Page 67 of Connor

Connor didn’t move.

He just stood there, his knuckles still bloody, his expression unreadable. Waiting. For what? For me to say something? For me to tell him that I was okay? I wouldn’t, because that was a lie, and I didn’t owe him one. Regardless of how he was feeling.

“You too.” My voice came out quieter this time, but no less sharp.

His brows furrowed. “Summer—”

“Get out, Connor.”

I turned, walked into my room, and slammed the door right in his face.

A few seconds later, I heard the front door open. Then close.

And just like that, I was alone.

***

I wasn’t sure how I got to the library. The whole day was a blur.

One second, I was standing in my room, trying to catch my breath. The next, I was on autopilot—showering, dressing, grabbing my bag.

The air outside had been too sharp, too heavy, and my phone had been blowing up with missed calls from Victor, Connor, and Quinn.

I ignored them all. Now, I sat at a corner table in the library, my textbooks spread in front of me. But I wasn’t reading. I was staring at the words on the page, but not really seeing them.

Because my mind? It wasn’t here. It was back in my apartment. Still replaying the fight and hearing Victor’s voice, raw and furious. Still feeling Connor’s hesitation. The way he just stood there, silent. The way he let me kick him out without a fight.

I was getting so fucking tired of being the responsible one. I was so fucking tired of his non-reactions, and how he always run away instead of staying to fight for what he wanted. If he even wanted me, because with the way things were going, I wasn’t sure about that anymore either. For a while, I thought things were getting better.

I thought maybe—just maybe—he was in this. But someone who stayed quiet, who didn’t fight back when they were getting accused of something? He’d just let Victor beat him up, notdoing or saying anything both times until I did something about it.

The chair across from me scraped against the floor and I looked up. For a second, I thought I was imagining things. Because Quinn was sitting down, pulling out her books, flipping open a notebook.

Like this was just another study session.

Like this was how it had always been.

I blinked. “Quinn?”

“You’d never guess who showed up at my place this morning,” she murmured, her eyes speculative. I didn’t have to guess, I already knew it was either one or both of the fucking idiots I kicked out.

“There was a whole lot of fighting, but I guess you already know about that.” I didn’t respond and she shrugged.

“Let’s just say it made me late for class and now I have a new assignment to finishbefore the end of the week so I came to the library. Saw you… and figured, if we’re both miserable, we might as well do it together. A nice little pity party slash study session.”

Things between us hadn’t been normal in a year. But now? Now she was here. Acting like it was nothing.

I swallowed hard. Nodded.

“Yeah,” I said, my voice a little too soft. “That’d be nice.”

And for the first time in a long time, it actually felt like the truth.

Chapter 21

Connor

I should’ve known it was coming.

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