I search her expression, take in how scared she actually is and how far I can push, and when I decide that she’s at her limit, I drop my hand and step away. It’s difficult, but she needs to know I’m not going to take what she doesn’t want to give. She’s too scared right now to give anything. Whatever that bastard did to her, it really messed her up.
She wipes a tear from her cheek and heads to the door. When she’s gone, I scrub the back of my neck. Lucky for me, I have all the patience in the world.
CHAPTER 9
AVERY MOORE
I exitthe Spanish hall in a flurry of emotion. A tidal wave. A great tsunami. Tears prick my eyes, and a sob racks my ribs.
What the hell just happened?
I know exactly what happened. He cornered me again, confronted me, and I just about gave in. What is wrong with me? Why can’t I control myself when I’m around him? And how does he get past my defenses with barely a touch?
That’s one thing he and Neil don’t have in common. Reid could bring me to my knees by just rubbing his hand across my cheek. Hell, he almost did by brushing his nose along mine. With Neil, it was never like that. Sure, I was completely enamored, but not like this. His touch didn’t set me on fire. It didn’t make me forget my purpose, my conviction.
Ivy is leaning against the wall in the hallway, scrolling on her phone. She doesn’t spot me until I’m almost past her, but I catch the surprise on her face as I wipe away a tear and charge forward.
“Hey!” Ivy says, trying to catch up with me. “Hey, slow down!”
Her hand clasps around my upper arm, and she tugs me to a slower pace. Once I don’t act like I’m going to continue to charge off without her, she falls into step beside me. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head and take a deep breath. “Nothing.”
Ivy looks behind her before we turn a corner. “What the hell did he say to you?”
Shaking my head again, I repeat, “Nothing. It’s nothing. I’m fine.”
“Oh come on, Avery. He said something to set you off. What was it so I can go kick his ass?”
Of course she would. She’d go to bat for me under any circumstance, just like I would for her. We protect each other at all costs. It’s how we’ve always been, and it’ll never change for as long as we are joined at the hip.
I push the door open, and we’re greeted with an unusually warm fall day. I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly as we cross onto the sidewalk. I ignore the weird looks I’m getting because my face is probably tear-stained and head in the direction of our apartment. Spanish was the last class of the day, thankfully. What I’m not so thankful about is that I barely have any notes on my Word doc. I couldn’t concentrate with him sitting beside me. I barely comprehended what the professor said, so I was just writing random things that he stated, and I’m one-hundred percent positive my notes make zero sense. I’ll have to ask Ivy to borrow hers.
When I say nothing, she softly asks, “Did he hurt your feelings?”
I shake my head. “No, just the opposite.”
“I’m confused.” She frowns. “Why are you crying then?”
“Ugh,” I cry out to the sky as we stop at a crosswalk. Thankfully, no one is around to hear us or to see me continue to fall apart. “Because he gets under my skin and makes me believe things that I’ve been told otherwise.”
She takes my hand in hers, and we cross the street. Once we’re on the other side, she asks, “Things like what?”
“That I’m beautiful.”
Chuckling under her breath, she says, “That’s because you are.”
I roll my eyes. “Maybe I once was, but that’s not how I see myself anymore.” Hell, I spend a good amount of time looking at my old photos of when I was skinny, comparing them to the photos I recently took of myself. I see the difference. My face is rounder, my shoulders wider, and my boobs far bigger.
“Look,” she says as we enter the parking lot of our apartment. “If Reid Rathe is chasing after you—because that is what he’s doing, right?” I nod and then shrug. She continues, “Reid doesn’t date, Avery. If he likes you, that means something.”
“Shouldn’t that be a red flag then? If he doesn’t date?”
“No…why would you say that about him?” Her tone is defensive, but her hand in mine gives an encouraging squeeze.
I throw my free hand in the air. “Because he’s the guy I slept with and who snuck out the morning after Dustin’s last party.”
“Oh,” she whispers. “Well, it’s not a red flag.”
