The Guy on the Left (The Underdogs 2)

Parker walks over to where I sit, her eyes wide. “Uh, text me?”

All I can do is nod.

“Ready,” Dante says as Troy catches him once more, kneeling to hug him. “See you tomorrow.”

“K.”

“Love you,” Troy says, ruffling his hair.

“Love you,” Dante replies, as Parker ushers him out.

When the door closes behind them, Troy crosses his arms.

“How was the spa?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Jesus Christ, Clarissa.”

“I’m not proud of myself.”

“But you’re proud of me, right?” His voice is ice. “Did you send a single one of those texts?”

I close my eyes briefly, both ashamed and terrified of the truth. “No.”

He fists his hands at his sides. “You don’t believe me.”

“I panicked.”

“Because I’ve given you every reason to doubt me, right?”

“That’s not it at all.”

“Then what!? What is it!?”

“It’s a culmination of everything. That needle, us, the future.”

“The future?”

“Troy, you don’t know what’s going to happen, and you don’t know how you’ll feel about me six months from now.”

“I think that’s a question you need to ask yourself.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning less than a week ago, I was sure about how you felt. Now I’m not sure about anything anymore when it comes to you.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Why, why can’t I? What exactly have we been doing here? I thought we were building something.”

“We were, we are. It just scared me.”

“It scared the shit out of me too!”

“I know. I’m sorry. I just couldn’t pretend I was fine when I wasn’t. It was a reality check. Things are getting serious between us.”

“That was the whole point!”