I never shut out Micah.
But that was the problem.
“Valentine.” He leaned over me, brushing my hair off my face. I suppressed a shiver. “You’re really worrying me.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” I whispered, my voice cracking as I fought back more tears. “It’s just stupid girl stuff.”
“Oh. Is it… is it your period?”
My eyebrows hit my hairline and I looked at him in surprise. Most boys (even my dad!) couldn’t even say the word, let alone think it.
Micah grinned. It was crooked and boyish. And I was so in love with his smile. “I grew up with just my mom. I’m not squeamish. Girls get periods, it sounds like they suck, and I don’t envy you. Unfortunately, they’re kind of a big deal in the perpetuation of humanity, and you ladies have to bear it for us men because we have a zero-pain threshold. And the baby thing. No way we could do that. So… thanks. For all of that.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed at his rambling.
His eyes brightened. “That’s better.” He shook me gently. “Come on, Cupid. Tell me what’s wrong.”
A tear escaped before I could stop it. “It’s not my period… I found out today that the boy I like, likes someone else.”
He seemed shocked. Uncomfortable. His hand withdrew from my arm.
I turned away. “Told you it was stupid.”
“Hey, hey.” Micah leaned over me again and I couldn’t help but meet his gaze. He studied my face like I was precious. I wish he wouldn’t. It just confused me. “Any guy who doesn’t see how unbelievably special you are, isn’t worth all these tears.”
Right.
Except he was.
I lowered my gaze so he wouldn’t see the truth.
“Come here.” Suddenly he hauled me into his arms. A big part of me wanted to shove him away. But I loved the feel of Micah’s strong arms around me. I pressed my cheek to his shoulder and held on as he whispered against my hair, voice gruff, “There is no one like you, Val. No one. Don’t waste your time on any guy that doesn’t realize how fucking lucky he is that you want to be with him.”
I smiled sadly against his shoulder and held on a little tighter as my dreams of us each being part of one whole disappeared.
I decided then and there that I would take Micah Green’s advice to heart.
3
Micah
AGE 18
* * *
“Are you in a mood? Is it because I danced with Steve? You know we’re just friends.”
I looked down at my prom date, trying to figure out what she was saying.
Me in a mood. Dancing with Steve. Right. I shook my head at Alison. “No. I’m not in a mood. You know prom’s not really my thing.”
Alison chuckled and then grabbed me by the lapels. “It’s your senior prom. I’m going to make it your thing.” She dragged me onto the dance floor and I did my best, pretending like I wasn’t searching the room as we swayed to a cheesy song.
The truth was, I was in a mood.
I’d been in a mood my entire junior and senior years.
That’s what happened when you were deeply, miserably fucking in love with a girl you couldn’t have.
And to top this shitty year off, she was my friend’s prom date.
I couldn’t believe Graham had asked Valentine to our senior prom.
I couldn’t believe Valentine said yes.
She’d dated quite a few losers for the past eighteen months. My little pep talk when I found her crying over some guy I didn’t even know but wanted to kill, worked a little too well.
But Graham was the worst of the lot.
There had been times when I first moved in with the Fairchilds that I thought my feelings for Valentine might be reciprocated. I wouldn’t do anything about it because I couldn’t reward their kindness by going after Val, but there was a part of me that felt elated she might feel the same way back. Instead, I screwed around with a couple of cheerleaders and hoped they’d take my mind off my whopping big crush on the daughter of the people who had turned my life around for the better.
It didn’t work.
Little Cupid was in my blood.
As it turned out, I wasn’t in hers. She’d made that clear by dating half the guys in my class.
“You are in a mood. I can feel the tension in your body,” Alison huffed.
Alison had taken over as Student Body President and Head Cheerleader when Christy went off to college. It wasn’t that I had a thing for cheerleaders. I had a thing for smart girls who were as ambitious as I was and didn’t want to get weighed down by a high school romance.
“I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be back in a sec.”
I’d seen Valentine dancing with Graham a little while ago. His hand had rested on her ass.