Page 76 of I Hate You More

“And I saw the way you two kids looked at each other,” he continued, ignoring me. “There was something there between you. It was clear as the nose on your face. There has to be another reason.”

“There’s not.”

“Nonsense,” he replied. “Have you even tried to figure out if there’s some other explanation for the way she’s acting?”

“Well, no…”

He nodded firmly, like that was the answer. “You’ll just have to figure out what it is that’s bothering her and fix it,” he said.

“It’s a little hard when she won’t speak to me.”

“I’m sure you can get her to talk. You can be quite determined when you put your mind to something. Plus, I’ve seen you work your charm on the nurses here, and if those ladies can’t resist you, I doubt Ally can either. There’s a reason I get extra Jell-O when you come to visit.”

My eyes lifted to meet his as I felt a wave of reassurance run through me. He was right. I’d never been one to back down from a fight before—certainly not a fight with Ally. Her demeanor had changed in the blink of an eye yesterday, and the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize that Gramps had a point. Something else was going on with Ally, and I needed to find out what it was.

“I’ve got to go,” I said, jumping up from my chair.

Gramps smiled broadly at me and nodded. “That’s my boy. Now, go get your girl.”

I started to the door, but he called out just as I was about to leave. “And Chase?”

I turned to him.

“Good luck.”

“Thanks.” I grinned and gave him a wink before I headed out the door.

* * *

The house wasquiet when I got home. It was a Sunday, so Shane was probably training, and Mr. Lockwood was most likely at the office. Ally normally spent Sundays doing homework in her room, and I hoped that was the case now.

I walked up the stairs before knocking gently on her closed door. “Ally, I need to speak with you.”

“Go away, Chase!”

That was as close as I was going to get to an invitation to come in, so I entered the room without another word and quickly shut the door behind me. Ally sat up in her bed, her eyes narrowing as she lowered her book to her side. Her hair was up in a messy bun, and she was wearing some tattered old sweater and shorts. I couldn’t help but think how beautiful she looked. Until she opened her mouth, that was.

“I told you to go away.”

“And I’ve decided to ignore you.”

She rolled her eyes at me before focusing back on the book we were reading for English. I wouldn’t let her ignore me so easily though, so I walked over and ripped it out of her hands.

“Hey!” she shouted, as I tugged the book away. She jumped up and tried to grab it back, but I moved it out of reach. “I was just getting to the good bit.”

“That’s how you like it, isn’t it. You know, you almost get to the good bit, and then you rip it all away.”

“What are you talking about?” Her brow creased, slightly dampening the annoyance in her eyes.

I shook my head at her. “Us,Ally. I’m talking about us.”

“There is no us.”

“No, because you decided we were finished before we even started.” I stalked away from her, clenching her book tightly in one hand. She was unrelenting when she set her mind to something, and right now, it was making me wild. I took in a deep breath before I stalked back over to her. “Why did you break things off between us?”

Her gaze darted toward the door like she wanted to escape, but I was standing between her and the exit, and I wasn’t going anywhere until I got my explanation.

“Ally, why?”

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