Chanel scoffs. “And to think she called you her best friend for like … how long?”
“Thirteen years.”
Chanel lets out a huff. “It’s on. I don’t care if you say no. I’m breaking her nose so bad that not even my mom’s plastic surgeon could fix that mess.”
“Fuck Erica,” Arizona says. “What are we going to do about Addison? She’s just been lying in a hospital bed for six weeks without anyone even knowing she’s there.” Arizona nibbles on her bottom lip, her gaze flicking toward Tanner. “Do you think Addison’s parents would be down for us to visit? I mean, I know we’re not exactly close, but I don’t like the idea of her being alone.”
“She’s not alone,” I tell her as we start walking again. “Tanner’s mom practically lives at her bedside.”
“Yeah, but it’s not the same,” Arizona says. “Now that everyone knows, people are going to be randomly showing up there to visit, and I wonder—”
“Wonder what?” Ilaria questions when Arizona cuts herself off.
Her lips twist with uncertainty and she pulls her gaze back from Tanner at the top of the school entrance, still staring at me with his heart on his sleeve. He should have stayed away last night, but I’m grateful he bulldozed his way into my life once again. I needed him more than ever, and he showed up for me. Even when I pushed him away, even after everything that went down. “I wonder if her mom would be cool with us going and just … freshening her up. Like painting her nails and brushing out her hair. I mean, I wasn’t close with her or anything, but I knew her enough to know that she would never walk out of her house without makeup and her nails done, so like, I don’t know. I think it’s the least we could do for her, and then when she wakes up, she’ll be happy to know that when people came to see her, she was presented in a way that she would have been comfortable with. Is that … is that okay, or am I being rude? I don’t want to overstep or anything.”
I step into Arizona and wrap my arms around her. “I think that’s an amazing idea,” I tell her. “All you can do is ask. If her mom says no, then at least she knows you had Addison’s best interests at heart and that not everyone in this world is a monster. I never met her, but from what I can tell, I think she’ll appreciate it.”
“Awwww,” Ilaria says, flinging her arm over Arizona’s shoulder and pulling her into her side. “Aren’t you just the biggest bundle of sweetness?”
Chanel laughs. “I really don’t know how you forced your way into our lives. You’re over here wanting to take care of Addison while Ilaria and I are planning to file our nails into sharp claws for when we jump Erica.”
The girls laugh, and while I desperately want to join in with them, my heart is simply too heavy.
We continue making our way to the entrance, and as we finally reach the very front of school, my chest begins to ache. Tanner is so close. Only a few steps would put me right in his warm arms, and the pain in his eyes tells me just how welcomed I’d be, but it hasn’t even been forty-eight hours since those vile words flew out of his mouth at the track.
My gaze drops away, feeling not only the heat from his stare, but Riley’s, Jax’s, and Hudson’s too. The only one who takes it easy on me is Logan, but that’s purely because his gaze is locked on Chanel’s. I start making my way up the stairs to the main entrance and suck in a breath, unable to release it as I painfully make my way past him.
His fingers flinch at his side, and I’d do anything to cling on to them, needing him more than I ever thought possible. Instead, I keep walking, feeling a piece of me die with each new step I take.
A strange hush falls around us, and I can practically read the questions lingering in my friends’ minds, wondering what the hell went down between us. I didn’t get a chance to explain the hostility between me and Tanner before I was carted off in handcuffs. They’re not stupid. They know there’s something much deeper going on between us than just the bullshit Colby and Erica created, and I don’t think it’ll be long before their ability to hold their tongue fails.
He doesn’t try to force my attention, but I see his need to. This morning is already going to be hell, and the last thing I need is to deal with is this twisted, fucked-up mess of feelings between us. The fact that he allows me to walk by uninterrupted is a gift which brings nothing but sweet relief, but he won’t be able to resist for long. He’s going to want to talk, and when he does, it’s not going to be pretty.