As if he’d forgotten where we were, Grayson stepped forward, forcing me back against the wall and demanded, “Is that so? And who finally made you understand this? Because it sure as hell wasn’t me when I was telling you no.”
“Doc,” I supplied instantly.
Grayson’s eyes widened as he rubbed his fingers over his lips. “You told him about us?”
“No,” I answered, horrified he would think such a thing.
Unable to help himself, he lowered his face until it was close to mine. I was about to remind him where we were when he fumed, “Then what the fuck are you talking about, Addison?”
“You need to back up,” I warned, looking from side to side. “Anyone could see us.”
“Shit,” he cursed and stood back up straight.
“I don’t want to be something that you look at and hate. I can’t be that to you, not when you are the opposite to me. I’m bad for you. Poison,” I finally told him.
There, I couldn’t get much more honest than that. He began pacing and then came back to stop in front of me. “No, you’re not.”
“Yes,” I disagreed. “I am.”
“So, what? That’s it? You’re just going to walk away?” he asked, his face showing his incredulity. “After finally getting what you want, you’re done?”
“No,” I denied, his fury making my heart hurt.
I didn’t want to be doing this, but I was trying to do the right thing for a change, couldn’t he see that?
“I’m going to finish school and hope you still—”
“That I still what, Addison? I’ve been telling myself how fucking wrong this is from the very beginning and I still haven’t stayed away.” Then he did the unthinkable. He touched my hair, stroking his fingers over the curls. “I can’t stay away.”
I could feel tears in my eyes as the full impact of that tiny gesture here, where it could hurt him most, showed the depth of his emotions.
“You need to try. Let me do this. It’s the right thing. For both of us.”
Pulling his hand back, he pushed it into his pocket.
“Too many people are watching. You’ll only get hurt being connected to me.”
He shook his head, clearly frustrated. “Like who?”
“Brandon.”
“I don’t give a fuck about him,” he spat, and the venom in that statement showed just how far we’d come. In the beginning, Grayson had denied any jealousy, but right here in this moment, it was obvious he was feeling something.
“Miss Shrieve,” I added, deciding to go a different route.
“What about her?”
“She had me in her office for a meeting this morning.”
Something flashed in his eyes, almost as if he was suspicious of why she’d called me in. Did he know something?
“What for?”
“My lip. My mom told her I came home Wednesday after school with it. Miss Shrieve also saw us in the parking lot. Did you know that?”
“Yes.”
I pushed away from the wall. “Were you going to tell me?”
“She didn’t see anything she shouldn’t have,” he stated, defending his actions.
“How do you know? God, no wonder…” I trailed off as I thought back to the comment about him and trust.
This was not good.
I made a move to step around him when I saw Brandon walking down the hall, but Grayson reached out and grabbed my wrist, pulling me back to where he was standing behind the lockers.
“Where are you going?”
Yanking my arm away, I gritted out between clenched teeth, “Let me go. Brandon’s coming.”
Grayson released me instantly and stepped away, just as Brandon rounded the corner and found us.
“What the fuck is this?”
Present…
After knocking on Doc’s door, I pace back and forth in the empty hall.
In my left hand, I’m holding the envelope with Brandon’s photo, and in my right, I have the pen he’d given me—Grayson’s pen.
Both symbols in their own right of distrust and trust.
As his door opens, I stop pacing and thrust the envelope at him. He takes it from me without a word and then steps aside.
“Why?” I ask as I walk inside and he shuts the door. “I want to know why you gave me that?”
“I told you why.”
“So I can break free?”
“Yes, break free of everything that keeps you trapped,” he tells me, pointing with the envelope.
“This picture isn’t important,” he explains and throws it on the floor. He’s more animated than I’ve ever seen him. “Yet, it gets more of a reaction out of you than I’ve seen in days. You, Addy! You are what’s important. Not what happened back then. Yesterday is done. What are you going to do with today?”
My eyes focus on him, and I feel the urgency building. There’s a craving he’s ignited inside of me.
“I don’t want to be in here anymore.”
“I know. So what are you going to do about it?”
The answer is obvious. It’s been there all along. “I’m going to fight.”
A grin appears on Doc’s face. “And?”
I grin back at him. “I’m going to win.”
Past…
“Dude, get your hands off her!”
Fuck, was the only word coming to mind as Brandon sized up the situation.
“Hey, he wasn’t doing—”
“He was grabbing you, Addy,” he accused.
Brandon was right, I had been grabbing her, and I wanted to grab her again. Instead, I fell into my self-righteous teacher mode. What a fucking joke.
“Don’t you need to go to lunch?”
“No, I need to report your ass. Why the fuck are you touching her anyway?”
“Brandon!” Addison shouted, and I could tell by the way she had her arms wrapped around her waist that she was trying to hold herself together. I knew that, because I was scrambling to do the same.
“What? No teacher is supposed to lay a hand on a student. And they certainly shouldn’t be grabbing one. Wasn’t that why I was suspended?” he asked, getting up in my face.
I took a step back and reminded myself that this was a student, not someone I could punch in the jaw and demand he shut the fuck up.
“Mr. Williams, I think you’re mistaken with what you saw.”
What am I saying? I couldn’t believe I was stooping this fucking low.
“Am I?”
“Yes, you are. What the hell is the matter with you?” I questioned.
Sure, compound the issue by being a dick—my father would be so proud.
“I think you know,” he inferred, looking from me to Addison who, when I glanced over at her, seemed wounded and broken—once again damaged and this time by me.
There was nothing I could do about that now, I was in too deep and couldn’t stop—not after what Brandon had seen.
“I’m getting sick of your mouth. I think you should start walking before you say something you’ll regret.”
“That I regret?” He mocked. “I don’t think so.”
“Brandon, just go. You’re making this worse,” Addison pleaded, drawing our eyes back to her.
“What am I making worse, Addy? Jess says she left you in the parking lot last week and you were fine, but she saw him talking to you before she drove away. Now there’s a rumor you got your busted lip that same day. It wasn’t Jess, so who was it, huh? Mr. McKendrick?”