Page 132 of Betting on You

I glanced at Charlie, and he was giving me the amused grin he’d given me a thousand times before. Which pissed me off. How dare he act like everything was normal? I gave him a very fake smile—the baring of teeth—and turned away from him in my chair.

I was about to say something to Dana when Charlie said, “Are you going to sing?”

I looked at him over my shoulder. “What?”

He gave a nod toward the bar. “When karaoke starts. You singing, Mitchell?”

“Doubt it,” I said, wishing he’d just leave me alone.

I heard Eli say something to him, and then Nekesa, Charlie, and Eli exploded into a conversation. So I just sat there, wedged in between two conversations like a loner loser. I desperately wantedto go home, but I was also so happy to see Nekesa not crying that I was going to shut up and deal for a while in the name of her happiness.

Y’know, since I had a hand in making her sad.

Karaoke began, and I was finally able to relax. Mainly because Charlie had stopped talking, and everyone else had started. Dana and Eli sang “Señorita” by Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes, and they were actually good.

And even more adorable than before.

They were couple perfection. And it made me sick.

Nekesa went up and did “Party in the USA,” which was awful, but everyone sang along so it was fun. I was in the middle of discussing Miley Cyrus with Eli when I heard the notes of the next song start.

No.

I closed my eyes and refused to look toward the karaoke stage.

“Bailey,” Charlie said into the microphone, “Bailey Mitchell. Come sing with me.”

“Do What You Gotta Do” began playing, and Charlie started singing to the Disney song. Badly.

Hearing him singing that song made me grit my teeth and curl my fingers into fists. It reminded me of what we’d been, of how great we’d been together, and how easily he’d just scrapped it.

And now, because of the convenience of location, he thought we could just pick it back up like nothing had happened?

I got up and headed for the door—I needed to get the hell out of there. I needed air, I needed space, I needed no Charlie. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked, and just as I pushed the doors to exit thebuilding, I heard him stop singing and say into the microphone, “Bailey!”

Nope.

Not stopping, not going back.

I walked around to the side of the building, out of sight, and rubbed the back of my neck with both hands.

“Bailey?” Charlie came running around the corner, and I felt something spark in my chest as he looked confused, like he was somehow shocked that I hadn’t wanted to play with him.

“For God’s sake, Charlie, can you just leave me alone?” I dropped my arms to my sides and sighed. “You’re good at that, so it should be easy.”

He made a noise in his throat and his face looked pained. Guilty, like he knew he’d been an asshole. “I didn’t leave you alone; I just—”

“Youliterallyleft me alone at your mother’s apartment, and you’ve ghosted me ever since,” I said in a high-pitched voice that I didn’t like. “Don’t get me wrong—I don’t give a shit—but you can’t act like you’re confused as to why I’m not your friend anymore.”

“I knew this would happen,” he muttered quietly, almost under his breath.

“Knewwhatwould happen?” I barked.

“This,” he said, looking agitated and sounding frustrated. “I knewthiswould happen. Itoldyou this would happen.”

“Are you talking about your idiotic theory?” I asked, my voice growing louder. “Thisdidn’t happen because we were friends.Thishappened because as soon as we shared a real moment, you freaked out and disappeared.”

“I didn’t freak out,” he said, his voice a little louder as well, “but I could tell that you were going to make something huge out of a kiss, and I didn’t want it to fuck up our friendship.”

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