Page 52 of Sweet Ruin

I was surprised by the slightly defensive tone to his voice, but Wes was right. I knew it was hard for him to see me around Noah, and I could tell he was still thinking about the fact I had to work with him on our business assignment.

“I really didn’t have a choice about being paired with Noah,” I said.

“I know. It just feels like he’s always there.”

While I didn’t have to deal with seeing Sarah every day, I still felt like it was a slightly different situation. Noah and I had broken up because of something we could never overcome. And he had a new girlfriend. Sarah’s biggest fault was that she went to a different school. She and Wes didn’t hate each other like me and Noah. I pushed the thought from my mind as quickly as it had popped up though. I didn’t want to compare our circumstances. It didn’t matter what we’d been through; we couldn’t keep letting our ex’s affect us this way.

“Wes, we trust each other, don’t we?” I asked.

He nodded. “Of course.”

“Then there shouldn’t be anything for either of us to worry about, right?

“Right.”

“We both just got out of relationships, but like you said this morning, that should only make it easier for us to realize how much better off we both are now. It shouldn’t make it harder. We can’t let it.”

“You’re right,” he said, smiling at me. “I won’t if you won’t.”

“Deal.”

Wes leaned over me and we kissed, trying to quell any fear the other might still harbor. It made me feel better in the moment, and I hoped it did the same for Wes. But, as soon as we parted ways, a seed of doubt seemed to sprout anew. What if this was going to be harder than I thought?

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

The week passed quickly, and it was Friday before I knew it. Despite being confined to the school grounds, I was excited for the weekend. I wasn’t, however, looking forward to my detention on Friday evening.

I had to be in the English classroom immediately following the end of the day. When I arrived, the teacher wasn’t there yet, but a few students were. I didn’t recognize any of them, so they must have been from other classes. I made my way to the desk I usually chose in English, pulled out my laptop, and sat down.

My computer was still booting up when Veronica hurried into the room. I was surprised to see her. She was the last person I expected to run into at detention. She seemed like the type of student who would go straight to her parents and have them get her out of it.

She looked on edge as she entered, and given the way she kept her head down as she crossed the room, I got the feeling she was embarrassed to be here. She was probably worried about how it might affect her image, which was clearly so important to her.

Like me, she seemed instinctively drawn to her usual desk and took the seat right in front of me. She placed her bag on the floor beside her and was fishing something out of it when she glanced up and realized I was sitting behind her.

Her eyes grew wide with surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Normally, I would have expected a statement like that to be laced with venom when it came from Veronica, as though she was pointing out that I didn’t belong in this school, let alone this classroom. But today it sounded like a genuine question. It certainly didn’t feel like we’d become friends after our strange conversation in the kitchen, but apparently, we were at least on good enough terms to chat in detention.

“Lisa caught me sneaking out after curfew to see Wes.”

“Really?” She smirked. “I find it hard to imagine you breaking the rules.”

“I’m not a total goody two-shoes.” I shook my head. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

I struggled not to lift my eyes to the ceiling. “Why did you get detention?”

“Oh.” I could have sworn her cheeks were growing pink. “I got caught with a boy too. They’ve gotten so strict now.”

I lifted my eyebrows. “You mean Noah?

“Right, yeah, Noah.” Veronica’s reply was abrupt, and she looked away from me. Why hadn’t she just said his name the first time? It’s not like I didn’t know they were dating. She slowly glanced at me, but when she saw I was still frowning at her answer, her eyes darted from mine once again. She was hiding something.

My eyes widened as I realized. “It wasn’t Noah?”

“Will you lower your voice?” she hissed, which only confirmed my suspicions.

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