Say Yes (Nostalgic Summer Romance)

“Whose place?”

“Liam’s.”

Her eyes went wide. “Uh… I think that’s a terrible idea.”

“This is just stupid,” I said, throwing my hands up on a huff. “Whatever, he doesn’t want to be with me? That’s fine. I was just sex to him? That’s fine,” I lied. “But to not come to class for four days? To throw away everything he’s worked for because of… of… pride?” I growled. “No. I won’t let him. I won’t let him do it.”

I was already ripping my uniform over my head and stomping back toward my room to change as Angela hastily wiped her hands on the towel hanging from her pocket before chasing after me.

“I think you should let him come to you,” Angela said.

I snorted. “Yeah, fat chance that will happen. And even if it does, by that time, he’ll have an F, and no way to save himself.”

“It’s not your responsibility to make him go to class.”

“I promised to hold him accountable. I promised to help him wrangle his procrastination and laziness and actually do something with this program.”

“He doesn’t want to see you,” Angela said more forcefully, yanking me to a stop before I could pull a tank top over my head. Her warm eyes locked on mine. “He doesn’t want to see anyone.”

I swallowed, knowing it was the truth, but lifted my chin in defiance, anyway. “Well, that’s too damn bad.”

Angela sighed as she released me. “Fine. But I’m coming with you.” She held up a finger on her way out the door. “And for the record, I still think this is a terrible idea.”

“Noted.”

Less than ten minutes later, Angela was scurrying alongside me and quietly urging me to slow down and take a breath as I angry-stomped toward Liam’s dorm. When we made it, I knocked loud and hard on the door before Angela could stop me.

“Calm down,” she said, pulling me to look at her. “If you want to achieve anything, you can’t blow in there like a hurricane.”

“I’m calm,” I assured her.

She cocked a brow.

Resigned, I closed my eyes and forced a long, slow breath before meeting her gaze again. “I’m calm. I promise.”

She nodded, releasing me, though the way she pressed her lips together told me she wasn’t convinced.

“Where is he?” I asked Thomas as soon as he opened the door, barging past him and toward Liam’s room.

“Uh… hello to you, too,” he mumbled, gesturing for Angela to come in before he closed the door.

I tried to open Liam’s bedroom door, but the handle only barely jiggled.

Locked.

I banged on it with my fist. “Liam!”

“Okay, let’s take a breath,” Angela said, grabbing my arms and pulling me from the door.

“No, this is ridiculous,” I said, shrugging her off before I was banging on the door again. “Liam! Open this door and talk to me. Now.”

“He’s not here,” Thomas said, but it didn’t register, and I kept banging and screaming until I was wrapped up from behind and hauled back into the living room. Thomas deposited me on the ground again with a grunt. “He’s not here, Harley.”

My chest heaved with every breath, and I could feel my crazy eyes as much as I saw them reflected in Thomas’s and Angela’s expressions.

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” Thomas said.

I smoothed my hands over my jeans. “Fine. I’ll wait,” I said, plopping down on the couch.

Thomas swallowed, looking regretfully at Angela before his eyes came back to me.

“What?” Angela asked him. “Why do you have that look on your face?”

He sighed, running his hand back through his hair. “I don’t know where he is,” he said again. “And I don’t think he’s coming back.”

I had my legs crossed, the one on top shaking incessantly, but everything stilled when he said that.

“What?” I asked, popping up from the couch. “What do you mean?”

“He… he packed everything up. Everything. He wouldn’t talk to me, just packed and left. And then earlier today, a couple of staff members came by. They looked around his room, marked off stuff on a clipboard, had someone come in and clean, and then locked it up.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Harley. But he’s gone.”

I was already shaking my head, blinking over and over like I could clear my eyes and my ears and erase everything he’d just said. “What? No. He can’t be… he can’t be gone,” I insisted. “Have you emailed him?”

“I tried, but I only had his school email. It bounced back.”

“Shit.” Angela deflated on a sigh. “Come here,” she said, already reaching for me.

“No.” I wiggled away from her, marching up to Thomas. “He can’t be gone. Where did he go? Where did… I don’t…”

I shook my head, looking around the dorm for anything that belonged to him, for a sign that he’d be back. When I didn’t find anything, I bolted around Thomas and back toward his room, heaving my shoulder into it with all my might to try to knock it down.