Page 125 of Diem

“You see Matt out there?” she asks. Shaking my head, I muster a smile while she eyes me weirdly. “He told me about you two. I get it, I mean, we weren’t together.”

“Oh?” I rasp, clearing my throat.

Talk about awkward. I can’t decide if it’s better or worse that she knows but at least she’s not freaking out…yet.

“Yeah, I just thought…”

“Thought what?” I ask, glancing behind me. When I do, I meet Diem’s dark gaze. He raises a brow which warms my chest, but I force my gaze away and tune in for the last of Harriet’s monologue.

“…between Matt and Diem, you know?”

“Um—“

“Anyway, no hard feelings,” she says before rushing away.

What about Matt and Diem?

“You avoiding me, sweet?” Diem says, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

“Um,” I stutter before Ollie appears with a stone-cold stare.

Shrinking under his censure, I shrug Diem off and mumble, “Gotta go.”

When I look back, Diem is watching me with a furrowed brow. This should be easy. He broke my damn heart. So why does my chest feel so heavy?

Of course, because this morning can’t get any worse, Hailey is standing by the door to my homeroom. I pause when I see her but follow when she nods toward the women’s bathroom.

I’d rather stab my eye with a pen than speak to her, but she knows more than she should, and this may be an opportunity to find answers.

Once we’re inside, she turns to me with her typical snarl.

Ignoring her enmity, I cross my arms and say, “Well?”

“Look, I’m doing you a solid,” she says and my spine tingles. Right. Because anything Hailey does would be for my benefit.

“What’s that?”

I can’t contain my disbelief and she grits her teeth before pulling up her phone and pressing play. On the screen, Diem is facing off against Matt. I can’t see Diem’s expression, but Matt’s eyes burn with hate.

“What?” I say, grabbing the phone.

Where are they? The background is too dark to see, and I press the volume button in time to hear Matt sneer,“Fuck you, McCafferty. You think you’re so powerful.”

Diem grunts and shoves him back. “You’re about to see how much power I have, dick.”

Matt scowls and I shiver at the rage bleeding from his eyes. “You can fuck me up, but it won’t change the fact that I fucked her. How’s it feel to know she picked me?”

Diem pops him in the mouth and says, “She didn’t pick you, fucker.”

“No? Then why is she meeting up with me tonight?”

Diem jumps on him and says, “Stay the fuck away from her. She’s better than you, asshole.”

I move to pause the video as Matt says, “What about you, bro?”

Shaking my head, I pass the phone back to her. Does Diem truly care about me? Or is this about Matt? Shit, it could really be about the chase.

Every time I finally back away, he sucks me right back in.Why?

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