Page 26 of The Boy I Loved
Before I could dwell on that much longer, Rodney slipped into the desk beside me and shot me one of his boyish grins, instantly lightening my mood. He was cute, with dark brown hair, green eyes, and had a slight tan going on.
“Hey. We have a class together,” I told him, stating the obvious with a small smile gracing my lips.
He rolled his eyes playfully and leaned toward me. “Which you would’ve known, had you not run away like a bat out of Hell earlier.”
I snorted a laugh. “I didn’trunaway.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, sweet Hazel.”
Nervous energy prickled along my spine at the new nickname. Was he …flirtingwith me?
Mr. Cullen’s voice cut through my thoughts, bringing them to an abrupt halt. He was going over the syllabus for the semester and telling us what the requirements were for the year. It was the same shit they spewed every year. Monotonous and repetitive.
As he droned on and on, my thoughts began to take over again, drowning him out. My conversation with Tory at the diner bulldozed to the forefront of my mind.
Move on.
Make him jealous.
Show him what he’s missing.
I couldn’t possibly do any of those things, though … right? It was wrong. Dominic was clearly in a dark place. He needed me now more than ever, even if he wouldn’t admit it. I refused to believe that everything we shared was gone just like that. He had to feelsomethingfor me. He told me he loved me for fuck’s sake.
If he loved me, why was he still doing everything in his power to keep me at a distance? Did I do something?
I blew out a breath and flicked my gaze toward the ceiling. If I sat around, replaying the same questions over and over again, I was going to drive myself crazy.
The first thingI did when arriving home was flop face-first onto my bed, allowing the mattress to seep into my body. Exhaustion weighed heavily on me, pulling another yawn from my throat.
School had been uneventful. Dom hung out with his little group during lunch and barely spared me a glance through most of the day. Tory and Rodney hung out with me, though,so that kept me somewhat distracted. Rodney was funny, which was a nice reprieve from the dark thoughts racing through my mind.
I groaned and rolled over, settling my gaze on the mundane ceiling.
Loneliness seeped into my body, crippling me. I used to wonder what it would be like to have a sibling—someone to share everything with. But then I befriended Dominic, and suddenly, that didn’t matter as much. There was never a dull moment when he was around. After he left, it felt like my heart had been ripped from my body, and he was the only one who could fix it. That was why I’d waited for him, because I knew he’d be back.
He didn’t wait for you.
My chest tightened with a painful constriction, heat building behind my eyes. I needed to talk to him—to find out why he was giving me the cold shoulder and to get to the bottom of this. He told me not to contact him again, and I wanted to honor that wish, especially since he’d blocked me by now, leaving me no other alternative.
He couldn’t hide from me forever. He owed me an explanation. I’d give him one more day or two before seeking him out and demanding answers. Dom was probably still settling in, and I could at least give him that.
Fuck. Even after all this time, and after the way he treated me, I couldn’t get him out of my head. Was I really that pathetic?
Another yawn tore its way free, causing my eyes to water. I blinked away the wetness and rolled onto my side so that I was staring at the wall instead. Memories prickled along the forefront of my mind, and even though I tried pushing them away, one managed to slip through.
“Your hair looks pretty like this,” Dominic said, tugging at one of my chestnut-colored strands and rolling it between his fingers.
I’d opted to wear it naturally—the length brushing against my upper arms. It fell flat with minimal volume, and I couldn’tunderstand why he preferred it this way. As much as I enjoyed the compliment, I swatted his hand and smoothed it back out.
“Why?” I frowned. “It’s boring like this.”
Dominic rolled his eyes in that playful way he always did and stepped forward, eliminating the distance between us. My heart galloped into my throat as his body heat rolled off him and onto me. “Nothing about you is boring, Hazel Montgomery.” His gray eyes sparkled with something I couldn’t quite place, but it was gone before I could even try.
“You’re just saying that to be nice.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get the words out, a shadow fell over us, halting further conversation.
Stacy scowled at me before turning her attention to Dominic, plastering on a flirty smile. “Hey, Dom.” Her voice dripped with seduction, something I’d never be able to master in this lifetime.
