I shook my head. “I’m fine.”
“Sit.”
His voice brooked no argument. My knees were weak, so he easily led me to a bench near the parking lot.
“You don’t have to stay with me, Damon. Please, go.”
He let out a loud sigh, sat beside me, and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Your boyfriend can fight, I’ll give him that.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” But I said it too quickly.
“Really?” His voice was light, almost teasing. “So was the blond his girlfriend, then?”
I gritted my teeth.
“Ah. Listen, I like you. You’re tough, but Lockhart? He wants to kill me.” Damon grinned like he enjoyed the thought, and then winced in pain. He cupped his jaw and moved it from side to side again. “Because I touched what’s his.”
I looked down at my hands, noticed they were shaking. I gripped them together.
“A guy like Lockhart won’t fight for a girl if she doesn’t mean anything to him,” he said.
My chest felt tight.
“That guy is crazy for you.”
I closed my eyes.
“I don’t know what happened, but I’ve got eyes,” Damon continued. “I saw you going to him, but you stopped when the blond reached him first.”
“She…told me that Caleb… That they slept together.”
“Did they?” he asked after a moment.
“Yes. No. I don’t know.”
He nodded. “I see.”
“I have to go.”
I stood up. He grabbed my hand quickly, pulling me down to sit with him again.
“There’s no hurry. We have all day.” He grinned, the picture of a happy-go-lucky guy. He placed his palms on either si
de of him and leaned back, looking up at the sky.
“Your lip is bleeding,” I said.
He snorted. “So is his. I was going for his nose, but I didn’t think you’d appreciate that.” He winked. “Answer this for me: Did you get two sides of the story?”
I didn’t answer.
“What did he say?” he prompted.
Damon was relentless. When I didn’t answer, he let out another loud breath.
“When you have these strong emotions for someone,” he said, his voice turning serious, “they tend to take over everything. If they’re too strong, they could destroy you, eat you up.”
He toyed with the ring on his thumb, a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was replaying a memory in his mind.