Page 40 of Fight for You (Flirting with Forever 2)

I cough, a trickle of sweat sliding its way between my shoulder blades. How I’m sweating when it’s twenty-five degrees outside is beyond me. “I have zero complaints.”

Zero. I feel like I should thank this man for everything Hadleigh has become to me, but that would be … decidedly inappropriate.

He claps his hands together once and stands. “Great. Then we’re done here for now. I’ll see you in another two weeks, and we’ll talk a little more in depth about your experience at NHS.”

“Sounds good, sir.”

As I leave, I pull out my phone to shoot Hadleigh a quick text to let her know how the meeting had gone.

Me: Hey. Just got done with McDaniel.

Me: He asked me if you were meeting my needs. I refrained from saying the first thing that came to my mind. :)

Me: But just so you know, you are everything I need.

I frown when she doesn’t respond right away like she normally does, but maybe she’s just busy. We’d left things on a fantastic note.

Another two hours go by, and I regret sending that last text and am beating myself up all to hell about it. I know that she’s who I need. But am I who she wants?

Early Monday, Hadleigh and I are surrounded by other people in the workroom. I’m ready to pull my hair out. Why are so many people here already? All I want to do is get her alone and figure out what the hell is going on. I need a chance to find out just where I went wrong. Had I moved too quickly for her? Maybe that was the mistake. She told me herself she has trouble with relationships because of the piss-poor role model her own mother had been. When she’d finally texted me back Sunday night, it’d been curt and to the point. A definite blow to my Tara-damaged ego.

Hadleigh: That’s good. See you Monday.

That’s all she’d said. I’d bared a piece of my heart to her, told her I needed her, and she’d said, “That’s good.” I know she was responding to how my meeting went and completely ignoring the rest, but still. What. The. Hell?

She’s hardly looked at me since I arrived this morning. Fuck, I’m so frustrated. I think back to Saturday morning—her eyes had devoured me right up until the second I closed her door behind me. Nope. There’d been no mistaking the look in her eyes. We’d been on the same damn page. Yet, fast forward to today and she’s totally giving me the brush off.

Cold sweat dots my brow as I start to wonder if she’s having second thoughts. I’m so fucking frustrated right now.

Frustrated I can’t just ask her with everyone here.

Frustrated I don’t know if I somehow did something wrong.

Frustrated we’re even having an issue in the first place, seemingly out of the blue.

Because that first time with her and every time after had been everything. So. Damn. Hot. I’d wanted to claim her body. But more than that, I’d wanted to possess her heart—I want all of her, every bit she’ll let me have.

But not if she doesn’t feel the same. Not if it doesn’t mean to her what it does to me. My stomach twists into knots.

Chapter 25

Hadleigh

It’s not helping my current state of mind that I’ve only had two-point-two hours of sleep. I’d come in early, figuring there was no reason to lie around in the bed moping, so I figured I’d at least be productive by getting some grading done. Piper, Jake, and Brian were already in when I got here. Considering it was a full hour before school starts, I’d been extremely surprised when Sawyer had also shown up early.

I feel awful. Sawyer doesn’t deserve to be treated like this, and it’s obvious from the bags under his eyes and rumpled hair that he didn’t get much sleep, either. I don’t know what to do about Ed, though, and my first inclination is to push Sawyer away, to protect him from whatever cr

ap Ed decides to fling my way. I don’t want Sawyer to be taken down with me if Ed truly intends to somehow use those photos against me. And if he decides to tell everyone that Sawyer and I are together? Well, I don’t know what to do.

I’m so lost in thought I startle when Sawyer lightly touches my arm. My heart rate picks up, but I don’t look at him. I can’t. He sinks into the chair beside me, propping his elbow on the little student desk and resting his head on his fisted hand. I feel his hot gaze on me, and finally, I can’t handle it anymore. I have to look at him, so I angle my head his way. My eyes move over the rugged features of his handsome face, and I want to cry. He definitely seems exhausted, the same way I am.

His voice is low enough when he speaks that only I can hear it. “Are you mad at me about something?”

When I don’t answer right away, he swallows visibly before lifting one hand like he’s about to touch me, but then he lets it drop, like he’s thought better of it.

I blink rapidly and try to control my breathing. I’m so overwhelmed by what I should and shouldn’t do that I can barely think, much less formulate an answer. Finally, I shake my head and murmur, “No.”

He glances at Brian as he leaves the room, then at Piper and Jake, whose desks face the opposite direction before he leans in and feathers a kiss over my cheekbone. “I don’t understand what’s happened. Do you want to clue me in?”

---