracie?” I called out.

The last stall door opened, and she stepped out, her eyes red from crying.

Immediately, I went to her. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and pushed past me to go to the sink. I watched with crinkled brows as she splashed water on her face and let out a slow breath.

I wasn’t dumb.

“She wanted to get back together,” I said softly.

Her gaze locked on mine in the mirror as she visibly swallowed. Her small frame trembled slightly.

“I told her we were over, and we would never happen again.” I took Grace by the arm and spun her to face me. “I told her I didn’t want her. You want to know why?”

“Why?” she murmured.

“Because I want you. Figured I needed to remind you about how much I give a shit about you, Gracie.” I brushed her hair away from her face and tilted her chin up so I could press a kiss to her soft lips.

She kissed me back, relaxing my muscles and sending the tension from my body.

“Can I sit with you at lunch?” I asked softly.

She nodded and stared up at me through a dark fringe of bangs and lashes.

I let out a chuckle. “Good. Now I have something else to look forward to today.”

“I’m sorry if I seem. . . off.”

---