Page 9 of The Enemy Face Off

I wouldn't expect anything else.

3

Beth

Maybe I was a little too harsh on Milo last week.

Ugh. Why can't I get that stupid thought out of my head? It's been buzzing around my subconscious like a swarm of flies around roadkill.

Okay. That's a disturbing image. Sorry.

I've recently branched out from my usual sweet romcoms and read three dystopian romances back-to-back. They're clearly affecting me.

Much like a certain grumpy goalie I can't seem to get out of my head after he—or okay,we—bumped into each other on the street.

What can I say? I was thrown off-balance, both figuratively and literally, and I may have rebooted into Snarky Beth mode a little too fast. A little too…aggressively.

I mean, I insulted his manhood, made jokes about his smile scaring children away, and insinuated he was a dummy.

He proved me wrong on that one, and I will never look at the termcul de sacthe same way again.

In fact, he kind of proved me wrong on all counts.

Not that his expression wasn't a bit…unusual when he tried to smile, but maybe he was nervous?

And not that I can verify my dig about his, uh, manhood, but when I served it to him, he didn't cower or back down.

Importantly, he also didn't get mean or cruel.

He simply volleyed back in a smart, funny, and genuine way.

Maybea genuine way.

I'm not that kind of guy. That's not what I'm looking for.

Look, I'll give him props for saying the right thing. He even sounded like he meant it. So why couldn't I believe him?

Because guys have said one thing to my face, then another thing behind my back before.

And that's a special type of pain.

That's betrayal.

And yeah, maybe I haven't entirely gotten over the way Liam and Dylan treated me. Maybe I've built up a sky-high wall around my heart to protect myself from getting hurt. But until Ireallyknow a guy, I'm not giving him my trust ever again.

I've been fooled twice, I amnotgoing to be fooled a third time.

If that means I come across a little…harsh, then tough. So be it.

I scratch my arm, not liking how that makes me feel. I may be snarky and sarcastic, but I'm never outright mean.

Unless it's to Willow Wilkins.

She made my senior year at Comfort Bay High a nightmare, mocking me about my weight relentlessly, so she deserves all the stink eye I throw at her.

But I do owe Milo an apology.

It's the right thing to do. So if our paths happen to cross tonight, then I'll quickly slip one in, and we can move on.

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