Page 210 of My Ruthless Opponent

He doesn’t stop and walks straight past me. He passed me by as if I wasn’t standing right there. Like I was invisible. It hurts like a bitch being ignored by the person who matters to you a lot.

I roll my shoulders. It's not going to deter me, though.

I am here to grovel. And I am not going to give up just because he is angry with me. He was there for me through thick and thin. I am not going to back down until he forgives me. He has to forgive me.

With a nod to myself, I roll the sleeves of my sweater up to my elbows.

He is talking to Kayla. I stand behind her to get his attention.

He nods and talks something about the supplies of cat food.

When his eyes flick to me, I intertwine my fingers and hold them up. “Sorry.” I mouth.

His lips thin in a line. He resumes his focus on Kayla.

After that, they chat for five minutes. I try to make faces and even try to wave my hands like a mad woman but he doesn’t look at me.

Narrowing my eyes, I pull out my phone from my jeans back pocket.

My fingers move frantically over the screen for a few seconds then I hold the phone up.

Kayla turns when the music booms from my phone. Archer folds his hands across his chest.

You gotta go and get angry at all of my honesty.

You know I try but I don’t do too well with apologies.

I hope I don’t run out of time, could someone call a referee?

“Cause I just need one more shot at forgiveness.” I sing with Justin Bieber.

“Is it too late now to say sorry?” I sing again.

When Justin Bieber sings, ‘I am missing more than just your body’, I grimace and hurry to hit stop.

I look up to find him gone. And Kayla is looking at me with amused eyes. “Trouble in paradise?”

“NO!” I shake my head.

When Kayla smirks, I wave my hands and recite “no” for good measure. “He is like my big brother!”

“Oh.” Her eyebrows go up.

“Yeah.” I look around. He is nowhere to be seen. “Excuse me, I gotta find him.”

From that point on, I keep embarrassing myself in front of the entire staff, volunteers, and animals throughout the day.

I follow him everywhere like a lost puppy.

When my feet start to ache, I squat down. There are no chairs on the outdoor ground. Squatting down makes my knees hurt.

It’s been hours and still, I failed to make him forgive me. His heart didn’t melt.

After a few minutes of resting, I decide to go find him again.

I push to my feet but stumble. A hand closes on my elbow, saving me from falling head first onto the ground.

I lift my head.

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