AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ivy watches them go before acknowledging me.
“No, don’t apologize,” she pleads, glancing up at me and then back to her cup. “I shouldn’t have freaked out like that. It was totally immature.”
My hand covers hers, and she flinches. But I don’t let go because I need to touch her. My voice is as soft and comforting as I can make it. “It’s okay, Mac.”
Her shoulders lift on a breath and then she sits back in her chair, sliding her hand from mine as she goes. Her lashes conceal her eyes as she slowly turns her cup in her hands.
For lack of anything better to do, I clutch my cup as well. The heat of the coffee seeps through the cardboard and warms my icy fingers.
I don’t know what to say or how to start the conversation. I open my mouth to try.
“Hey.” A girl is now standing next to me. “You’re Gray Grayson.”
She’s looking at me like I’m a latte she’d like to drink down. Irritation spikes. This is why I didn’t want to meet Mac in public. Not when football fever has hit an all-time high on the campus.
I’m about to give this chick the brush-off when Mac slaps her free hand on the table.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Gray,” she says to me in exasperation. “Irritable bowel syndrome is treatable. There’s no need to fear. It’s the rampant gas that you really should worry about, because, dude, it’s bad.”
Her words hang in the air, and I gape at her, shock and horror tingling through my skin. The girl beside us pretty much does the same before her face goes beet red and she backs away from me.
“I...uh...I’ll leave you to your conversation,” she gets out.
I don’t answer. I can only stare at Mac. Part of me wants to strangle her. I can just imagine how fast this little nugget of gossip will spread. I can hear my new nickname: Gaseous Gray.
“So...social annihilation is on the menu today, huh?”
Flushing, she shrugs. “Got rid of her, didn’t it?”
The little shit. I bark out a laugh. Whatever has happened between us, she’s still my best friend. The one person I want to be with most in the world. And I adore her. I’m so gone on her, I don’t know my left from my right anymore. She’s my center line. All thoughts run through Ivy Mackenzie.
I reach out for her, ready to tell her just that. Tell her that I want everything with her. That she is my everything.
But she speaks first, her words coming out fast and tight.
“Things got out of hand. It happens. We’ve been in each other’s pockets, seeing each other all the time. And if we just stepped back and took a break from that, not hang out so much...” She spreads her hands as if to say, problem solved, no big deal.
Take a break. Not be together so much.
Hurt slams through me so hard that my knee jerks, hitting the underside of the table and almost knocking it over.
“Sorry,” I mutter, as she scrambles to keep her cup from falling.
I want to shout at her that this is the worst fucking idea she’s ever come up with. That taking a break sounds like torture. But she’s not finished ripping my heart out.
“And if you’re not always with me, you can...you know...go out. With girls. Hook up or whatever.”
I’d like to think her expression conveys the same misery as I feel. But I can’t be sure. I can no longer think straight.
“Kind of hard to do that,” I snap. “When the entire campus will soon think I have a flatulence problem.”
She cringes. “Right. Sorry. But I doubt anyone will believe it. Or even care. Most women obviously would overlook anything to get to you.”
Oh. Joy.
I don’t give a ripe fuck what other women believe. I don’t want to be with anyone other than Ivy. Her helpful comment makes me want to scream. And then another horrible thought hits me.
“Wait, why are we talking about hookups?” My voice is rising, along with my panic.
