Page 79 of Don't Let Me Go (Don't Let Me 2)

“Fine.” I lean away from his touch. “Ever since my fifteenth birthday when you saw me in a dress for the first time, you made our relationship weird and you started treating me differently. And how weird is it that I can literally pinpoint the exact moment when you stopped treating me like a friend?”

“I didn’t––”

“Yes, you did,” I argue, poking him in the chest. “Which is why I refused to wear a dress for the next four years until Mia twisted my arm for the party a few months ago where––again––you made it weird.”

Desperate, he grabs my wrist to keep me from poking him and drags me closer, pulling me between his open thighs. He’s so close I can taste his breath. Smell his sweat. The pheromones radiate off him, soaking into me, teasing my senses until I’m desperate for a taste. A reminder of what it feels like to have his mouth on mine. His hands on my waist as he grabs my hips and pushes into me.

My breath hitches, but I stay quiet, my attention slipping to his mouth. It’s oh, so close. Oh, so tempting.

“Give me another chance to make it not weird,” he begs.

With a scoff, I pull my hand from his grasp and cross my arms. But we’re still close. Too close. If only I were strong enough to put more distance between us. But I’ve never been strong. Not when it comes to Teddy.

“Because it worked out so well all the other times,” I remind him.

“If you won’t do it for me, do it for Colt.”

“We both know I’m not selfless enough for that.”

His chuckle is low and throaty as he counters, “Yeah, I call bullshit on that too. But if you won’t do it for him, do it for you. The old you. The new you. Whoever you want. Just…give me a chance to make shit not weird between us.”

It’s his eyes that do me in. The sincerity. It reminds me of when we were kids, and he stole the last can of Crush from the refrigerator, not realizing I’d been saving it. The next day, he delivered a whole two-liter with my name scribbled across the front in black Sharpie along with a warning: That means don’t touch this, Colt, Knox, or Garett! I know where you live.

And even though it wasn’t a bag of cinnamon bears, I’d savored the two-liter of Crush for weeks, refusing to share with anyone but Theo. Colt and Logan were pissed, which only made the soda taste that much sweeter. I loved it more than anything. The memory makes me smile as I peek up at Theo again, my heart fluttering in my chest like a dying hummingbird.

“Please, Blake?” he repeats.

It would be so easy to give in. To give him another chance. To fall for him. But I can’t. Not without putting my internship in jeopardy. And I’d be insane to let a guy come between me and my future.

I pull away from his touch, choosing to stare at the split in his lip instead of his tempting gaze. But I stay quiet. Because I don’t know what to say or how to be strong enough to pull away.

“Come to the Taylor House again,” he murmurs.

I peek up at him.

“Come hang out. Sip a few beers. Play some pool. Let me make it up to you. Let me prove we can be in the same room together without me screwing it up. Please?”

Damn his eyes.

“What about Coach’s rule?” I ask, but my mouth snaps shut when Russ enters the room.

“Graves dislocated his shoulder,” he announces. “We’re going to the hospital for some X-rays. Are you good here?”

I nod way too enthusiastically considering the circumstances, but I can’t help it. “Yup. The bleeding has stopped. I don’t think we’ll need stitches or anything.”

“Good.”

Russ’s attention shifts from me to Theo and back again. Like he’s reading the room. Like he’s been a fly on the wall all along, and it causes the hair along the back of my neck to stand on end.

Are we that obvious?

His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t say a word, disappearing toward the exit.

With my anxiety caught in my throat, I open my mouth to call off our plans, but Theo cuts me off. “I’ll pick you up at eight on Friday. As friends like you said. Besides, it’ll save space for parking, and you can lessen your carbon footprint. You’re welcome.”

“Won’t it still save car space and lessen my carbon footprint if I carpool with one of my friends?” I point out. “I could always catch a ride with Ash or something.”

“You could, but you won’t. I’m picking you up.” He gives me a look daring me to argue, but I keep my lips pulled tight as the rest of the team shuffles into the locker room down the hall.

---