Page 913 of One More Kiss

“Tate,” she called after me.

I flipped her off without turning back around. “Daniel is not baggage.” I slammed the door behind me and started pacing the room.

I was livid. Daniel was the first person, the first anything, in my life that actually made me feel good. Not just because he was a boy and he had a way of letting loose a hundred butterflies in the pit of my stomach every time I saw him. But because he got me. That alone was earth-shattering.

Apparently, that wasn’t enough for Vee. Shouldn’t she just be happy for me that he was helping me in any way? This wasn’t a competition.

She was my best friend. The possibility that she could be right crept in again, and doubt wormed its way in. All the what-ifs swarmed around in my head. I knew I had a way of assuming the worst in people because people always let me down. But I felt like that wasn’t Daniel.

What if she was right?

What if he was using me for something else?

What if I was a scapegoat?

What if I was a Band-Aid?

What if this was all some sick joke?

My eyes burned for the hundredth fucking time. I snatched my AirPods off my side table and pulled up my music library. I searched Sum 41, selected “Still Waiting,” and hit play. Then I turned it all the way up, letting the music swallow me alive.

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