Page 99 of Meet Me at the Metro

A shiver courses through my body, and I feel fucking pathetic. I hate how badly my brain tortures me sometimes—how damn paralyzing my thoughts can be.

I can’t help but look down at Nora, but she tilts my chin back up. “Don’t look yet. Let me get you cleaned up first. Keep staring at the moon, Teddy.”

I defiantly glance back to her eyes, sparkling with the sky’s reflection, and the muscles in my shoulders relax. “I can see it just fine.”

Out of my periphery, I watch her expose my fingers and feel the splash of cold water again. Just like before, she wraps my hand tightly and holds it. The sensation stings, but it’s nothing compared to the burn of Evie’s mindless confession. I try to blink back the flicker of hurt that comes with that reminder—try to smother the flare of anger heating my veins.

“Will you let me explain?” Nora asks as though she can hear my every thought.

I have a bittersweet, love-hate relationship with how transparent this girl makes me feel.

“You don’t have to explain.” I pull out of her hold and clutch my hand tightly. “You’re free to kiss whoever you want, but I’d rather not have to fucking hear about it.”

She instantly rolls her eyes. “It isn’t like that. You’re not even letting me explain myself before you start jumping to conclusions.”

“Jumping to conclusions?I heard Evie clearly, or did she just say it for shits and giggles?”

She grits her teeth. “Like I said, it isn’t what you’re thinking it is.”

“How else should I think of it, Nora? You kissed him—your friend.”

I don’t think I’ve ever felt this level of jealousy before—one that consumes my thoughts and stiffens every muscle in my body. I want every bit of this girl for myself, and I don’t know if that makes me a jealous bastard or just a sane one.

Nora’s shoulders straighten defiantly, her cheeks growing all red and hot. “I didn’t kiss him! Would you please listen to me?”

“I don’t have time to talk right now. I gotta get back to work.”

I push off the wall and take a step toward the backdoor.

That’s as far as I get—one step before her hands push me back against the brick. The force behind it lacks any true aggression, but it’s hard enough to stifle my breath.

It’s a challenge.

My pulse quickens, but this time, it’s not anger fueling my erratic heartbeat; it’s pure adrenaline.

“You’re not going back in there until you listen to me.”

Nora’s standing on the tips of her toes, chest puffed. I watch how it rises and falls, in perfect sync with mine. She tilts her head up and pins me with a dangerous glare.

“Move, Nora.”

Her jaw tenses. “Make me.”

Like that would even mean anything—she knows I’m not going to lay a fucking finger on her without her permission. The tension between us grows heavier with each passing second of silence.

“Now.”

“No. Not until you let me explain.Please, Teddy.”

That name.That damn name.

She has to know how much power it holds. I’ve been in denial about how much I enjoyed hearing her call me that since the moment it fell from her lips, but there’s no denying it anymore.

I love it.

I can’t get enough of the way it makes me feel like I truly mean something to someone again.

“Please.” Her plea is so gentle that I’m certain I couldn’t deny her the opportunity to speak even if I truly wanted to.

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