Page 80 of Don't Love the Boy Next Door
I’m still upset with him for what he did, but only a little bit. I mean, he and Katie are right. Iwastalking to a real person, even though he pretended to be a stranger.
A kind, sweet knight in shining armor…
“Okay, let’s go before we miss their grand entrance,” Katie says.
I zone back in. “Whose?”
“The Dragons.”
“Right. Duh.”
She lifts a brow. “Were you even here?”
Waving her off, I head for the door. “Sure I’m here. Let’s get to the game.”
We have to take the city bus, but it’s not really such a big deal. I mean, I guess Eric could always drive us, but now that he and Katie broke up, yeah that’s not going to happen.
The bleachers are already packed when we get to the football field. I spot Eric and Cody sitting at the front and am about towave, when I remember I shouldn’t. His eyes latch onto Katie before he pulls them away. His mouth is hard, arms crossed over his chest.
“What’s his problem?” I mutter.
Katie looks in his direction and goes still. Then she whirls around. “Let’s find a place to sit.”
I follow her to the back and we sit down. Katie’s eyes roam around the crowd, purposely not letting them wander to a certain person. But I let myself watch Eric. He’s all the way at the other end of the field and I can only see his profile as he talks to Cody, but it’s enough to know that something iswrong. He’s so stiff, so not like himself. It’s almost like someone forced him to break up with Katie. It can’t be…is Ethan responsible? Did he somehow talk his brother out of dating my bestie? Gosh, what’s wrong with me? Thinking the worst of Ethan? I guess I’m just so used to blaming him for everything, but it’s not cool at all.
Katie’s eyes drop to her lap and a heavy sigh escapes her lips. She’s so broken over this, and I can’t stand it.
Getting to my feet, I tell her I’ll be right back. I cross to the other side of the bleachers, where Eric and Cody are still talking. Well, Cody is mostly holding the conversation, which is weird because the dude hardly talks.
His eyes fill with surprise when he sees me approaching. “Phoenix, hi.”
Eric’s head snaps up, but he doesn’t say anything, choosing to look away from me like I’m not standing there.
“Hey, Cody,” I say with a smile. “How’s it going?”
He shrugs. “It’s going.”
“Right, that’s cool, I guess.” I turn to his bandmate. “Can we talk?”
Eric keeps staring straight ahead.
“Eric.”
Nothing.
“I’m not leaving,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “So either we talk here or we go somewhere private. Up to you.”
He slowly turns to me, that same hard expression on his face. “Okay.” He stands and follows me to a quiet area off the field. The football players are in the middle of rushing onto the field, the crowd going wild.
Eric and I face one another. He’s got that cold, stone expression on his face…but when I look deeper, I can see there’s some pain in there.
“I don’t want to attack you,” I start, “but I want to know why you broke my best friend’s heart.”
He keeps his gaze on the spot before him, his mouth twitching like he wants to get the heck out of here.
“You really hurt her,” I continue.
“I know.”
