Page 53 of Facing Off
“Sonya,” I call out, “you don’t want it to be weird, right?”
She stops in her tracks, but doesn’t turn around. It looks like her whole body is vibrating with tension.
Fuck, I wish I could see her expression. But all I can do is clutch at more straws of conversation that stop her from leaving like this. “We’re close to the same people, so we’re going to see each other again.”Right?
She doesn’t answer me. All of a sudden, my gut twists and my throat tastes like dirt. Before everything happened with her ballet, I barely saw her. And now? Is she going to blink out of my life completely?
I close the gap between us, approaching slowly. With our size difference, my body casts a shadow on hers. I’m so careful not to touch her, fearing that even the smallest thing could send her flying.
“You can’t leave like this. Just let me drive youwherever you want to go. Then it’ll be like it never happened, okay?”
“Hughes, you don’t seriously want me,” Sonya whispers.
The world stops spinning.
“And I…don’t want you,” she grinds out slowly.
Out of nowhere, there’s an urge to check my chest. A loose puck must’ve slammed into me when I wasn’t looking. “…That’s us. Nothing new.”
Because even if Sonyadoeswant me, which I think some part of her might, she clearly doesn’twantto want me.
That’s proven when she spins around and her expression is so controlled and distant that it makes me feel hollow inside. My teeth clench.
“You’re right,” Sonya says, monotone. “We need to go back to how it used to be. So fine. You can give me a ride, but only if you promise me something else.”
“Anything,” I beg.
“Promise me that you won’t tell anyone, Quinn and Kavi included, aboutanyof it. That includes the hospital visit and how I’ve been falling on stage.”
I don’t understand. “The people who love you would want to know, Sonya,” I argue.
“No.” Her gaze darts to our feet and then back up as she chews her lip. “They’ll worry. And there’s no reason to worry, so you have to promise. You won’t ever tell them anything about my situation. It has to stay between us.”
The hollow feeling grows inside my chest. “And if I don’t promise?”
“Then I can’t trust you.”
Fuck. The idea of thathurtsworse.
“Okay.” I hold my pinky finger up.
Her eyebrows pull together. “What’s that for, Hughes?”
“A pinky promise is sacred. An unbreakable vow.”
I wait for it. The small twitch of her mouth, before she huffs and wraps her pinky finger around mine. Such a small movement, but relief spills through me. I feel my knees go weak.
My mouth slides up, covering the residual panic still echoing inside me. I use our pinky fingers to tug her deep into the hallway. “My garage is this way. How about you pick the car we’ll take to drop you off? I have several.”
That last part where I’m bragging? It’s me doing anything to make her feel comfortable again. To pretend nothing has changed between us.
Her mouth twitches again. “Seriously? That’s such a cocky statement to make.”
“Darling, you have no idea how cocky you make me.”
She groans, and just like that, we’re back to beingnormalagain.
23
