Page 62 of The Wrong Bachelor

There was so much going on beneath the surface of his cool expression. I could see it in his eyes, though I had no clue what he was thinking. I often found it hard to know what the hell was going on in that head of his.

“Anyway, I should probably get inside,” I said, jerking my thumb in the direction of the house. I needed to get away from him before I said something else stupid.

“It’s been a pretty long day.”

“Yeah, it has,” Cole agreed. “I’ll leave you to it.” He turned and walked back across the street without so much as a goodbye. I frowned after him, trying to understand what had gone wrong. He’d chosen Laurie for the date, and yet I felt like he was angry with me.

I rubbed my eyes tiredly and went into the house. Why did I feel like I had just made everything worse?

* * *

When Hayleyand I arrived at school the next morning, there was a “Channel Five News” van parked by the front entrance and a gathering of students milling around it. I’d never seen a news truck at school before, and I searched the crowd for the source of the excitement. In the middle of it all, I saw the local news anchor standing in front of a camera.

“Is that Peggy Walton?” Hayley gasped as we got out of her car.

“Yeah, I think so,” I replied. The blonde reporter that had been gracing my TV screen every night for the last ten years was stunning in real life. She also seemed much taller than I expected.

She was standing on the front steps of the school interviewing Angus, with Cole and Laurie paired up at his side. Laurie had her arm tucked into Cole’s, and they looked like the picture perfect couple as they smiled for the news camera.

I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away as I watched the two of them snuggling before the camera crew and the crowd of kids. Angus was doing most of the talking, while Laurie kept sneaking loving glances at Cole.

“Any chance you feel like bailing on school?” I asked.

“I can’t, I have a Spanish quiz first up,” Hayley replied. “Sorry, Mads.”

I waved her comment away with one hand. “I’m only joking.” I wasn’t, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Hey, Madi.” I turned to find Jake getting out of the car next to us. I had been so absorbed by the spectacle in front of the school, I hadn’t even heard the car pull up.

“Hey, Jake,” I replied, my gaze drifting back toward Cole. I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away.

“You got a minute?” Jake asked.

I glanced at Hayley. She looked at me as if she was checking whether or not I wanted her to stay, so I gave her a small shake of my head. I could handle Jake myself. She nodded and started toward the school.

“Sure,” I said, turning back to look at Jake. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to see how you were doing.” He shifted his backpack on his shoulder and tilted his head like he was concerned. “I heard about your locker yesterday.”

“Like you care,” I replied, with a shake of my head. This was the first time he’d spoken to me since we’d broken up. He wasn’t exactly my favorite person anymore and, after the rumors he’d spread, it was pretty clear I wasn’t his either.

“How can you say that?” he replied. “I know we’re broken up, but that doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you.”

“Yeah, well, you sure have a way of showing it,” I muttered.

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“Just that, if you cared about me, you wouldn’t be spreading rumors about how I wouldn’t put out for you,” I replied.

He frowned and glanced around like he was worried we’d be overheard. “I didn’t spread those rumors,” he said. “I would never disrespect you like that.”

“So it was the tooth fairy telling the whole school I was frigid? Damn, I should’ve guessed.”

He lifted an eyebrow and shook his head. “Look, I don’t know how that rumor spread, but I would never tell anyone that was the reason for us breaking up. I really care about you.”

“Well, who was it then?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” he replied. “But I’ve been telling everyone it’s not true. I’ve been saying we broke up because we’d just grown apart.”

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