“Yeah?”
Fuck it. Are we together or not?
“I love you.”
I regret saying it as soon as the words leave my mouth. The most awkward smile of all time spreads across his face.
“I’ll see you when I get back,” he replies before scampering down the stairs.
Twenty minutes later, I get a text from him. At first, I think he’s going to apologize, or maybe—just maybe—say it back, but I’m quickly knocked back to reality.
Willy Wonka: Winter came in when I was walking out. I told her I forgot something at your house and came to pick it up before training, but I think she’s suspicious.
Butthurt, I don’t text back, grab some clothes, and stroll into my bathroom for a shower. So not only are his feelings not as strong as mine, he’s also paranoid one day into the relationship that someone will find out about us? We didn’t have time to discuss it. Does he expect us to keep this a secret?
To never tell Kendrick?
What did I just get myself into?
Thirty minutes later, I’m sauntering down the stairs to grab breakfast. I’m supposed to be working at two, and while Luke said I was fired, I never heard from Isabella. Checking my other messages, I notice I have one from Ethan.
Ethan: Isabella wants you to come in at 1.
Kass: Great. I’m getting fired.
Ethan: SIS, WHAT? We’re both going to need a new job then. McDonalds? Starbucks? Take your pick.
I laugh. I can’t believe he’d even consider getting fired with me. I love this weirdo. Another text from Will comes through when I reach the first floor.
Willy Wonka: I miss you already.
I snort. He feels guilty about blowing me off, and he’s trying to smooth things over. I see what you’re doing, Willy. I make a mental note to reply later, heading toward the kitchen. Just as I’m about to turn the corner, I hear something.
Sniffling.
I stretch my neck, careful not to make a sound, and see her. Winter. Sitting at kitchen table with her face nestled in her hands. What the hell happened with Haze last night?
I step out of the shadows. “Are you okay?”
She jumps at the sight of me.
“I’m fine.” She wipes her eyes quickly.
I’m going to smash this guy’s balls with a brick.
I take a seat at the table. “You’re not fine. What did he do?”
She keeps to herself at first, fighting a war with her better judgment. She looks conflicted as to whether she can trust me with this. Can’t blame her. I grilled her about Haze so many times. I regret it now.
“Winter, please. Let me be there for you.”
She heaves a deep breath.
And tells me everything.
She tells me the day I walked in on them in the bathroom was when it all started. Haze had just taken her to a rooftop—more precisely the abandoned high school’s, a place well known around here for being nearly destroyed by fire—and from there, they started talking more and more.
Until she caught feelings, things happened between them, and then she found out about H