Page 42 of The Chemistry of Us

And all I could manage to get out was, “That’s not a bra.”

CHAPTER 17

TRU

“Get. Off.” I gritted my teeth. He was too warm, too close, and I knew that look because I’d seen it a million times before. I hated that I always said before—before the heartbreak. But what sucked about before was there will always be a hellish after. I’d never experienced anything different.

Vaughan very slowly released my hands and flipped onto his back. “I remember them being bigger up close.”

I grabbed a pillow and slammed it onto his face. “Concussion, my ass. I don’t want your death on my hands… at least I didn’t, but I’m not coming back in here to do you any more favors!”

“Favors?” he roared, jumping to his feet and nearly falling over in the process. “A favor would be gently shaking someone awake, not using his brain damage to physically abuse him and scare the shit out of him while he’s dreaming!”

“You have dreams?” I slammed the pillow onto his face again, then tossed it. “Weird, since you’ve always ever been a nightmare to me.”

His nostrils flared, and then we were chest to chest. I didn’t even care that he could see my nipples. All I cared about was getting his ass off this college campus so I could have some emotional peace. “You lie so well. Then again, you always have.”

“We all have our strong suits. All you need to do is think about skanks, and you’ll see where yours lies. You know what sucks really bad, though?”

Why were my eyes getting blurry?

“You?” He crossed his arms.

“Forget it.” I started to walk off, but he grabbed me by the wrist and spun me back. “I said forget it!”

“No, you started it. Now finish it. Maybe now I’ll get some closure.”

I jerked away from his grasp. “Closure? How selfish when you were the one who left it that way, and you know it. Do you think I didn’t hear you all those years ago? What would you have done in my position?” His eyes narrow, and he opens his mouth. “No, you don’t get to speak. I’ll meet you at the usual time for tutoring. Other than that, don’t speak to me, don’t flirt and say you can’t help it. Just graduate and get out of my life.” I turned on my heel.

“What sucks?” he asked, more gently this time.

He didn’t deserve to know, but I said it anyway without looking at him. “What sucks is I believed you. I used to believe every single word, not realizing that in one damning instant, you’d burn them to the ground.”

“Tru, I don’t think you know?—”

“Go to bed, Vaughan.”

I slammed the door behind me and stomped into my room, face-planted onto the duvet, and took several deep breaths. I always heard that if you sniffed really hard, your eyes wouldn’t water. That’s all this was, right? My eyes were watering. That was it.

But it did suck, it sucked so badly that my chest ached.

Then

“I like the name.I always have.” Vaughan pulled me into his lap while we watchedDie Hardsince, according to every guy alive, it was a Christmas movie, and he put the all-stop onA Charlie Brown Christmas.

“Die Hard?” I crawled from his lap and sat beside him, resting my legs in his lap. As a joke, I’d gotten him Christmas Eve pajama pants. They had reindeer on them and looked ridiculous, but he immediately put them on with the matching long-sleeved shirt. He looked like Christmas exploded all over his body, yet so sexy that I questioned the universe. His hair was tousled back, and even the red and green reindeer looked thrilled to be plastered against his muscular body.

My pajamas consisted of a long red shirt that said Ho in all black and plaid Christmas shorts with tall green socks. The added bells to the top were a special touch, so I sounded like a Christmas song every time I moved.

Vaughan picked up one of my legs and dropped it. The bells went off. “I like that I can find you anywhere in the house.”

I smacked him on the arm. “Remember, I hate subject changes.”

“Right.” His expression changed instantly from a smile to serious. He ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry I just blurted it out, but your name, I really like it.”

“You’ve said that before, but why now?”

He started flicking the tiny bell on my right thigh. “Because whenever I say it out loud, I know every other word that follows will be Tru, because how could I ever lie to you? To someone sopure to me? It reminds me that in this really shitty world of fake smiles and fake friendships—” He stopped flicking the bell and faced me. “I have something that’s true.”

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