Page 32 of What If I Hate You
She glances sideways, probably weighing whether I’m worth the effort. Then she gives me a tight smile that doesn’t touch her eyes. “I’m actually mid-conversation.”
Michelle starts to get up. “We were just?—”
“We weren’t,” she cuts in, eyes still locked on me.
I rub the back of my neck again, heat crawling up the sides of my face. I feel huge and stupid and completely exposed. “Please,” I say. “It’ll just take a minute.”
There’s a long pause and then she rises, smooth as ever, brushing imaginary lint from her blazer. “Excuse me Michelle. I’ll just be a minute.”
Michelle nods and then Blakely follows me into the hall without a word, arms crossed over her chest like a goddamn barrier.
“Well?”
I turn to face her. “I was outta line last night.”
Her eyebrows lift. “Yes. You were.”
Fuck. I deserve that.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I rush out. “I was…fuck, I don’t even know what I was, but I let it get out of hand.”
She doesn’t blink. “You called me the token bitch, Barrett. I don’t really care how you meant it.”
My stomach turns. She’s not yelling. Not emotional. Just…done.
“You’re right,” I mutter. “I fucked up. You didn’t deserve that. I…I lost my temper.”
“You did.” She gives me that same polite, unreadable smile. “And I appreciate the apology.”
That’s it?
“That’s it?” I say before I can stop myself. “That’s all you’ve got?”
She tilts her head slightly. “What else do you want? A hug?”
God, I want more than that. I want a damn time machine. I want to rewind to the moment I opened my mouth and punch myself in the face.
“I didn’t want to make it personal,” I say, voice lower now. “But with you, it…it is personal. It always has been.”
Her expression doesn’t change, but I swear something flickers in her eyes—just for a second—then it’s gone.
“And that’s your problem,” she says, calm as ever. “Not mine.”
She turns and walks back into the dining room like I never touched a nerve at all.
And I just stand there, alone in the hallway, every breath loud and heavy in my chest.
I fucked up.
Not just with her.
Withwhoshe is. What she deals with. What I should’ve respected from day one.
And now?
I’m going to have to earn my way back from this.
One inch at a time.
