Page 46 of Trust Me Always

Nerves tangle in my stomach, a towing sensation I try to push away but can’t quite manage to. I don’t want to be vulnerable with this man, not after everything, but maybe I need to be. Maybe he needs to hear it.

“I like you, Alister. I really, really do. You’re smart, talented, dedicated. You’re hardworking and funny. Being with you felt like having something special all my own, and that’s not something I’d ever had before. My family and friends, we’re all so intertwined that most of our lives are shared with the next person, but with you…” I lift a single shoulder. “I had my own little world, and when I was in it, nothing on the outside mattered. I didn’t need to label what we were. I was happy just quietly hanging out and hooking up, and toward the end, I realized I wouldn’t mind there being more to it.” I pause. “And then it all blew up in my face and you became the one thing I regret most about college so far.”

His expression was on a downward spiral the more I continued to speak, but it falls fully as I say that last line.

Harsh? Maybe, depending on who you ask, but it’s real, and he asked for honesty.

Alister stares at me in silence for several moments, and then he moves his focus to the empty page of his notebook, zoning out on it for several more. When he does finally look up again, the despondent expression is washed away, and while it seems a little forced, he smiles. “You still like me.”

A surprised scoff leaves me and I shake my head.

“You still like me, and I’m going to win back your trust by becoming your friend.”

“What makes you think I want to be your friend?”

“Well, we’ve got to start somewhere. Friends seems fair.”

“It’s not. You’re basically the enemy right now.”

“I don’t believe you.”

I glare. “I don’t care. We are partners in this class, and outside of it, we are nothing.”

“Why? Afraid to be alone with me again? Or wait, I wonder”—he smirks, the mischievous glint behind it making my muscles tense for what might follow—“are you worried your ‘boyfriend’ will get jealous?”

Boyfriend?

Oh yeah. Boyfriend.

I actually laugh, and he smirks like the Cheshire Cat. “Please. Brady?” I can’t help but laugh again. “That man wouldn’t even be jealous of Adonis if he stood beside him.”

That smirk of his falls away instantly, and he leans forward again, his reaction catching me slightly off guard. “Are you really going to sit here and pretend the two of you are seeing each other?”

Wait, what? I didn’t do that.

Did I?

I replay the last sixty seconds, and well, shit. I guess my response should have been more along the lines of “I don’t have a boyfriend,” but I seem to have messed that part up, haven’t I?

“Cameron,” he snaps.

“What?” I snap back.

“You’re not dating Brady.”

I purse my lips, glaring due to the nerve of this guy. Obviously, it’s not a command, more him stating what he thinks is a fact. Technically, it is one, but he doesn’t know that. Well, not for certain anyway. “Who I do or don’t date is none of your business.”

“Bullshit. I want you, and I’m not giving up on the idea of you being by my side when all this is over.”

“By the time what is over?”

“I don’t know, this class, this year. I don’t really have a timeline here.” He grins.

“I’m asking you for space to figure out what I want.”

“Space will push me further away. I can’t give you that.”

“You will respect my choices, Alister.”

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