hand gesturing to the bags.
He doesn’t know Ivy like I do.
“And you believe that will stop her?”
“Damn it. Just get up there. But we’re still cornering her on the shit with Luca’s father. I’m not letting that go.”
Nodding my head at that, I don’t argue.
“Given that it’s Luca, I won’t let it go either. But when it comes to what happened in high school, Ivy’s not supposed to know.”
I move to step past him, but he grabs my arm. I turn to look at him.
The smile on his face does nothing but piss me off.
“Is this the part where I tell you to be honest with her because she might forgive you if she knows?”
Chuckling at that, I answer, “No. That advice was crap, and I did it to fuck with you. I was genuinely surprised you went through with it.”
His eyes narrow on my face, and I shrug.
“Unlike you, I’m not a fucking moron.”
I flash him a grin and then hurry off. I can feel his eyes burning holes in the back of my head, the rest of the guys staring me down and snickering as I run through the living room and haul ass upstairs.
Stepping into the bathroom, I drop Ivy’s crap on the ground as soon as I notice the bathroom is empty and the window is wide open, every muscle locking over my shoulders as I imagine the amount of damage she’s caused now.
Son of a bitch...
Tanner will never let me live this down.
“What the hell has she done now?”
My teeth are grinding as I cross the room on a ground-eating stride, my foot sliding in a puddle that sends me slamming into a wall.
Catching myself, I look outside to see a straight drop to the ground and a fluffy, bright, white towel laying over the dark shadow of grass.
“Crazy bitch,” I mumble, wondering how the hell she managed to jump down without breaking her legs.
Spinning back to run from the bathroom and chase her crazy ass down, my foot catches the puddle again, my leg flying out from under me as my body falls, and I crash on my back.
My head hits the floor tile as my teeth clack together, and I open my eyes to stare at the ceiling.
“I’m going to fucking kill her.”
Laughter erupts to my right, and I roll my head over the ground to see Ivy standing at the bathroom door.
“You should have seen your face,” she says, barely able to speak between the snorting laugh that’s practically doubling her over.
Her face is bright red, and her eyes are watering, tears slipping down her cheeks from how funny she finds this.
“Are you okay?”
More laughter, before she takes a deep breath in an attempt to stop. “Did you actually think I jumped?”
The look on my face must be hilarious because she busts out laughing again.
Wiping a few tears away, she tightens the towel around her and walks over. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to fall.”
“You didn’t?” I ask, my brows shooting up as I grimace at her.
She shakes her head, but can’t stop laughing.
Rolling my eyes, I can’t help but laugh with her.
“Whatever.” I lift a hand. “At least help me up.”
She reaches for me, but rather than letting her pull me up, I tug her down instead.
Ivy squeaks as she falls on my body, her palms braced on my chest as my hands grab her ass.
We stare at each other for a few seconds, and I watch the remaining tears slip down her face.
“We can’t happen,” I finally say, seeing something in her eyes that resembles hope.
Her brows crash together. “Are you talking about us? I’m shocked.”
Scoffing at that, she looks away and back at me again.
“You took that seriously, too, didn’t you? I only brought it up so you wouldn’t follow me around when I was grabbing your keys and a knife. It was nothing serious.”
Except it was.
And even if she won’t admit it to herself, I know it’s true.
It’s always been true.
Since the day we met and I shoved her to the ground for being special.
We hurt each other because we can’t have each other...because it’s the only way we can hold on.
Reaching up, I trace the shape of her lips, our eyes locking as her breath beats over the tips of my fingers.
“This would be a lot easier if you hate me.”
She blinks, her face angling down into my touch when I palm her cheek.
“I do hate you,” she lies. “And you hate me.”
The corner of