Page 20 of Friend
Something in me snapped at the sight, even though I knew that seeing me lose control was also terrifying to her. But I couldn’t stand the idea of anyone causing her this sort of fear.
“Leave her alone!” I pulled Bianca behind me. She’d begun to shake, and my ire rose even higher.
This was the second time he’d touched her now.
Even if he was damaged, or sick, or whatever his issue might be, he hadn’t been reckless in a long time. She was fae, and he was a wolf. He would instinctively know it wouldn’t take much to seriously injure her. Sowhywas he manhandling her like this?
“She’s not your girlfriend, and she’s not going on a date with you,” I told him.
“And why isthat, Abernathy?” He smirked at my anger, and it was only then that I realized that he’d been planning this. He wanted me to answer in front of everyone, “Areyouinterested in her? You’re not a couple, are you?”
Yes, I wanted to shout. But…
Icouldn’tbe with her in that way. I couldn’t even let her think there was hope.
Otherwise, it would be worse when we—eventually—had to break up. I could deal with it; I would always remember the times that we had together.
But I couldn’t put her through that—or the guilt. We could never, officially, be a couple.
I could feel her tense, and I knew she was waiting for an answer as much as everyone else.
“No.” It couldn’t happen, no matter how much I wanted it. “We’re not together.”
The smirk dropped from Cory’s expression and his gaze turned critical. He’d expected me to say ‘yes,’ and sometimes—like right now—it was obvious that he wasn’t entirely stupid. “You didn’t answer my question,” he said. “You’re not interested in Brosnan?”
“She’s not my type,” I lied, keenly aware of Bianca’s sharp inhale. And my heart shattered a little more. She moved back from me, and I couldn’t even bring myself to look at her, otherwise our classmates would sense my weakness.
“You can't claim someone who isn’t even your girlfriend.” The confidence had returned to Cory’s expression and the annoying grin returned. “There’s no reason why I can’t date her.”
Over my dead body. There was absolutely no way she was going out with him, especially not after he’d already made his intentions perfectly clear. “No.”
“Okay.” Bianca stepped around me, addressing Cory. “Let’s go out on a date.”
No! I stared at her in horror.
It was easy to see from the stubborn set of her jaw and the way she leaned from me that she’d only accepted to spite me. I didn’t blame her, but really, was this the time for pettiness?
“Text me,” she said, pulling out her phone.
I glared at the device—my despair fading as I realized, now, that everything would be okay. They could exchange numbers. In fact, I hoped he would try to call, or text. Nothing would go through. I’d have his number blocked before practice was even over.
Then he’d just assume she lost interest.
“Nah.” Cory’s grin faltered as he swept his hair back from his forehead. “I’m old school.” He moved to Bianca’s side, slipping a note into her hands as he—to my utmost horror—shyly looked at her and grinned.
He even had a dimple. Since when?
“I’d rather exchange notes. It’s more personal, and I’ve always admired your penmanship.” He continued to smile at her. His lies were so sugary that I almost got a cavity. Even Damen was better than this. “I’ve learned that you can get to know a lot about a person by their handwriting.”
Damn it, girls loved dimples and sensitive, shy, romantic guys. Even though his lines were asinine, he had the boy-next-door look down. I could see already that Bianca’s defenses were falling. Even though she claimed otherwise, she had a special weakness for idiotic displays—even if it was mostly her judging the speaker’s sincerity.
There was no way I could beat this.
And what the hell was this whole ‘letters’ bullshit? It was obvious, to me at least, that he just didn’t want to give her his number.
He was better than I expected.
“I’ll pick you up Saturday at seven?” he suggested.
