Page 142 of The Casualty of Us
“Just you wait, Fitzroy.” Her laugh comes out just this side of a cackle again. “I’ve got big plans for you once we iron out those people skills.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
OPHELIA - AUGUST 2013
I giveup by the time nine thirty rolls around, and there are still three unanswered messages staring back at me. The first one being a check-in when he didn’t show up to dinner with everyone, and Ollie continued to shoot me those reproachful looks throughout the whole thing. The second one I shot off when I got back to my dorm, asking if he had fallen asleep or something, before promptly stubbing my toe and yelling at Marley. Not liking the advice she was spouting one bit, probably because it struck a little too close to home for my liking, her words looping through my head since then right along with Hayes’s.
“Everyone has an Achilles’ heel, O, most of us just aren’t stupid enough to fall in love with ours.”
I hadn’t reacted well to that. Still reading her the riot act over the use of that particular four-letter word while shooting off the third…resorting to the most shameful question mark of ghosted souls everywhere.
Giving him approximately five minutes to reply before deciding I’m not only going to have to take extreme measures, but I’m also going to have to take them to him tonight. Because this is a new shade of Hayes, and my instincts are screaming atme that I pushed him to it. That I need to fix it if I can before we start arming the battlements and going back to some version of war like last year. Knowing I’m not going to be getting any sleep until I do, and…I just don’t like it. The idea of him upset.
It’s why I keep making those payments, I guess.
Fucking nepo rock star baby.
I swipe Ollie’s extra keycard across their door, pulling it open and sliding through before anyone can catch sight of me in the hall. The hoodie and shorts I’m wearing are not exactly doing much to hide that I’m a girl, but I pulled the hood over my head to at least make sure Kyler stood less of a chance of catching sight of me.
Very thoughtful of me.
Just like the ice cream I hauled ass over to grab from the mess hall before they closed. Even more gracious, really, considering that it involved running.
I close the door with a sigh and turn, coming to an immediate stop when I find Ollie staring back at me from the couch—both of us blinking at each other and knowing I’m not here for him. A few guitar chords float through the air, and surprise fills me at the sound that’s never been here before but that’s definitely coming from behind Hayes’s closed door.
I clear my throat, shifting my feet from side to side before whispering, “How is he?”
“Not good,” Ollie snorts quietly, playing with the phone in his hands. “Especially since Kyler asked if we could grab lunch sometime, and I kind of had to say yes.”
“What?” I scowl. “Why the hell did you do that?”
“Because it was either that or listen to him go on about how we should have no hard feelings while Hayes was literally in the shower next to us.”
My mouth pops open at the mental picture, and I just barely fight the urge to stomp my foot like a toddler about the whole thing before cursing. “Fuck.”
“This is a mess.” He shakes his head at me with that same reproach in his eyes. “And they’re going to be at each other’s throats all season because—”
“This is not my fault,” I cut in.
“No,” he agrees, pausing before nodding at Hayes’s door and delivering bluntly, “But that is.”
“I know.” I swallow, still trying to figure out where I fucked up so bad apparently. “So I’m just going to…” Shifting on my feet another couple of times, I clench the takeout bag in my hand while finishing awkwardly, “Go in there now.”
Weird.
“Right.” He stands quickly. “I’m going to go be somewhere else.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
I turn to head to Hayes’s room when his quiet voice stops me, making me glance back.
“Hey, O.” The expression on his face is a little torn but a lot thoughtful as he tells me, “Remember that most people aren’t me, they don’t automatically know what you’re thinking, okay?”
“Okay,” I whisper, brows falling for a second before I give him a little grin that he returns with his crooked one. “Night, big brother.”
“Whatever.” He rolls his eyes, turning to head toward his room while calling back quietly, “Love you too, baby sister.”
