“I guess that means you have to go soon.” I squeezed a little tighter, not ready for her to run away as she always did.
“Nah.” She reached for her phone. “I think I’ll stay. The girls can cover for me.”
I smiled against the soft hair at the back of her head and was asleep before she even finished writing the text.
For the next few days, we all went back to our lives and pretended that nothing had changed. Everyone acted as though I didn’t exist, and I went about my business with my usual disinterested look on my face. It was so fucking hard not to smile though, after what Donna and I had shared, after how we’d managed to come out the other end after all we’d been through. I wanted to grin like a fool. She was as frustrated by it as I was. More than once, she pulled me into an empty classroom for a secret kiss, and on Tuesday night, I got home from the gym to find her in the kitchen with Aunt Hannah, chatting and cooking dinner.
I wanted to forget everything else and just . . . be happy. But I kept it all locked down tight. Seeing Will’s smug face at school was enough of a reminder why I needed to bide my time just a little longer.
The school hadn’t been able to prove who’d put all the posters up, the cameras having conveniently failed that day, so no one was being punished. But I knew it was him, and he knew I knew. I could see it in his smirk, the way he looked down his nose at me, the taunting glint in his eyes. When I was looking at William Frydenberg was the only time I let my true feelings show—my disgust, my disdain, my rage at who he was and all he represented. I let him see how badly I wanted to beat his ass every time I passed him in the halls. I figured it would only serve to prove I was serious about changing my mind and wanting to get into the ring with him.
I’d texted Shady the day after our little meeting in the woods, telling him I wanted in but only if I could fight Will. Said I had a score to settle. He’d replied with a thumbs-up and nothing more. I resisted the urge to push him, ask for more info, show my impatience.
For now, we had to just sit and wait.
I used the gym to thrash out my frustration. On Wednesday afternoon, I finished a brutal leg session with Turner and hobbled out the back door to find Donna leaning on the wall.
I didn’t even say hi. I just checked that no one was around before dropping my gym bag and diving in for a kiss. She laughed against my mouth as I pressed her into the concrete at her back. It was just about dusk, the street lights starting to come on, and I wondered if we could get away with a quickie, if the parking lot was too exposed. My girl would totally be up for it too—she was freaky like that.
“Daaaamn.” The sound of Shady’s voice was like a bucket of cold water being dumped over our heads. He strutted up to us from the corner of the building and leaned against the wall, grinning. “I might be jealous at this new development if I wasn’t sporting a semi. But please, don’t let me interrupt—I like to watch anyway.”
He bit his lip and scanned Donna’s body without a lick of shame.
“Shady.” Donna gave him a tight smile. “You know I don’t do jealousy.”
“Yeah, but you never wore that uniform for me, baby girl. What makes him so special?”
We looked at each other and couldn’t hold back the genuine smiles. She was special—more precious to me than anything.
“What’s up, Shady?” I said, keeping my eyes on Donna. Her arms were wrapped around my neck, her tight little body still flush with mine. I hadn’t missed the little flash of excitement in her eyes at Shady’s suggestion to watch us. I was pretty open-minded, but I knew they’d slept together on more than one occasion, and I wasn’t sure I could control my own jealousy. Not yet. I wanted her all to myself for a while.
“Shit.” Some of the teasing tone left Shady’s voice as he looked between us. “This is the real deal then?