In the drawing, she was turned slightly to the side, her head tipped back just a little as she laughed.Her hair falling over one shoulder, and even from my angle, I could see the way her eyes shone.
“She's beautiful.Makes me think—”
I shot him a look when he nodded toward the page.“Don’t make me hit you.”
He smirked.
I ran my thumb absently along the edge of the page.
Shewasbeautiful that night, but it had nothing to do with the polished, composed way she always carried herself.No, this was that unguarded, unfiltered type of happiness.
One—of many,obviously—that had taken permanent residence in my brain.
Benji leaned his elbows on his knees.
“So, have you told her yet?”
“Told her what?”
“That you’re seeing hearts in your eyes and that you’re in love with her.”
A humorless laugh left my mouth.“Hell no.”
Benji glanced at me.
“This whole thing is pretend for her,” I elaborated, tapping the sketchbook lightly.“The contract.The fake relationship.The getting-revenge-on-her-ex.All of it.”I shrugged.“So it doesn’t really matter what I feel.”
Benji stayed quiet.
“No matter what, she's walking away after all this,” I continued, my voice quieter now.
“There’s nothing I can do or say that would change her mind.Tonight only made that clear—even when I'm right, I'm wrong.”
That part felt painfully obvious.
Benji tilted his head slightly.“Well, maybe it isn’t pretend for her anymore, either.”
I deadpanned at him.
He shrugged.
“I’m just saying,” he continued.“From every interaction I’ve seen between you two, it doesn’t look fake.”
I scoffed, running a hand through my hair.
“Maybe she’s just good at playing pretend.Anything that's happened between us, I've been the one to make that move.The only one she's made—the one time I thought she was interested—was the first kiss, and that was a move to piss off her ex.All she does is run away from me.Trust me, it's fake on her end.”
Benji studied me for a moment before shaking his head slightly.
“Then you two need to talk.Not tonight,” he added when I let out a slow breath.“You’re both pissed off as it is.”
That was putting it mildly.
“Wait until things cool down.Hold out, let her come to you.You keep saying you want her to make a move—well, now's the perfect time.Once she reaches out tomorrow, then you can talk about what happened tonight and anything else that's stopping her from making this real.But don't give up on it, Jaxon.You deserve to be happy, especially after Lyra.I know she would've wanted that for you.”
The gym went quiet again as my mind worked.Lyra would’ve kicked my ass for fighting, too; go figure.Sighing, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes again.I guessed the ball was in her court now.When we talked tomorrow, I'd see where her head was, thenmaybewe could talk about the doomed L word.
“You know I would've won that last round if I wasn't distracted, right?”
