Kiss and Break Up - Ella Fields Page 0,80

me longer than anyone else to realize why.

Unlaced boots drifted toward us, and my eyes caught the low hanging pants, then his untucked shirt, and the haphazardly looped tie.

No.

A chill swept through me as his arctic eyes zeroed in on me, his jaw hardened and covered in enough whiskers to surely get him written up. His hair stood every which way on his head, the golden strands not even moving as he neared.

He was back.

About to make a run for it, I almost slammed into Lars’s chest. He caught me, steadying me and nodded at Dash over my head.

I didn’t want to turn around. I didn’t want to see him. Bile was simmering, threatening to make a churning mess out of my stomach.

“Freckles.”

I pulled away from Lars, bumping into Dash with tears filming my eyes before I raced down the hall.

I should’ve known he’d catch me. He darted in front of me, bringing me to a stop. His eyes were bright, clear, and hovering over my face with a calculated gleam.

“You can run, Freckles, but I can run faster.”

My brows gathered, and so did the fury slowly tensing every one of my limbs. “Move.” I tried to step around him, but he met me step for step.

“I’m not going anywhere until I’ve stared at you for as long as I can.”

I clicked my tongue. “The bell is about to ring.”

He tipped a shoulder. “So I’ll stare at you until it does.”

We both stared then, he with that annoying twitch to his lips, and me with a thousand and one things I wanted to scream at him playing on mine.

Students moved by, some stopping to look at us while the others continued their conversation as though we didn’t exist.

The bell rang. I raised a brow when he didn’t move. “Well?”

He inched closer, his finger lifting to my hair. “While this looks sexy as fuck, I miss your curls. Your freckles. I miss you.” I stood suspended, my chest heaving, as he lowered his head, his lips drifting over my cheek. “And you need to go the other way.” With a sneaky peck to my cheek, he staggered back, grinning before leaving me there.

“Freaking asshole,” I muttered, turning on my heel with my cheeks burning and my heart pounding.

I sat through class seething, emotion a constant lump in my throat, making it hard to concentrate. He had some nerve, putting himself right in front of me as if he hadn’t crushed me beyond repair.

People were still hung up on Lars and Annika, the latter wasn’t at school today, but they weren’t so hung up they hadn’t noticed Dash’s reappearance.

“I heard he got suspended and his dad sent him to military camp for two weeks,” someone said between classes.

“You’re an idiot. Who goes to military camp for two weeks?”

And even worse from the cheer squad, “He met some chick online, then ran off and stayed in a hotel with her.”

“No way,” Selina breathed.

Annabeth nodded. “So way. Fucking Tinder, taking all the decent guys.”

I munched down on my lips at hearing that. Dash Thane was so far from decent, even he would laugh at the word.

He was a selfish, conniving, egotistical scumbag.

There was nothing to romanticize about that, but they didn’t care. Whatever got their stupid hearts beating faster was apparently called decent.

I knew there was little to no truth behind most of the whispering, but regardless, the fact he was gone and just decided he’d come back had my hackles raised.

I spent lunch in the library, frantically finishing my assignment before history that afternoon. Even there, in the silence permeating the room, I couldn’t escape him. He filled my head, clenched every muscle, and shortened my breath. But I had to ignore it. Him.

I barely had my paper done before it was time to get back to class, but it was better than nothing.

The halls were almost empty as I scurried down them, my boots feeling heavier than usual. Mr. Andrews was about to shut the door when he saw me approaching. His moustache bounced to one side, and I offered a weak smile in apology as I skirted by him and to the back of the room.

And then I discovered an asshole in my seat.

“Saved it for you. Thought you might like it warmed.”

I dumped my stuff on the table where he was supposed to sit and did my best to ignore him.

“Okay, before we get started, papers are due on my desk on your way out.”

A few groans littered the air,