A strange knot forms in my chest. I want her to turn around. To look at me. I want to watch her lips curve the way they did when we were lying on the grass, when she hovered over me before the sprinklers hit. I think about calling out to her, but my throat’s bone-dry, and I end up with nothing.
A car honks somewhere behind me, loud and impatient, making Blue start and knocking me out of my trance.
Shit.
What the hell am I thinking?
Ripping my gaze from her face, I quicken my pace and target the school’s entrance.
Wasn’t Conway’s phone call last weekend enough of a reminder of what not to do?
You’re just like me, son.
You’ll always be just like me.
I’m not weak. Not like him. I won’t let my focus slip, and—just like Conway’s proven time and time again—Blue’s got to be the worst kind of distraction there is.
“Are you stalking me?”
My shoulders tense. I shoot a sideways glance to my left, where Blue’s fallen in sync with my steps, then quickly look away.
Stalkingher?
My pulse hammers, my neck suddenly itchy.
That’s not what I was doing.
I don’t think.
When I don’t respond, she chuckles. “I’m kidding. I saw you and caught up.”
I relax a fraction, adjusting the weight of my backpack on my shoulder as we weave through countless students. Of course she was kidding.Because I wasn’t stalking her.
“Hey, what happened to your lip?”
I swipe a thumb over my cut, glancing at her. Why does she care? Did she forget I’m an asshole since the last time we saw each other? “What’s it to you?”
She shrugs. “Just checking if you’re okay.”
We reach her locker, and when she stops, opening it up, I narrow my eyes.
“What, just because?”
“Yeah.” She laughs, giving me a funny look before she pulls her camera from her backpack. “Just because. It’s the second time I’ve seen you hurt. You really are okay?”
I frown, inspecting her face.
She glances at me. “You’re not a big talker, are you?”
I let out an amused breath. “You could say that.”
“That’s a shame. I like when you talk.” She finishes taping something to the inside of her locker, then she stares right at me, tilting her head. Somehow bold and innocent at once. Her eyes are bright when she teases, “Guess your new nickname suits you after all, grumpy.”
My lips twitch, and I rub the side of my jaw. Open my mouth. Close it again.
Why the hell am I still standing here? I’m supposed to be on my way to see Principal Lori, and, instead, I’m allowing a damn girl to distract me.
Just likehim.
