Boyfriend Bargain (Hawthorne University #1)(57)

He slows his pace, a smile crossing his handsome face as he approaches. He’s wearing jeans and a Violent Femmes shirt I bought him, showcasing his tattoos. Mostly roses and skulls, I’m surprised to realize he’s never really told me what they mean—unlike Z.

His hair flows back from his face, deep with color and wavy, brushing the sides of his chiseled jawline. Damn. The man is fine. But like my mama used to say, He’s a pretty turd in the punchbowl.

My shoulders go back when he stops in front of me but I don’t return his smile.

“Hey.” He eases his backpack down to the ground and leans in to give me a hug—a super awkward hug that I don’t want, but part of me gives in because, well, we’re in public and we did spend two years together.

I stare up at him and he looks back, a soft expression in his eyes.

I sigh. “Hey. What do you want?”

“What do I want?” He huffs out a laugh and looks up at the sky. “I wanted to see if you got the daisies.”

Daisies…oh. I nearly forgot. I think about them back in my dorm room, collecting dust.

“I don’t recall us ever having a conversation about daisies.” I arch my brow, curious as to why he keeps sending them.

He shrugs, calling attention to his broad shoulders, which I see are without a jacket today even though it’s cold. His biceps look bigger and firmer too, as if he’s been working out.

He laughs. “We went to the flower market one weekend, and you kept looking at them.”

I tilt my head, truly curious now. Is it possible that for two years, he never really knew me? “But you never asked if they were my favorite.”

He frowns. “I know you better than you know yourself, Sugar.”

He does not know me! Betrayal churns, that familiar feeling I get when I picture him in that car. “I’m not a daisy kind of girl, actually.”

“Oh?” He brushes at a stray hair that’s come loose from my ponytail and tucks it behind my ear. “What flower is your favorite?”

I frown. “I don’t know.”

“See!”

I shake my head. “Maybe I don’t like flowers at all. Maybe I’m a love note person. Maybe I like diamonds instead.”

I didn’t mean to say that last part, about diamonds, but his face brightens. “Do you want to get serious, Sugar? Are you asking for a ring?”

WHAT? I feel myself recoiling.

“No.”

He pauses. “I don’t understand what’s wrong with you. You’re grouchy. Are you PMSing?”

I sigh at his obliviousness. “Bennett, it’s not me who’s wrong. It’s you. Yeah, maybe we weren’t right for each other and that’s what pushed you to have sex with that girl, but we…we are over.”

His expression grows earnest as he comes closer to me until there’s only a hair’s breadth between us. “We didn’t go all the way. If you’d give me a chance to explain—”

“It doesn’t matter, don’t you see? There is no hardline definition of what cheating is to me. You. Were. With. Her.”

He shakes his head, trying to deny it, but I won’t stop, not now that words are spilling out, and I think I’m glad to say them. Perhaps I shouldn’t have waited so long to have this conversation with him.

“Maybe we worked before, but we grew apart,” I say, keeping my voice low. “You want me to be someone I’m not, and when I didn’t give you what you wanted, you looked to someone else. Whether or not you actually penetrated her vagina is irrelevant. Eventually you would have gone all the way anyway—with lots of girls, probably—until I found out. I can’t…I just can’t let that go.”

“Please, Sugar.” His hand is on my arm, tugging, and my half-empty red slushie spills to the ground.

He barely notices.

I pull back from him and he shakes his head and rakes a hand through his hair, pacing around me, slicing his hands through the air to emphasize his point. “I just need you with me, supporting me. I need a full-time girlfriend. After we graduate, I’ll be on the road and I want you with me.”

I’m not his main groupie! But I don’t say that. I want to keep this civil.

“You need someone to pat your head and tell you how awesome you are.”

He stops and scowls, his lips tightening. “That’s mean. I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

I pick up my empty drink cup and tuck it inside my backpack. At least I’m not going to litter. “Have a nice life, Bennett. Truly.”

“Don’t say that.” He walks back to me and grabs my elbow, his grip tighter than it should be, and I look down at his strong, tanned hand, the one that’s cupped my face a hundred times. My eyes linger on the silver infinity ring on his finger, the one I bought him for his birthday. His gaze follows mine and he loosens his grip. “Shit. I’m sorry if I hurt you.” He caresses my arms and grabs my hand. “And the ring? I still wear it, Sugar. I still love you and I’m just trying to prove it. I want to work this thing out—”

“Let her go.” The low male voice comes from behind me and we both turn.

Z.

His face is hard as granite, his body coiled and tense as he stares at our joined hand.

Bennett gives him a once-over and stiffens beside me. “Move on, dude. This doesn’t concern you.”