Page 52 of Taming Georgia

“Did something happen? Did someone in school hurt you?”

“You did!” he roars. “You ruined me.”

“How?” I step toward him, but he backs away.

“The video. The bet. You know how. Just stop playing stupid. I know everyone there saw me as trash. I thought you were different. But you were the worst.”

I feel the color draining from my face.The video? The bet?“What are you talking about, Wyatt? What video?”

“The video that you told Kevin and Dwight to take of our kiss, so you could show Beck. You remember the bet you made with Beck? For a hundred bucks?” He glares at me, but in his eyes, there’s only sadness.

I shake my head. “I don’t even remember a Kevin or a Dwight. I vaguely remember a guy named Beck, but I know I didn’t make a bet with him.”

“So, you conveniently don’t remember?” he snarls.

“Do you know how many schools I went to? How many people I met? I was in Ann Arbor for three months at the beginning of junior year. All I remember from that time is you! But I’m a hundred percent certain that I never made a bet with anyone about kissing you! Never! You know the people at that school were jerks. It hasn’t crossed your mind that they made up this bet thing just to be assholes? You didn’t think to ask me if it was true?”

“Why would I question it? They were pretty convincing. You were one of them. I wasn’t.”

I shake my head. “I wasn’t one of them. Just because my dad had money, you assumed I was an ass? You’re the ass, Wyatt. I had no idea that you were poor back then. I didn’t know you were a scholarship student who bussed in every day. All I knew of you I based off of our interactions, which I lived for. I was infatuated with you. I thought you were the most beautiful boy I’d ever seen. You’re the one who was judgmental.”

I take a step toward Wyatt, and this time, he doesn’t move away.

I look him in the eye. “Did you know that you were my first kiss?”

“No.”

“Well, you were. You were my first kiss, my first real crush. I thought you were everything. Not only did you break my heart with your words, but you also broke my spirit over something I didn’t even do.” I press my lips in a line and breathe in through my nose, willing my tears to stay at bay. “You were cruel, and I didn’t deserve it.”

I lift my finger up and press it against his chest. “I’m sorry that life has dealt you a shitty hand. I really am. No one deserves to go through the things that you have. But that doesn’t give you the right to hurt someone who’s done nothing to deserve it. Jerks exist in all groups of people. What those boys did to you is just as bad as the words you said to me. Think about that.”

Disappointment washes over me as I walk toward the exit. I turn the handle of the door, but before I leave, I turn and say, “Thank you for telling me the truth though. I’ve let your words hurt me for too long. I shouldn’t have, but I did. Now knowing the reason behind them, I can let it all go. I hope you can learn to let some things go, too. You can’t hold so much anger toward your past because you can’t change it. It will only make you miserable. Today is what matters.”

My lips press together, and the corners rise, forming a grin. “Good-bye, Wyatt. The universe brought us together twice. Who knows? Maybe I’ll see you again.”

I walk to my car, proud. I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t wish things turned out differently. As handsome as Wyatt is and as much as my lips crave his, he’s not right for me. Strength is wanting him and walking away anyway.

I chuckle, thinking of the sitcomFriendsand the million times I watched episodes with my sister, growing up. To quote Rachel, “And that, my friend, is what they call closure.”

And closure feels great.

14

“There’s no such thing as true love, and if there were, Georgia wouldn’t be mine.”

—Wyatt Gates

“Who forgot the goddamn clip on this kennel?” I yell, looking around at the wide eyes of the guys as they clean out other kennels.

No one takes responsibility.

“Who cleaned this kennel? If you forget to clip the door shut, the dogs can jump up and knock the door open. Then, we have a loose dog that can run out and get lost. Is that what we want? There are reasons procedures are in place!”

“It was me, boss,” Xavier says, taking the piece of metal from my hand and clipping the door shut.

“No, it wasn’t.” I narrow my stare.

Xavier isn’t cleaning kennels today. He literally just got back from a rescue run with me.

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