Page 84 of Forever Then

Before I can accept his invitation, another hand swoops in and grabs mine. “She’s not dancing with you, Mav,” Connor declares as he lugs me toward the dance floor. Mav’s laughter fades into the distance behind me.

Connor brings us to the edge of the dance floor and tucks me inclose with a broad hand wrapped around my waist, braced on the bare skin of my back. Our clasped hands elevated between us, I bring my other hand to rest on his shoulder.

“That was kind of rude,” I say as we begin to shift from side to side.

“You’re not dancing with him and I need to talk to you.”

I meet his stare. “Where’s your date, Connor?”

“In the bathroom.”

I release a tight breath through my nose. “Fine. You’ve trapped me, so talk.”

He looks around for a beat before his eyes land back on me. “First of all, you look beautiful tonight and I’ve wanted to tell you since I saw you this afternoon.”

“Thank you.” I want to return the compliment because he’s practically edible in his tuxedo…and because I love him. But I can’t voice any of that.

There’s a painful silence before he says, “I never should have asked her to come.”

“It’s not just?—”

“I never should have asked anybody else,” he amends. “It was a mistake and I’m sorry.”

I want to ask why he did it because I don’t believe for a second that he sat next to me at dinner last night, said the things he said, touched me the way he did, with plans of being here tonight with somebody else.

“Will you tell me what happened between you guys?” he asks. My eyes scan vacantly over his shoulder. “Please? I need to know. Is she the one you told me about? The one that hurt you?”

My heart wants so badly to melt into him and, for a moment, my body does just that. The hand on my back shifts, caressing, as I lean in, a plea for me to not pull away. But I’m not his date tonight. I shake my head, squaring my shoulders to put more distance between our chests.

“She, um…she was my best friend. Or I thought she was. A few months before graduation I found out she hooked up with a guy I’d been seeing. Come to find out, it wasn’t the first time she’d done something like that behind my back.”

I shrug as if that suffices for all the tears I shed over the rumors, the gossip.

“After it all went down, I also found out that everybody in our friend group knew the whole time.” My gaze finds his, his expression full of compassion andI’m listening—it’s the only reason I’m able to keep talking. “I thought those people were my friends, but they didn’t even care enough about me to tell me what was going on. I don’t know, it made me feel really stupid because I…I let her in, you know?” I scrunch my nose to push back the emotion stinging my eyes.

“You’re not stupid and I know how hard it is to let somebody in.” He squeezes my hand a little tighter. “I’m sorry she did that to you.”

We sway in silence for a moment, my forehead desperate to fall against his chest as the song comes into focus—“About You” by The 1975. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to forget him, to move on from him. All this time and he was never mine at all. And I already miss him.

I’m not sure I want to know anymore why he brought her here tonight. The answer will break me, I’m sure of it. It’s obvious I’ve completely misread…everything.

“You know, I won’t interfere, if you, um…” My God, I can’t make myself say the words. “Grudges aren’t healthy anyway, right?”

His hand tenses over my lower spine. “What are you trying to say, Gretch?”

“I’m saying I’ll set aside my feelings about her,”and you, “if you really like her.”

I’ll pretend the last year never happened.

Our eyes lock for a split second, his wide and searching, mine tired—so, so tired.

“Gretch, I?—”

“Can I cut in?” Alexis’ voice interrupts like the blunt end of a gavel—no clean break, just relentless pounding until whatever tetherwas there before is successfully crushed into oblivion. The moment is over.

Weare over.

I step out of his arms and walk away.

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