Make Me Hate You(83)
I nodded. I still didn’t look up.
Reese was quiet, but then he stepped forward, his auburn oxfords sliding into view with my shoes. We were toe to toe, and I remembered another time when we stood this way, when I couldn’t look at him. Another time long ago.
“And now?” he finally asked.
I slowly lifted my gaze, eyes catching his.
“Are you living the best years now, Tadpole?”
The way he looked at me willed me to say something, to bare my soul that he was trying so desperately to see. I used to hand it to him in the palm of my hands, eyes wide and heart open, nothing to hide.
But he didn’t understand. There was just nothing to see, now.
It had been five years since I’d had anything to offer.
The doors behind Reese flew open, students trickling in slower at first before that trickle became a stream.
“We should head back,” I said, running a hand over my hair to smooth any flyaways back into place. “I told my aide that I might be a little late coming back from lunch, but we have a lot to cover today, so I shouldn’t be gone too long. And you’re with the fifth graders, yes?”
Reese just watched me. He was still waiting for an answer.
“Well, they’ll be heading back to class now, too. Best not to leave them alone too long. They’re old enough to cause more trouble than you think.”
I wrapped my scarf around my neck again and pushed through the doors, not checking to see if he followed.
Thank you for reading the first few chapters of What He Doesn’t Know! Continue reading here (available in Kindle Unlimited).
The Becker Brothers Series
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The Palm South University Series
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There are so many people to thank for helping me bring Make Me Hate You to life. This book put me through the emotional ringer, and I would not have survived writing or editing or publishing it without a team of amazing humans behind me.
Jack, thank you for believing in me even when I didn’t. There were several times during this process that I felt like I’d never be able to get this story out the way it was in my head. You never doubted, and always held me and assured me it would come. The calmness and peace you bring to my life, and to my writing process, is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
To my incredible mother, thank you for reading every single one of my books and never being too shy to tell me when I can do better. I always have your voice in my head when I write, and I make sure I polish my projects until I know you’d be proud. You brought me into this world with a writer’s heart and a dreamer’s soul, and I could never thank you enough for that.
Staci Brillhart, even though you were hands off on this project (because let’s be honest – you just CAN’T do cheating of any kind, fiction or not), I appreciate you being there throughout the day to day work. You were always there sprinting with me, high-fiving me from afar when I conquered a difficult scene, and helping me work through issues as they came up. Plus, you helped me craft the perfect blurb, and without you, this book would not be a success.