Page 33 of The Lie
Well now, how can I worry about being late when he comes back with something like that?
“What class do you have first?” He wraps his arm around my shoulder as he stands beside me, and I lean into him.
“English with Mrs. Becker. My double trouble class.”
“Double trouble?”
I look at his confused face and giggle. “Yeah, Jace and Roman.”
“That’s funny. What’s chem, then? Triple trouble?”
I shake my head. “A nightmare.”
He lets out a deep, throaty laugh at that.
Hunter greets people by name as we walk through the halls; he’s very popular with all the students. It’s actually nice to see. He’s nothing like some of the other jocks I’ve seen. And he makes sure to introduce me as his girlfriend, Mila, but there’s no way I can remember all those names.
By the time I’ve reached my classroom, I feel like I’ve surpassed my limit of socializing for the day, and first period hasn’t started yet. I have no idea how he does that every day. It’s torture. Or maybe I’m just not built to be a social butterfly.
Jace is already sitting at a table as I walk into the class. He glares over at Hunter and me. I just raise my brow. If he has something to say, he can say it or fuck off.
Hunter takes my face in his hands and kisses me with those luscious lips of his. I sag against him a little, soaking in all he has to give, and I give it right back to him. A throat clears, and we break apart. I’m a little dazed after that. I didn’t see him at all yesterday, but we talked on the phone a bit. He was helping his mom with some stuff.
“If you would like to take a seat, Miss Hart, we can get the class started,” my annoyed-sounding teacher says.
I look around for a spare seat, and the only one available is next to the one person who said he can’t be my friend anymore. Roman doesn’t look at me. He looks out the window as though he’d rather run away than sit next to me.
Deep down, I know that isn’t true. And I’m not giving up. He knows this, especially after our almost-kiss in the pool on Saturday. I’m not letting that go…I dreamed about that kiss two nights in a row. I want the real thing now.
Making my way over, I take the seat, and Hunter follows me, dropping my bag on the floor next to my desk. Roman turns and does that head nod hello thing that guys seem to do. Hunter does the same, but no words are exchanged. I’d almost forgotten Roman said he couldn’t be friends with either of us.
I need to ask Hunter how he feels. Hell, this is bigger than I thought. Jace is alone because he’s an asshole. Hunter’s alone because he chose me. Roman’s alone because he thinks the distance will protect all of us.
If anything, I’ve come home after four years to three best friends and amazing teammates and reduced them to a head nod and completely ignoring each other. I have to fix this.
One of them at a time. Roman first. Jace…well, I need time after what he did to me and to Grady. Maybe with time alone, he’ll realize the mistakes he’s made. I know we’ve made some too, but he lashed out at people he cares for, and he needs to work on himself before I can even start to mend this friendship again. That’s if he even wants to.
“Hey,” I say to Roman, my mind returning to our “one last day” together. I hadn’t laughed that much in so long. My stomach muscles actually hurt yesterday from overuse. I want that day again. As much as I love my new car, it’s always going to be the car that cockblocked me from what I know would have been an epic kiss with Roman.
When he doesn’t reply, I get out my books from my bag. I try to grip my pen in my right hand and the cast makes it too awkward. So, I flip over to my left hand to take notes. I love pen and paper, but I have the laptop too, which will make it much easier to write.
“I’m not giving up,” I whisper under my breath, knowing only he can hear me.
He releases a breath. I draw some circles and swirls with my left hand, trying to get used to writing with that hand. I can feel his eyes on me through his hair, and I want to reach out and push it behind his ear so bad.
“You need to,” he whispers. It’s barely audible, but I hear it.
“You need a haircut.” I look over at him under my lashes and catch his striking blue eye through the strands. We just stare at each other, like we’re locked in a battle, and the first to blink loses. I won’t lose this battle.
“Don’t want one.”
I still my lips from smiling and swallow, my hands tingling to push the hair away when he doesn’t move to do so.
“Why not?” I press on, holding my breath as I wait for him to reply.
“You know why,” he mutters under his breath just as he turns to look out the window again.
That’s all I need to hear. I sit up straighter and the buzz in my chest makes me smile like the Cheshire cat. He won’t cut his hair…for me. He’s not giving up on us. Deep down he doesn’t want to.
