“No, Elliot. You didn’t hurt me, not physically, anyway.” I brush past him and make my way over to my suitcase, wrestling with the zipper.
He comes up behind me to help. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
He grabs my hand, and I freeze. “Dilynne, you can’t just say something like that and fucking brush it off. What’s going on?”
“I just…” Swiping the tears that fell without permission from under my eyes, I look away from him before I say, “This is just a lot.”
“Why? What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“If that were true, I wouldn’t have asked.” His lips land on my shoulder, pressing against my skin softly as he pulls me into his chest, and my body moves willingly. But my heart is still protesting where this conversation is headed. “Talk to me, Dil. It’s just us, right now. No pretend, no pretense. Just you and me.”
When I meet his eyes again, honesty pours out of me in a whisper. “I don’t know how to feel right now. I’m fucking a guy I used to hate, and now…”
His body grows tense. “Used to hate?”
“Yes, and someone who said they’d never date me, so it’s just…a lot.”
His brows draw together. “What? When did I say I’d never date you?”
I close my eyes and turn away from him. “When we were in high school.”
He’s silent as he wracks his memory. Meanwhile, I lift my suitcase and find a baggy T-shirt I brought to sleep in, sliding it over my body and tossing the towel to the floor. “Dilynne, I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
No turning back now, Dilynne.
I twist back to face him, crossing my arms over my body like the movement might actually protect me from this exchange. “You and Nikko Ventura had a full conversation about how me being in auto shop made me so unfeminine, and that no man would want to date a girl like me.”
His eyes are so full of confusion that I almost feel bad for bringing this up. But Laney was right. If I’m feeling anything for Elliot, I have to let this out. She managed to do the same thing with Fletcher, and it worked out for them.
Only, Elliot’s face doesn’t look remorseful. No, he looks fucking pissed.
“Is that…” He pushes a hand through his unruly hair. “Is that why you’ve always hated me?”
Shrugging, I say, “You might not think it’s a big deal…”
“Obviously it is—because it’s the reason our relationship has been this volatile for years.” He pushes a hand through his hair again as he begins to pace. “How old was I?”
“You were a senior,” I reply, watching him start to wear a path into the carpet. “It was one day during sixth period when you and Nikko were getting ready to go out on the football field and I got called up to the office, so I was walking by the blacktop when I overheard the two of you.”
His gaze meets mine. “God, Dilynne. I’m so sorry, but I don’t remember that.”
I arch a brow. “It doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
He closes the distance between us and I take in a sharp breath as his hands frame my face. “I’m so fucking sorry.” His lips land on mine, soft and subtle before he pulls back again. “Fuck. I can’t believe you thought that’s what I thought about you.”
“Well, that’s what you said so what else was I supposed to think?”
“I was seventeen with a stupid ass friend I was just trying to fit in with, and a crush on my best friend’s little sister that I didn’t know what to do with.”
His admission almost slips by me. “What? You—you had a crush on Laney too?”
He huffs out a laugh. “No, Dilynne.You. I—I had a thing foryouback then and knew I couldn’t do anything about it, so I always acted like you were the last person I’d be interested in.”
My stomach flips, and not in the good way. “What?”