I reach out and touch his hand. “What’s wrong? Are you afraid I’m going to become part of his friend group and ditch you? You should know I’d never do that.”
He wraps his hand around mine but keeps his gaze fixed on his coffee cup. “I know you wouldn’t.” The words are clipped.
“Then why do you seem upset?”
His brow furrows. “I don’t like any of this. I wish you would just ignore him.”
“I can’t. I need to do this.” I withdraw my hand from his. “If you’re going to grumble about him every time we talk, I’ll just vent to Serena from now on.”
He shuts his eyes for a moment. “I’ll support you.”
“Good,” I say quickly, not giving him a chance to give me a “but”. “Tomorrow is my next one-on-one date with him, and Tristan won’t tell me what we’re doing. He says it’s a surprise. I need you to help me figure out how to use this opportunity to seduce him.”
He looks like he wants to roll his eyes, but he wisely stops himself. “You should be mean to him. That’s what you’ve been doing, and it’s clearly working.”
I shake my head sharply. “If I’m going to sleep with him, I need to start getting more touchy.”
Cody’s nostrils flare. “I’m going to be sick.”
I shoot him a stern look. “What did I just say, Cody? Keep it to yourself, or I tell you nothing.”
He stands up from the table and tosses his coffee cup in the trash. “I can’t do this. I need space from you for a little while. At least until this whole Tristan thing is over.”
My stomach hollows out. Cody has never asked for space before.
“What’s going on?” I ask, my voice shaky. “Is there something…”
Fuck, I can’t ask him if there’s something he wants to tell me. What if he tells me that there’s something to my suspicions that he has feelings for me? But it doesn’t really make sense. Why would this thing with Tristan be the catalyst after three years of close friendship? He was cool with Derek—my boyfriend of about a month during freshman year.
Or was he? He never really liked Derek, though he didn’t loathe him like he does Tristan. But he did seem a little…relieved when I broke it off.
Cody stares at me with his jaw set, and I try to push the words from my mouth, but they won’t come out.
I hate that I’m such a coward. If he has feelings for me, we need to talk about it. Even if it means the end of our friendship. If he does have tender feelings for me, I can’t return them. He’s like family to me.
“You’ll be okay without me for a while,” he says. “You have Serena. You have…” His nostrils flare. “You have Tristan.”
With that, he turns around and walks out of the coffee shop.
Tears hover behind my eyes. Fuck, this is hard.
I have two weeks left of this damn game. I wish it were all over now. Except I don’t want that. I like spending time with Tristan, and I hate myself for it.
I lower my head, and a tear falls from my chin to the wooden table.
Why did I decide to go through with my revenge plan? I knew it would wreak havoc on my emotions? What makes me so determined to take Tristan down?
It’s been six years since Harper rejected me, and here I am still acting like a teenage girl trying to prove that I’m invincible. That I don’t have feelings.
I don’t know how to make it stop. The thought of letting Tristan see that I’m soft makes me want to curl into a ball and hide away from the whole world.
Tristan
The camera crew follows us as we walk through the glass double doors. Amy’s little hand is locked in mine, and exhilaration pumps through my veins. She’s going to love this date. She’s going to feel how special she is compared to the other contestants.
I’ll make sure of it.
The scent of leather and perfume hits my nose as we walk through the department store. My heart races as we step into the elevator.
