It was no one’s fault but my own. And all it made me want to do was hide. Hide from all the girls on the field. Hide from Cade, the one person who had always made me feel safe. But most of all, I needed to hide from myself. I wasn’t the same innocent person I used to be. I had demons. Demons that captured me and wouldn’t let go. And now that demon was out in the open for everyone to se
e.
“Three laps to warm up, Aria!” Cade shouted from somewhere on the field, and I swallowed. Maybe if I kept to the track for the entire class, no one would see them. I could sit on the sidelines while everyone got changed, and I could hide away from them all. I was used to doing it, so it wouldn’t be a problem.
Right?
* * *
CADE
I hated being so hard on Aria, but I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t let anyone think she was getting special treatment. I had to keep up appearances, I just hoped she understood why.
We’d crossed a line. A line I never wanted to go back on. I shouldn’t have been standing in the middle of my PE class thinking about the way my skin buzzed when I was near her. I shouldn’t have loved the way her honey eyes stared into mine. Eyes that held secrets. Secrets I craved to know.
Girls giggled behind me as they picked their teams, and when I turned around, I witnessed them staring at Aria who was stretching on the track. Part of me wanted to make her come onto the field and take part in the game, but I knew I couldn’t. I was giving her special treatment. I was letting her stay on the track because at least the rest of the class had seen she was wearing lost-and-found clothes. I’d made my point, even though I hated it.
The teams got their game underway, but I kept flicking my gaze over to Aria. She was meant to be warming up, but she’d sprinted the two laps and now was halfway to the third. She was going all out, and as someone who used running to get away from my problems, I could see she was angry and upset.
I’d caused that. I’d done that to her.
Fuck.
I should have told her to slow down. I should have stepped in, but I wasn’t sure how much good I would do. She was in trapped in her own head, and I needed to let her work it out. I couldn’t come to her rescue, no matter how much I wanted to.
A team scored, and I looked away from Aria to the field and then back again, just in time to see her trip over. Her hands came out to save her, but even from this distance, I could see the way her ankle twisted.
Laughing surrounded me, and I zoned in on the loudest. Jasmine hollered at Aria and made a show of getting everyone to join in on the laughter, causing my blood to boil. I narrowed my eyes, wondering if Aria had really forgotten her clothes. From the not-so-subtle whispers coming from Jasmine, I wasn’t too sure she had.
“Pack the equipment away,” I demanded, my voice coming out razor-sharp. If there was one thing I couldn’t stand, it was girls like her. I darted across the field as Aria tried to stand up. “Aria!” I called, but she ignored me and tried to put weight on her leg. She howled in pain and collapsed on the track. “Aria, stop!”
“Leave me alone,” she said when I was a few feet away. Her shoulders moved up and down as she tried to catch her breath.
“You were meant to warm up,” I told her, crouching down in front of her and gripping her ankle. I tried to ignore the electricity that shot through me at touching her bare skin, but even I had to take a second to get myself under control. I couldn’t let anyone see the effect she had on me, not here.
“That’s what I was doing, Mr. Easton,” she gasped out.
“No,” I shook my head and raised a brow as I moved my attention off her ankle and to her face. “You were running on anger.”
She bit down on her bottom lip and looked away. I didn’t blame her. She was pissed at me, and so she should be. I’d gone too far, pushed too much, done what I always did.
Instead of trying to get her attention, I prodded around her ankle, watching for any signs of a break, thankful when it looked like a sprain.
“I’ll think you’ll live,” I said, pulling my lips up into a smile. She still wouldn’t look at me though, so I moved my other hand to her other ankle and encased it in my palm. I needed her attention to be on me, I needed her to look into my eyes and see the apology I was too chicken shit to give her. “Aria?”
She closed her eyes at the sound of her name, her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and then finally, she looked at me. “Yes, Mr. Easton?” It killed me that she’d used that name and not Cade, but it was through no one’s fault but my own. I’d told her off. I’d punished her for something she hadn’t even done.
“You okay?” I asked, instead of what I should have said. I should have told her I was sorry. I should have told her I was trying to show she didn’t mean anything to me. But it was impossible. It had been six days since my lips first touched hers, and no matter what I did, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. She’d woken a part of me that had been comatose. She’d breathed life back into me, and she had no idea she’d done that.
“Fine.”
That word. It was one word which was never used in a rightful way. No one who was fine ever said they were fine. In fact, it was usually the opposite.
I let my head drop and inhaled a deep breath. I was surrounded by students who were no doubt watching us. I couldn’t say what I needed to say to her, which was that I’d fucked up. That things had happened while I was gone which changed me forever. She didn’t understand, and I wasn’t sure I wanted her to. It was an excuse; one I didn’t want to use on her.
My eyes tracked her legs, stopping at her knees, and just as I was about to glance at her face, I noticed something on her inner thigh. It was an inch or so above her knee, but…wait…was that? My hand trailed up her leg on its own accord, my body working on automatic as I stared at her soft skin covered in scars. Old scars, new scars, and even a fresh-looking cut.
I was centimeters away from her knee when her hands slapped down, covering the marks. “Don’t,” she warned, and only then did I finally look at her face. Her eyes were darker, anger and hatred swirling in their depths, but I wasn’t sure if it was directed at herself or me.