I looked over at him in shock. “I don’t like her.”
He snorted. “Yeah, sure, if you say so.”
“I don’t.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Fuck you.”
He laughed. “Whatever. No hard feelings, yeah?” He held out his hand and stood.
“Yeah. Sorry. I didn’t mean to jump on you like that. Today has been fucked up.” I shook his hand, then unscrewed my water bottle. My head was so messed up. Fighting with Kian over Raine? Fuck.
Kian stared down at me, serious for a moment. “She seemed really upset earlier at lunch.”
She was. I needed to make things right with her. Now. While she was in drama club and Ana wouldn’t be around to see. The last thing I wanted was for her to have another reason to target Raine.
Before I knew it, I’d downed my water, and I was jumping to my feet and striding towards the school building.
“Say hi to Raine for me!” Kian’s mocking laugh came from behind me, and I threw up my middle finger as I walked. Bastard.
Back in the school building, I eased open the auditorium door, sliding inside the darkened room. Up on the stage, Xavier was somehow managing to make an ugly as fuck costume look like custom tailoring, owning the stage, as Imogen watched him longingly. They seriously needed to stop fucking
around and sort their shit out.
Where was Raine? I scanned the room, but I couldn’t see her.
Then, there she was. I spotted her over in the wings, peering out. Moving closer, I kept my gaze on her.
She disappeared off the side of the stage, and I turned, opening the side door that led to the fire exit and side entrance to the backstage area. Backstage, a few people were sitting around in costume, and they gave me curious looks as I stalked past them. I ignored them and entered the room where the props and costumes were kept. I found her hanging a costume on a rack. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and her mouth was downturned. I’d done that to her. How many times had she cried after I’d taunted her?
I was a fucking asshole.
“Raine,” I breathed, and her head shot up, her eyes widening as she saw me standing there.
“No,” she whispered, her lip trembling. “No.”
Then she darted away, through the costumes. I almost laughed. Did she think she actually had any chance of getting away from me?
“You can run, but you can’t hide,” I called, following her into the racks. I heard footsteps over to my left and spun, striking as she attempted to run past me. Gripping her small body tightly, I wrapped my arms around her, holding her back to my front and moving her over to the table that stood at the end of the rack. She fought against me, but I held her easily. I wrapped my hand around her throat, squeezing lightly.
“Caught you.”
“Fuck. You,” she cried, still struggling, even though her eyes had darkened. As much as she didn’t want to admit it to herself right now, she loved it when I had my hands on her like this.
“Raine. Stop fighting me.” I stroked my fingers across her throat, and she whimpered, before clamping her mouth shut. “I want to say something important.” Biting her earlobe gently, I felt her growl against me, her nails raking over my football shirt. I waited a minute, letting her take out her frustrations, because, fuck, it was the least I deserved, before turning her around and lifting her onto the table. “This is important,” I reiterated when her eyes finally met mine.
“What is it?” Her voice was flat.
“I’m sorry.” I kept my eyes on her.
“Sorry for what? You’ll have to be more specific than that. There’s a lot you have to be sorry for, Carter.”
“I know.” I brushed her hair away from her face, and she shivered, then frowned as if she was annoyed with her body’s reaction to me. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you since the beginning of the year. I know I already apologised for that, but I want to make sure you know that I mean it. But most of all, I’m sorry for earlier today.”
“Oh.” She stared at me, the crease still there between her brows. I reached out and smoothed it out.
“Don’t ruin that beautiful face with a frown.”