“What’s his name?”
This earned him a response.Why? So you can run and tell P-h-i-l-i-p?
“I’m just making conversation.”
She angled her head to the side, still scrutinizing her feet. The two littlest toes had been taped. The biggest sported a broad, yellowing bruise.
Do you think this shade of pink matches my complexion?
She didn’t look up at him as she asked, but the smile tucked away in the corner of her mouth told him she knew exactly why he was there. Something dangerous detonated beneath his bones.
“Here’s the thing I don’t get,” he said. “Why go to all the trouble to give me some bogus schedule when you’re the one who gets screwed over in the end?”
Vivienne retracted her foot and set to replacing the cap of her polish. She still hadn’t looked at him, and her indifference was an obvious snub.
A second, larger explosion followed the first.
“I’m not here to ruin your summer,” he said, his voice tight. “You do know that, right? You don’t have to play head games with me to get what you want.”
Outside in the yard, the lawn mower rumbled past. The hum of a distant string trimmer flooded the sun-soaked space. Slowly, Vivienne’s right hand curled over her heart, then met her left in a jeering cradle.
Crybaby.
He flattened his outrage into a quiet “Excuse me?”
That’s the name of the polish.She stuck out her arm and wiggled her fingers just underneath his nose. Her nails were the same glossy pink as her toes.I think maybe it looks better on you than me.
It occurred to him then that he’d been doing everything wrong. Fencing with a foil, when she was using a sword.
In as mild a voice as he could muster, he said, “I think I owe you an apology, Miss Farrow.”
Whatever she’d been expecting him to say, it wasn’t that. Her eyes flicked to his, some of the pretense dropping away.
He’d been too cavalier before. He saw that now. He’d misjudged her. He’d thought that maybe if he was chatty enough, charming enough, patient enough, he’d win her over. He’d get her to tolerate him. Tolike him. They might even be friends.
Philip told him fire needed oxygen to thrive. Starve a fire, and it fizzled out. But what Philip didn’t know about Thomas was that he’d never mastered the art of walking away from a fight. It just wasn’t in his nature.
And so, he threw on gasoline.
“I had no idea you and I were playing a game,” he explained. “Now I do.”
Her eyes tightened, wariness edging out her triumph.
“You win this round,” he added, and shrugged. “I’m not too proud to admit it—you made me look bad in front of your mom. You almost got me fired. But that was my mistake. I didn’t know we were keeping score.”
He let the silence tick away between them. Gave his words a moment to sink in.
“I’m in it now,” he said. “And I don’t lose. I’ve downloaded your schedule—yourrealschedule. You have until Monday to gloat. And then I’ll drag you to campus if I have to.”
Cold fury flickered in her eyes.That’s not in your job description.
“You’re right. It isn’t. But here’s the thing—your parents are paying me an ungodly amount of money to do whatever they tell me to do.”
So you admit you’re just a l-a-c-k-e-y.
What hewaswas broke. Directionless. Desperate. She thought she’d shame him?
He didn’t have any shame.
