Kiss and Break Up - Ella Fields Page 0,82

smelliest piece of shit, Woods.”

Byron shrugged, moving backward as he smiled. “Guess that’s why I almost had your girl. Like calls to like.”

“I’m not his …” I snapped my mouth shut. It was pointless to argue that with Byron. Besides, I wanted nothing to do with him. The sooner he walked away, the better.

“Whatever, Peggy. You’re not so different after all, are you? Fooling around with this scum while we dated. I hope karma eats your fat ass.”

I gaped at him.

Dash was already moving before I could stop him, and Byron laughed, raising his hands. “Have you squeezed it yet? It’s fucking delicious. I highly recommend.”

Dash grabbed him by the shirt and threw him into the row of lockers, all the while Byron kept his hands raised, the smile on his face goading.

“If you so much as even blink—”

Raven pulled him off him, and Byron shook out his shoulders, chuckling. “Do you wanna get expelled? Fucking idiot.”

Mrs. Truncheon rounded the corner as Dash glared at Byron’s back.

I exhaled, relieved, as she continued down the hall, coffee cup in hand.

“You let that shit bag squeeze your ass?” Dash strode over, his eye twitching.

“Not that it’s any of your damn business, but no.” I smiled at Raven, then headed outside.

Willa and Daphne were standing by Daphne’s car, talking, and Jackson was up ahead, almost at his truck.

Dash caught up to me, his arm brushing mine. “Can I come over? We need to talk.”

“No.” Rain started to sprinkle from the sky, and I cursed, quickening my pace to keep my hair from frizzing.

“Freckles,” he pleaded.

I turned on him. “Don’t call me that ever again. And quit following me.” He went to protest, but I beat him to it. “It’s done, okay? We took a risk, and it didn’t pay off. We fucked it all up, and now there’s no going back.”

With his eyes misting, he said, “You don’t mean that.”

“I do. With every part of me, I mean it when I say I’ll never be able to forgive you.” I drew in a sharp breath, almost croaking my next words. “So do us both a favor and quit this insanity. Find someone else, get over it, and do what you do best.”

“And what’s that?”

“Whore around. You couldn’t commit if you tried, and everyone knows it. All you care about is yourself, and your weak efforts to try to prove otherwise are just a waste of time.”

His eyes dropped to the ground, and he cleared his throat.

A boulder of guilt trampled me, but I couldn’t take my words back. I didn’t want to. They needed to be said.

Willa, Daphne, and Jackson all just stared as I climbed inside my car. The door was almost shut when Dash grabbed it, leaning over it to glare at me. “You’re wrong. I’ve been committed to you since before we even knew what the word meant. Sex has nothing to do with this. I’d happily only fuck you for the rest of my life, because what I do best?” I blinked away a tear as he smiled a grim, dimple-less smile and went to shut the door. “That would be loving you.”

Peggy

On Wednesday, I found a note in my locker.

I’m the biggest idiot alive.

Thursday too.

I don’t deserve you, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting you forever.

On Friday, I didn’t even look at it before tossing it into a trash can on the way to class.

I’d ignored Dash, his every advance, his every heated look or silent plea, and I felt good about it. Confident that with time, I could shake him and the sorrow that lined my heart. One day, it would simply be scar tissue. One day, it wouldn’t feel like I’d pummeled it with a meat tenderizer. One day, maybe I could look at him again without yearning for something he’d destroyed.

That night, I waited until Mom had left for her date with Phil. She was staying at his place, and I was supposed to be grounded, but I was going out. I’d messaged Daphne and Willa, asking them to come to Wade’s with me, but they’d declined.

Willa was hanging out with Jackson at home while their parents were out of town, and Daphne, well, I didn’t know what she was doing. But I bet it wasn’t watching reruns of Gilmore Girls like she’d said.

I didn’t drive. As reckless as I was feeling, I wasn’t so blind that I’d do something that foolish. I was going out to forget, and that meant drinking, so there