was the secrets, or maybe it was the weight of what we were doing. We couldn’t get attached, after all. I was here for a reason. Maybe it was better if we remained distant. “Like I need to be looked after.”
He gave me a tired look before cracking a shallow smile for the benefit of our audience. “Of course not.”
After last period, I returned to my locker to grab my bag. William was already waiting, his backpack slung over his broad shoulders.
“Hey,” he said. His features had somewhat relaxed since lunchtime.
“Hi,” I greeted. I gave him a smile, mostly out of courtesy.
“Chlo?” he asked. I froze, his shortening of my name catching me off guard. Nobody was close enough to hear it. When I didn’t respond, he dropped his bag to his feet so he could lean against the locker beside mine. “I’m sick of this weird formality between us. It’s not making it easy.”
I narrowed my shoulders, unsure of what that meant. When I didn’t reply straightaway, he continued.
“You know I’ve been thinking of what I said the other day.”
“You have?” I asked.
“Yeah, and I don’t think what you’re doing is completely irrational,” he said. “What I said was out of line—I know you’re only doing what you think is best. She was your friend, after all.”
I shut my locker, a little relief seeping through me. “I’m glad you came to that conclusion.”
“I just figured it’s been bothering you. You’ve been quiet lately.”
I was quiet because I wanted to keep my distance from him, especially with the image of him and Lola still fresh in my mind. This wasn’t about trust, not when he had no choice with my blackmail, but still, I’d developed some kind of irrational idea that he was different from the others. That he was better. It was a reminder to keep my distance.
“Are you going to be okay with Maddy?” he asked.
I frowned. “Yeah. I mean, should I be worried?”
He laughed. I couldn’t help but study his features, in awe of how he could look so charming, even with the bags beneath his eyes. “I doubt it. Maddy’s pretty innocent, I guess.”
“What do you mean?” Was he unaware of her affair with Francis? I wondered how that fit in with Level One’s complicated love triangle.
“Her intentions aren’t terrible. . . . She can just be impulsive,” he explained, pausing to give me a thoughtful look.
“Okay,” I said, adding that to my mental Maddy file. “Thanks.”
He cast a look to the students around him as a particularly loud group of juniors walked past. “Did you know there’s a rumor going around that we’re not even touching until marriage?”
I snorted, aware of why this would bother him. “Are you worried you’ll look bad to your buddies?”
“No,” he said. “More worried that people will find out we’re hiding something.”
Right. And that would be bad for both of us.
“What are you suggesting?” I asked.
He took a step forward, the distance between us halving, and halving again as he took another. My heart stuttered, partly because I had no idea what he was doing, and partly because I wasn’t used to being so close to a guy—especially not in front of as many people as there were around us now.
“We just need to play our part a little better,” he murmured.
He was right, but I still wanted to protest. Being so close to him was having a strange effect on my breathing. He closed the distance and embraced me. His hands fell around my waist and my hands rested against his shoulders in a careful act to look normal.
The warmth of his arms wrapped securely around my waist had me fumbling for coherent thoughts. I reminded myself that it was just due to my usual lack of human interaction.
“Is this better?” I asked, as if filling the silence between us would help kill the butterflies in my stomach. I was sure that if I stared into his eyes any longer I’d go dizzy. How could they be such a brilliant shade of green? Mine were a muddy brown, nowhere near as alluring.
“Well, it probably makes us look a little more like a normal couple,” he said, and I noticed that he was studying my face too, bringing a wave of insecurity. “I hope you have fun shopping. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
I nodded, holding my breath as his head ducked closer, carefully grazing his lips against my cheek.
And then I was released, and he shot me one more annoyingly