Page 36 of The Hearts We Fumble
“Whatever you’re thinking, just say it. Nothing you say can hurt me now. So do it.”
Zane’s grip goes slack. His fingers leave my skin. And for some reason, it hurts more than if he had stayed.
He steps back, his gaze skittering away from mine, his jaw ticking as he drags a rough hand down his face. The air in the room shifts—thick, suffocating, choking me in all the things he refuses to say.
“Go.”
A single word.
Flat. Emotionless. A command, not a request.
Like I’m nothing. Like whatever just passed between us never even happened.
The sting slices through me like a blade.
I should’ve expected it. I did expect it. But that doesn’t stop the hurt from settling like a stone on my chest.
My exhale is sharp as I spin toward the door, my fingers curling around the handle, white-knuckled, ready to bolt.
But something inside me won’t let me leave without one last blow. I don’t turn around when I say it.
“I already have a brother, Zane. I don’t need—or want—another one. So hear me when I say this again…”
I suck in a breath, my voice laced with finality, with hurt, with every ounce of anger I can muster.
“Stay the hell out of my life.”
Then I throw open the door and slam it behind me. I don’t stop moving until I reach my room, my breaths ragged and uneven, the lump in my throat thick.
I tell myself that I won. I got the last word.
I squeeze my eyes shut, my back against the door, but it doesn’t stop the truth from settling deep in my bones.
Zane Kinnick wasn’t just my first heartbreak—he’ll be my last.
Chapter Nine
Wyatt
Claudia: Party tonight at Alpha Nu. You coming?
I stare at the message, my thumb hovering over the keyboard, debating my response.
It’s been two days since I stormed over to Zane’s house and told him to stay the hell out of my business. Two days of pretending I didn’t replay every second of that night in my head. Of convincing myself that seeing him with his jaw tight and his eyes dark with something I couldn’t quite decipher didn’t affect me.
And now, I have a choice.
Tatum already invited me to go to The End Zone with her, Reed, their roommates, and their girlfriends. A casual, easy night out. But I knew what that really meant—Zane would be there.
And as much as I’d love to kick back and sip on overpriced drinks with my friends, I also loved the thought of blowing it off and hitting up Alpha Nu’s party instead. A not-so-subtlefuck youto the one person I shouldn’t care about anymore.
Word would get back to him. It always did.
Colter would disapprove, of course. He’d be pissed if he knew I was even considering it. He’s never liked Claudia, not since last year at Greencastle when she ditched me without a ride.Not a real friend, he’d said.You should drop her.
And maybe he wasn’t wrong.
Girl code says you don’t leave your friends stranded, but Claudia tends to get lost in her own world, especially when a guy’s involved. She apologized a hundred times, insisting she thought I was catching a ride with Tatum and Reed, but I still remember standing outside that party, cold and furious, debating if I should believe her.
