Yet, when he appeared in the dining hall—looking every inch the teenage dream I remembered him to be—all the blood rushed to my head. Calm your tits, woman.
Estella seemed to notice Crispin’s arrival, too, leaning over and nudging me with her elbow. “You okay?” she asked, motioning to him. “Do I need to kick some Dalton ass?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Just say the word, and I’ll make him bite the curb,” Estella promised with a conspiratorial wink.
I averted my gaze but not before catching him looking at our table.
Crispin Dalton was like a freaking magnet. I swear every girl in that goddamn room stared, but he sauntered right across the cafeteria toward us. The noise quieted as if people were waiting to hear what he'd say. I knew my life at Wildwood depended on the way Crispin treated me. So far, it wasn’t very promising. He hated me, I thought guiltily. I was the reason everything went to hell for him.
"Hey."
God, his voice was all low and gravelly and freaking irresistibly sexy. It would be so much easier to just hate him. I wished I could. I needed to.
I swallowed hard, finally looking up through black lashes. "What now?" I muttered, despising myself. “Just, fucking… leave me alone. I don’t know how many times I have to ask you.”
Maybe he was just trying to be nice this time. But I didn’t trust him. The whole world was at a standstill as I waited for his next move. Slowly, he cracked a grin and sat down on the bench next to me as if the classroom fall had never happened. As if we were friends. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but him being this close wasn't helping matters much.
“Reconsidered my offer?” he asked.
"No,” I grunted. “Like I already told you two freaking times, I’m not interested.”
“Suit yourself,” he ground out. “Just saying, you could be prom queen in less than a year. You could have your dream high school experience. Just do as I say. Would that be so goddamn hard?”
Staring into his eyes, I found myself falling under their spell. They were so deep and tempting but so damn cruel at the same time. “Yes, it would be the stuff of nightmares.”
I can’t think of a single way to get past what had happened. We can’t just pretend it was nothing.
"Have you been showing her the ropes?" Crispin's next question was meant for Estella, and my skin bristled with jealousy as he looked at her, pretending our conversation hadn’t taken place.
"Yeah." Estella smiled. "Don't you worry. I'm going to take good care of our little Tins."
Somehow, my best friend had managed to make me feel small despite the fact I was older. She hadn’t meant to. It was her mere presence that caused me to pale in comparison. I'd never be as pretty, as tall, as freaking loaded, or as sexy as Estella. And I knew without a doubt, if Crispin had to pick between us, he'd pick her.
I decided on the spot that he'd only come over to talk to her, and the feeling ate me up while they chatted easily. A moment later, I realized Crispin had asked me a question I'd completely missed by worrying myself sick. "Sorry?" I muttered, hoping my cheeks weren't as red hot as they felt.
“I said, how’s your mom these days?” he repeated.
“Crispin.” Estella’s voice held a stern warning. “Don’t go there.”
“I’m just asking.” He shrugged. “Is she still fucking her way to the top?”
I got up, grabbing my chia drink, but his fingers wrapped around it, too, yanking it out of my reach.
“Let go,” I demanded.
“Crispin, leave her alone,” Estella insisted.
"I was just telling Estella she should come to my party." He grinned, winking at my friend and pulling the drink out of my hand. He unscrewed the cap and took a long swig while I glared.
“Yeah, it’s going to be a blast.” Estella smiled, though her expression was still strained, glancing between Crispin and me. “Are you…”
An awkward silence lay between us. I knew what she was going to ask. My friend wanted to elicit an invitation for me as well.
“You should come,” Crispin said easily, his hand leaving mine and making my skin tingle in its wake. “Bury the hatchet.”
“Thanks, but I’d rather not.”