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“Can we please change the subject? No more kissing talk.”
“Why didn’t you go to the funeral home with Dillion?”
This conversation isn’t any better, but I’ll take the reprieve from talk of his mouth on mine.
“My grandfather died when I was eleven.”
“I’m sorry.”
He seems sincere, but he hasn’t heard what happened next, so I don’t allow myself empathy for him.
“And going there would remind you about your own loss?”
I huff. “No. You convinced me that my grandfather was going to become a zombie and come back from the grave to kill my entire family.”
He laughs until he sees the serious look on my face.
“Really?” He frowns, but I can see the corner of his lip twitch like he’s still fighting back a laugh. “Zombies aren’t real.”
“I know that now. I didn’t back then. It took months before I could sleep in my own bed again. My parents were so annoyed with me every night when I crawled into their bed with them.”
“Probably the reason you’re an only child, too.” He winks at me, but it only agitates me. He doesn’t see how much this affected me.
I can look back now and realize how ridiculous it was, but back then, I was traumatized.
“And that would be another thing you ruined for me,” I mutter, turning my attention out the passenger side window, ready to be home and far away from him.
“Fuck,” he mumbles.
“If you could not cuss so much around me, I’d appreciate that, too.”
“Sorry,” he grumbles. “And I’m sorry for the zombie stuff, too. Was I ever decent to you?”
“Only when you were trying to convince me that you weren’t as bad as you actually were, and all of those times, you only pretended to be nice, so when you were mean to me, it hurt me more.”
“Will there ever come a time when we can do things together or make plans when it doesn’t come back to this?”
“Why do you even ask?” I’ll never forget the past. Doing so will only lead to more pain, and I’ve had my fair share of that in my life already.
“Because I’m tired of reliving a past I can’t remember, a past I can’t change. Eventually, we’re going to have to move into the future, Piper. It’s not healthy spending every moment we have together discussing things we can’t change.”
“We shouldn’t be spending time together at all,” I remind him. “I think it’s best that we go back to avoiding each other.”
“I haven’t been avoiding you. I’ve given you space, and it’s not the same thing.” He leans closer but stays far enough away that he isn’t touching my skin. “And I’m tired of the distance between us. That kiss last night set me on fire.”
“You should see a doctor about that.”
He chuckles, and as much as I hate to admit it even to myself, I love the sound of it.
“You’re funny, too. I love that about you.”
“Just take me home, Dalton.”
He grumbles as he puts the car in reverse, but he doesn’t say a word on the way home. I thank him for the ride but head straight home when I get out of the car. I don’t bother to turn around or respond to him as he calls after me. I’ve had enough of Dalton Payne this week to last a lifetime.
Thankfully, tomorrow is Sunday, which means I have no tutoring and no Preston duties. The next twenty-four Dalton-free hours will be blissful.Chapter 23Dalton“You’re up early,” my dad says as he pours coffee into a travel mug. “How was the party?”
“My old friends are ass… jerks,” I correct. “They won’t be coming back over again.”
“What did they do?” Mom asks as she walks into the kitchen, but she doesn’t seem genuinely interested.
“They just seem immature. I don’t need that around me.”
There’s no point in telling them the truth. One, it will make them realize how big of an asshole I was, and two, I don’t think they really care.
They spent the entire day in the den yesterday preparing for the trial that starts this morning. I don’t think there would’ve been dinner if I hadn’t ordered pizza for us. I tried to ask Peyton if they were always like this, but she literally hissed at me when I opened my mouth and then locked herself in her room. I did something, or Piper told her something that makes her hate me, but after the stuff I’ve been told I did, I’m not surprised. I can’t even be mad at either of them for it, but I was being honest when I told Piper yesterday that I’m tired of everyone living in the past. Right now is all I know, and I just want to move on from the shit I pulled before.
After a twenty-minute petty argument about a lack of exculpatory evidence on their case, my parents leave for the courthouse with parting information that they may be late getting home this evening.
