Page 100 of Counter Bet

I return his smile and kiss him softly. A thought occurs to me, so I pull back and look at Dallas.

She drops her gaze. “I can’t afford it, princess. I’ll have to stay here.” Her quiet voice cracks at the end.

No…

It’s not true. She can’t do this to us. We aren’t complete without her. Until this very moment, I had come to accept that we wouldn’t be together next year, but now…

I shake my head. I don’t want to hear it. Whatever happens, we’ll make it work. “You’re coming with us. We’re not leaving you behind.” I turn to Ben, begging him with my eyes to back me up.

We’re not leaving her behind in the same town as Greg. Not to mention, I’ll never be able to hold her or kiss her. “Right?” I whisper shakily. “Tell her, Ben. We can’t leave her here.”

Ben swallows thickly. The sadness in his eyes feels like a dagger to my heart. “We discussed it, baby. Either we both stay here, or I go with you. We agreed.”

“Wha—” I shake my head. I don’t understand. “We agreed? What does that mean, Ben? What did you agree on?” I turn to Dallas, frantically searching her eyes for the truth. “Tell me, goddamnit! What did you agree on?”

“Princess,” Ben whispers, but I cut him off, yelling, “No! Fuck you, Ben! You don’t get to make decisions for me.” I stand up. “I’ll just stay here. It’s not too late to apply for colleges nearby. My family has connections. I can even take a year out.”

“Emily,” Dallas says, taking my hand, but I step out of reach. “Please, Em. I don’t want you to stay behind because of me. That’s the last thing I want. Look, you applied to a great college with a fantastic art program. It’s your dream come true, and I want you to go, okay? Ineedyou to go!” She rises from the bed, taking my hand in hers.

I try to pull away, but she won’t let me. She forces me to listen. “I need you to take Ben with you. He’s had a shit life, and he deserves a new start—with you. He deserves happiness. You love him. I know you will make him happy.”

I meet her kohl-rimmed eyes. “I do love Ben, but I love you too. What about you, Dallas? What aboutyourhappiness?”

“Princess,” she whispers softly.

It only angers me even more. “Don’t call me that! I can’t believe you made decisions without me!”

Dallas sighs. She lets go of my hand, raising both of hers placatingly. “Okay, look. You already applied, right? Your plan was always to go.”

The worst part is that she’s right. I could have applied to a college closer to home. But I wanted to escape the expectations of my family and friends and go somewhere completely different—be someone new. I didn’t give this thing between us much thought. I thought we were simply having fun.

Why am I so upset when I always knew it would come to this?

“You know I’m right. You wanted this new future for yourself. It’s a decision you made for yourself because it’syourdream. I don’t want to stand in the way of that. I can’t think of anything worse. I don’t want to hold you back, Em. Besides, it’s not forever. I’ll visit you as often as I can, and you can come to see me. We’ll make it work, but please, Em. Do this for me.”

How can she ask this of me? Yes, it’s what I wanted when I applied, but that was before she confessed her feelings to me. I don’t know what I want anymore. All I know is that I don’t want to let her go, and it hurts that she can let us go easily without a fight.

“I thought you said you wereall in? Are you really not going to fight for us?” I ask disbelievingly, searching her eyes for any signs of regret. “You’re just going to let me go, Dallas?”

Her blue eyes fill with tears, and she swallows thickly. “Baby…” she holds her hands out helplessly. “This is me fighting for us. I’m setting you free. I’ll only hold you back otherwise. Don’t you see? Why are we fighting about this now? There’s still time until we graduate, Em. Don’t do this.”

I scoff, wiping away tears. “Well, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry, I fucking care!”

She winces.

Ben rises from the bed. The way he approaches me with his hand out reminds me of someone trying to calm a frightened animal. “Babe, listen to Dallas. Please. We didn’t mean to hurt you.”

I narrow my eyes, pointing my finger at him. “Don’t you dare be condescending toward me, Ben!”

At this point, I don’t know what makes me more angry? Them for making decisions behind my back or me for putting myself in this position in the first place. If I never applied to that stupid college and if I hadn’t let myself fall in love in the first place…

“I can’t do this,” I whisper. Panic is quickly rising inside of me. “I’m sorry.” I run from the room and race downstairs, pushing my way through throngs of people. Matt and Josh shout for me to stop.

I burst through the front door, almost tumbling down the steps.

I’ve been to Jack’s house enough times to know of the worn path through the forest at the edge of his yard. It’s a long walk home, but I need the fresh air to clear my head.

I leave my car behind and use the flashlight on my phone to light up the forest floor ahead of me.

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