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And that sht and never reached his steely gaze The san’s smile It reminded me of the police officers’ as they’d ushered rip onthe entire class After saying good-­bye to Calla, I crutchedas usual, putting it on the floor bya familiar pink box, I bit down on my lip as I watched hiray toboggan hat pulled low, only the ends of his hair peeked out fro the door behind him The hard set of his jaw caused my stomach to flop

Myto east campus Riddled with anxiety and uncertainty, I used the entire ti spot near the Byrd Center to work up the nerve to speak

Hands clasped tightly together, I sed hard "Is everything okay?"

Jase turned off the engine and pulled the keys out Sitting back, he lifted his free hand and san My muscles seized up as the seconds ticked by in tense silence

"No," he said finally, voice so low I thought I heard hi is not okay"

I openedI was about to say died on the tip ofto be bad Very bad I seized up, id

"I don’t kno to say this" He pressed his lips together while a burn picked up in the back of my throat "I’m sorry"

"Sorry for what?" I croaked out Because he couldn’t be sorry for what happened between us Absolutely no way

He looked away, tilting his head to the side "This is just toohalf of this conversation "What is?"

"This," he stated with force, raising his hands "All of this is toolittle indents inmy hands "II don’t understand" Those words sounded weak and pathetic toon?"

"It’s too much" He closed his eyes, features pinched and strained "It’s too ht so because we’d had sex? That seemed wildly out of character for sos right, and last night had been right "We can slon if that’s what you think we need--­"

"I can’t do this," he interrupted, opening his eyes "It’s too serious and I thought I was ready for that, but I’ht he wasn’t ready? What in the hell was holding him back? I knew about Jack and hoould impact a future with--­it occurred to me then as I took my next breath This wasn’t about Jack or us This was about Jack’s mother

"This is about her, isn’t it? You’re--­"

"I’ cracked inserious Not with Jack being so young, and I need to focus on graduating, getting a job, and helping raise Jack"

"And none of that includes aze met o through" His jaw locked down as he gave a quick jerk of his head "I’m sorry Please know I neverI ever wanted You have to believe that"

My chest rose sharply, and it felt like he’d reached inside s into a crumbled-­up wad of paper The burn inbehindwas raw and real

"And I know I’ve hurt you and I’lanced at me quickly, and he tensed The crack deepened "I’ll still pick you up for school and get you to your classes," he rushed on as I stared at him "So I don’t want you to worry about that"

I reared back, pressing against the door as what he was saying finally sunk through the shock The seat--­the floor--­dropped out fro tears "Just to make sure I understand this You don’t want to be my boyfriend, but you want to be ether "I want to be your friend, Tess Not your chauffeur"

Sucking in a shallow breath, I turned hts raced as led and felt tight

"I’ that!" A tear rolled down , because thatas he nodded his acquisition

My hands shook as I reached forand reached for the door He didn’t try to stop me as I slid out aardly, but he looked like he was about to get out to hand over the crutches

"Don’t," I said, voice hoarse "I don’t want your help"

Jase stilled in his seat, nostrils flared "But I want to help you, Tess I want us to--­"

"To be friends?" I choked on h "Are you serious?"

He looked completely serious

And that made this so much more screwed up to even think about, and it sus was for me "We can’t be friends I can’t be friends with you, because I love you, and you’ve hurt ged

"Tess!" He opened the door "Goddah a sheen of tears, I picked it up and slugged it over"I wish you had decided that this was too ether" My voice gave out to a strangled sob as I backed away "I wish you would’ve figured this out before we made love"