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“It’s not like that.”
“You don’t care about her?” Snow says, turning his head to fix me with that cool stare.
It’s impossible to lie to him. He sees everything, from my smallest mistakes to the rebellious thoughts in my head.
“Maybe I do,” I admit. “A little bit.”
“That’s good,” Snow repeats. “Love is not weakness.”
“I don’tloveher.”
“Love is not just for a wife,” Snow says.
I’m not sure what that means.
We jog on in companionable silence.
I showerin the Octagon Tower, heading back to my room with a towel wrapped around my waist. I pass Leo going in the opposite direction, likewise wearing a towel.
He grins. “Hot date tonight?”
I frown back at him. “Why do you say that?”
He shrugs amiably. “Post dinner shower—that’s usually the reason.”
I suppose that means he has a date with Anna himself, but I don’t think he’s trying to rub it in my face. Honestly, I don’t care. I already have my head full of plans, and I’m thinking about only one girl.
“Hey, I wanted to thank you,” Leo says.
“For what?” I ask suspiciously.
“Well, for all the work you put in on the challenge, for one thing.”
“We came in third.”
“Made it to the second round, that’s all that matters.” Leo shrugs. “But mostly I wanted to thank you for helping Cat.”
“Why would you thank me for that?”
I bristle at the idea that I was helping Catfor Leo,as if she belongs to him. I helped her for my own benefit, if anything.
“Miles is gonna marry Zoe,” Leo says, as if stating the obvious. “So Cat is family.”
“Oh,” I say.
“Well.” Leo grins and gives me a friendly parting nod. “See ya around.”
“See you,” I say.
It’s the least-aggressive encounter Leo and I have ever had together. One might almost call it pleasant.
I don’t know when I stopped hating him. I didn’t mean to. The realization slowly came over me that hating him wasn’t getting me anywhere. It was a festering rot, eating away at me from the inside.
That’s not to say we’re friends. But I don’t seem to have the energy to burn with fury in his direction. Not with boxing five days a week and Cat in the evenings. My focus has shifted.
I hurry back to my room, having no intention of being late.
I dress and comb my hair in front of the mirror hanging on the wall.
