Page 74 of The Breakaway

"I didn't want it to be a thing."

"A thing?" I repeated. "What kind of thing?"

Rob’s jaw tensed. "It's embarrassing. I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for me.” He flicked his eyes to the floor, then back to me.

Realization dawned, and my internal organs flipped positions. “So you're going to be here? Over the break?"

Rob nodded. "Yeah. I guess so."

Okay. This was fine. It was what we’d been doing all along, nothing had to change or get more complicated. Sure, I might not have hugged him as long if I thought I’d have to be alone with him in our house for the next three weeks?—

This was not fine.My mouth was already dry, my heart trying to shove its way up my throat. I hadn’t heard from Logan. My friends were out of town. It was just me and him.

Rob tried to skirt around me, but I stepped out, blocking his path. "Did you find floss?”

His brow furrowed. “What?”

“In my suitcase.”

He wet his lips. “Ah, no?—”

“Then what are you holding behind your back?”

He stilled, then pulled it out. A white envelope. “It was just mail.”

I raised an eyebrow. “From my suitcase?” The wheels turned in his head, and before he could spin another lie, I said, “I’ve never told anyone that. What I said in the car.” I let it sink in before continuing. “I’ve told Logan and my friends parts of what happened but not what I did. How I . . . reacted.”

Rob’s breathing quickened. His jaw tensed. Then he flipped the card over.

My name. It was written on the front. My pulse felt like it was pushing through a crazy straw. "You got me a Christmas card?"

Rob scraped his teeth over his lower lip. "Not exactly."

"Then what is it?" I reached out, but he pulled it back.

“Your answers."

All the air seemed to suck out of the house, the empty space suctioning to my skin like plastic wrap. "You wrote them down?" I finally managed, my voice barely a whisper. He nodded, his expression tense. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the envelope. "Are you going to give it to me?"

Rob's hand tightened around the paper. "Not while I'm standing here."

I frowned. "Why not?"

"Because.”

"Because . . . " I motioned for him to continue.

Rob exhaled sharply. "I thought I could put it in your suitcase and you’d find it over the break. By yourself. Without me there."

The open zipper. I had left my suitcase closed. Rob had opened it and slipped in the card. I worried my lower lip. "But we're both going to be here over the break."

He nodded. "Exactly."

I reached for the envelope again, my fingers brushing against his. Rob didn't let go. "I want to read it."

His grip tightened, and my frustration flared. "I'll just take it and go read it in my room. Problem solved."

He shook his head, his gaze locking onto mine. "No."

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