“Charlotte!” he calls out. “Wait!”
I glance over my shoulder one last time.
Across the room, I spot him. Meghan claws at his arm, trying to hold him back.
“Don’t leave me, Grayson!” she cries, panicked.
He barely looksat her.
His eyes are locked on mine.
“Charlotte,” he says, voice on edge. “I fucked up, okay? I should’ve never left because...”
Chapter 23
Grayson
I swallow hard, and say it, because I mean it:
“I love you.”
Fuck.
It’s real now. The truth I’ve been unable to bear with her gone.
The words sit in the air like a goddamn grenade, and now everyone’s staring, including the one girl who should be running the other way.
“Louder!” her friend barks, holding Charlotte’s shoulders, giddy. “My girl didn’t hear you!”
Charlotte’s eyes narrow. Hands on her hips. A defiant little wrecking ball. “Yeah. What did you say?” But she bites her bottom lip, nervous.
I force myself to walk toward them, each step adding to my sense of doubt, like I’m stepping into a minefield.
Meghan’s claws dig into my arm. “Grayson, please,” she whispers. “You know this is a mistake. She’s too fragile for you.”
I glance over at Charlotte, the soaked girl in the smeared eyeliner and dress clinging to her curves. Her lip trembles, but that fire’s there. And it’s aimed right at me.
Meghan’s still right. This is wrong. I’ll hurt Charlotte. I should stay away. But God help me, she’s never looked so tempting to me.
“She’s not yours,” Meghan adds, her voice sharp. “She never was, cuz she doesn’t know you like I do.”
I tug Meghan’s grip off and step forward.
Charlotte flinches, just barely, and backs toward the door. And fuck, that stings. Like I’m poison and she finally figured it out.
“Wait,” I say, holding up a hand. “I’mnotwith Meghan.”
Her steps slow.
Good girl.
I close the space and take her cold little hands in mine. “Charlotte, I said I love you.”
She blinks.
“You did?” she whispers.
I nod, jaw tight. “I meant it, too.”
