“I fell for her.”
My eyes remain fixed on Red’s, while every wall inside me is already breaking down.
“I fell for the girl I was supposed to fuck and forget.Not in some fake-ass high school way where you say it to get her back.I mean really fell.Hard.Fast.No parachute.No plan.I fucking fell.”
I swallow hard, my throat tightening.
“And yeah, I never told Jace there wasn’t a bet anymore,” I say, voice raw.“Because if I had, he would’ve known I lost.And I wasn’t about to make a joke out of what we had.Red, you are not some punchline I could laugh off at lunch.You are the only real thing I’ve ever felt.”
Her mouth parts.Just barely.Her eyes lock onto mine.
I keep going.
“And yeah, I fucked it all up.Lied through my teeth.Broke your trust.Took something pure and cracked it right down the middle.I hurt the only girl who ever made me believe I could be more than the shit I’ve always been.More than just another asshole with a smile and a game plan.”
My voice lowers, stripped down to the truth.
“But I need you to hear this, Red.”
The entire room remains silent.No one dares to move, or even breathe.
“I love you,” I say.“I’m in love with you.I think I was from the second you told me to fuck off in that hallway.”
I step closer, heart pounding against my ribs, fists clenched at my sides.But my eyes, fuck, my eyes are only on her.
“You don’t need to forgive me.You don’t have to talk to me either.But I will tell you one thing: I will never let anyone treat you like you’re disposable again.Not even me.”
Every nerve in my body is stretched tight, pushed to the limit.
Sam doesn’t say a word.
Part of me expects her to turn and walk away, to throw my words back in my face, to spit the truth I already know—that I broke us, that I lit the match and let it burn.That she owes me nothing, and walking away would be the strongest thing she could do.
And if she did, I would let her.
Because it would be her decision.
Her eyes glisten, catching the light, holding the weight of everything we’ve never said and everything I’ve already destroyed.
Then she moves.
Not away.Toward me.
One step and then another.
The air in the cafeteria is thick with silence.Everyone holds their breath, waiting and watching.The entire world seems frozen in this impossible moment.
She stops inches from me, close enough for me to see the tear slide down her cheek.
My fingers twitch, aching to reach out, to wipe it away, or hold her the way I should have from the start.But I don’t move.
Her gaze slides over my face, slow and searching, as if she’s trying to decide whether I mean every word or if I’m still the same asshole who broke her heart.
And she hits me.
A solid punch to my shoulder.It’s not hard, but enough to make me stumble back a step.
“You asshole,” she whispers, her voice trembling.Then she grabs my shirt with both hands, fists clenched in the fabric, pulling me toward her as if she’s finally done holding back.
