Page 32 of I Hate You More

“Yes,” Ally replied.

“No!” I barked.

I shot her a deadly scowl before turning that same glare on the idiot behind me. “Ally’s not dancing with you tonight,” I told him.

Declan’s drunken eyes slowly drifted to Ally as he shook his head at her. “Oh, so you were just teasing me, were you?” he slurred.

“I wasn’t.” I could barely hear her reply over the music, but Declan was already stumbling back toward his friends. He barely got a couple of feet from us before he accidentally toppled into another girl and started flirting with her. The girl almost immediately walked away.

“Why do you have to ruin everything?” Ally shouted at me, pulling my attention back to her once more.

“I’m not ruining everything,” I growled. If anything, I was trying to look after her. “So, enough of this crap. We’re leaving.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Ally replied. She’d barely said a word to me for days, let alone argued with me, so I was somewhat relieved to see she still had that spark in her. Like all of the fights we had, she was convinced she could win this one. What she didn’t realize was that I was done trying to play by the rules. I didn’t give her the opportunity to object again, and without any hesitation I moved forward and threw her over my shoulder.

“What the hell, Chase!” she squealed as I began to walk away from the podium. I was getting her out of here whether she liked it or not, so I started straight toward the exit.

“Put me down, you ass!” Ally yelled, as she thumped me across my back.

I quite enjoyed having control over her for once and wasn’t quite ready to give in to her demands. I’d put her down when I was ready to and not a moment sooner.

“Please, Chase, I’m pretty sure people can see up my skirt!”

I immediately set her on the ground. “That wouldn’t be a problem if you’d worn more than a small scrap of material around your waist,” I snapped back.

Ally shrugged my concern off. “I haven’t heard too many guys complaining about it.”

She stood right in front of me, and it was the first time I’d seen her up close tonight. She appeared much older with her seductive dark eye shadow and sultry red lips. I found myself strangely missing the way she looked at school every day though. The makeup was like a mask, hiding her imperfections and making her look just like all the other girls staggering around the club tonight. I could normally see a tiny freckle just under her right eye, but with so much makeup on, it was like she’d erased it. This wasn’t the true Ally.

I slowly shook my head, my disapproval shining through my eyes. “This isn’t you.”

She frowned and bit down on her lower lip as she looked up at me. “Maybe it is. You don’t know me,” she said. The fight was gone from her voice, and briefly, I sensed her vulnerability. As I stared at her, I wondered if she was right. We always fought so much that I could see why she might think that. As I considered her silently, I began to question myself. Had I grown so hard toward her over the years that I’d become blind to the girl standing before me? I didn’t want to know the answer, so I pushed the question to the back of my mind.

“I don’t feel so well,” she murmured.

I sighed and placed a hand on her lower back as I guided her toward the door once more. I was surprised to find she obliged without any objection.

It was only once we were safely outside that I finally let go of her. The night was cold, and I had no idea how Ally wasn’t shivering in her scraps of clothing. If I had a jacket, I would have given it to her, but I hoped the alcohol flooding her system would be doing a good job of keeping her warm.

I messaged Shane to let him know we’d left the club and told him we’d meet him at his car. As I put my phone away, I led Ally to where he’d parked. It was down a dimly lit street, and Ally seemed to subconsciously drift closer to me as we walked through a particularly dark section.

Neither of us spoke as we walked, and I had to wonder what she was thinking. She’d been so defiant when she’d been fighting with her brother, but she’d so easily given up once I got her off the dance floor.

I slowed as we neared the car and stopped to turn toward her. “Why didn’t you keep fighting me in there?” I asked.

Ally paused at my side, her brows knitting together as she stared for a long moment at the car. She finally let out a breath and looked up at me. Her eyes were bright despite the darkness and far clearer than they’d been in the club. She seemed more sober now we were outside, and I could almost see the cogs of her mind working through my question.

She let out a long sigh. “Maybe because I’m done fighting with you,” she finally replied. Her eyes quickly darted away and she started toward the car again before I could respond.

I couldn’t tell if she meant she was done fighting in general or if she only meant for tonight. She’d seemed embarrassed by the admission, and as I watched her rush toward the car, I had to wonder: was I done fighting too?

10

Ally

I experiencedmy first official hangover on Sunday. I’d only had a couple of drinks at Dizzy on Saturday night, but apparently, that was enough to make my head pound and my stomach turn at the sight of food the next day. I slept until noon and hid in my room pretending to do homework once I woke up. I didn’t want Dad to guess what I’d gotten up to the previous night, but I also didn’t want to deal with Chase when I was in such a fragile state.

The plan we’d come up with to get him out of the house didn’t seem to be going particularly well. I’d followed Tessa’s advice as much as possible at Dizzy, but Chase was hardly swooning over me. Dancing with other guys hadn’t enticed him like Tessa had suggested it would, and my outfit choice had only seemed to annoy him. He’d pretty much dragged me from the club, and it felt like he’d only done it to try to ruin my night.

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