Page 52 of The Prom King & The Ice Queen

She laughs, and it’s a genuine giggle. The kind I never ever thought Savannah Winters capable of. She claps a hand over her mouth, seeming to realize she’d let it slip a second too late.

“Savannah,” I start. But I don’t know how to continue.

Laugh for me. Talk to me. Be you because I think I like that girl a lot.

“Yes?” She’s tensing and the walls are coming up.

“I want to kiss you again,” I blurt out. What can I say? Desperate times call for desperate honesty.

“What?” She blinks and blushes.

Let me repeat—she blushes. It takes everything in me not to grin at that. I didn’t even know she was capable of blushing until tonight.

She gives her head a little shake and takes a step away from me. “You know what this is, Leo. I’m just repaying you for—”

“Yeah, about that,” I interrupt. Because I’m not exactly loving the thought of once again rehashing just how much she doesn't actually want to be my date. “Tell me why you didn’t just tell me the truth at Addie’s party.”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. It was embarrassing.” She looks away and mutters, “I still can’t believe I fell for April’s lies. I must have been more tired than I’d thought.”

“So, to be clear. She told you it was her ring?”

She nods.

“Because she wanted you to get caught stealing,” I finish.

She shrugs, but it’s too jerky, her expression too tight.

“That’s messed up,” I say.

Her gaze flickers over to meet mine, like she’s not quite sure if I’m serious or not. Her jaw works when she sees that I am. “Yeah, well…”

She looks away again with a shrug. Just like that, I’ve been dismissed. She’s done that move to me countless times at school. So many times. But right now I see it for what it is.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask again.

She scowls. “I told you—”

“Then tell me again.” I step closer. “And this time, tell me the truth.”

Her lips part and she stares like she’s only now seeing me.

I swear I feel that look all the way to my bones. It’s unsettling, having this girl who’s known me for so long look at me like this. But it’s good. It’s…satisfying. To be looked at and seen, and not as the charming, flirty quarterback. Not as a good-for-nothing rich kid. Just me.

“Why didn't you tell me?” I try again when it’s clear she’s not going to answer.

Her eyes flare with anger. “Would you have believed me?”

“Yes.” I say it quickly and without having to think. “I never thought of you as a criminal, Savannah. Not even when I was sure you took the ring.”

She blinks and I see her throat work as she swallows. She looks toward the door like she wants to escape, but then she turns back to meet my gaze. “It was embarrassing. And I was a little hurt, I guess.” She rolls her eyes, her nostrils flaring slightly as she tries to play it cool. “So stupid to be hurt, right? I’ve always known where things stand between me and April.” Her gaze collides with mine. “Between me and all of you.”

I open my mouth to protest at being lumped in with the likes of April and Shane but she starts talking, faster now, and with genuine emotions written all over her face.

“I didn’t say anything because it's so unfair. Because it was a prank, yes, but she didn’t care what the cost would have been. And you couldn’t understand. None of you would have.” She shakes her head, her hands fisting at her sides. “A stupid prank could have ruined my life, and you all would have gotten your laugh.”

“Savannah, I—”

“It doesn't matter though,” she says over top of me. The glistening sheen in her eyes defies her apathetic words. The way her voice shakes denies her caustic tone. “Because I'm done. I'm done with all of you.”

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