The Naughty List (The Naughty List #1)(61)

The crowd collectively gasped. Well, if they didn’t know about me and Aiden before, they certainly did now. It didn’t matter. I was done with secrets.

“Stay away from me,” I said in no uncertain terms. Christian looked crushed, and for a second, I felt bad about it. Like I’d broken his heart. But then I remembered how his hand had slid under my skirt as I cried. Jerk. Big stupid jerk.

I twirled around, turning my back on him, on the crowd, and I marched. I stomped down the hall and headed for Aiden’s class. He’d talk to me. I wouldn’t let him ignore me.

A few people whispered as I walked by. My reputation was ruined, and maybe by the end of the day, they’d know about SOS too. I turned down the English hallway and I saw him.

I saw the tousled blond hair and the long, lean body. Suddenly my urge to cry was back.

“Aiden!” I called. He stopped walking but didn’t turn around. My heart sped up.

I trotted ahead, and when I reached him, I took his forearm, turning him to me. His skin was so warm. Sweet kitty princess! I missed him.

Aiden gently removed himself from my hands. “Hello, Tessa,” he said looking down at me. I couldn’t read his expression, but he hadn’t shaved. He was sort of disheveled, and I loved him like that.

“You didn’t take my calls,” I said, my voice sad.

Aiden’s face twitched a little, but he straightened it. “I’m sorry about that,” he answered. His green eyes flicked to my Band-Aid. “I heard you needed to get stitches.”

He heard? Was he asking about me? That was sweet.

“I got one,” I said, trying to sound cute, the way he used to like me.

Aiden chewed on his lip, watching me, calm and collected. “Tessa,” he said, dropping his eyes. “I think I need a break.”

The bell rang, sending students running past us in the hallway. But Aiden and I stood there, staring at each other. It got very quiet, and I could barely breathe. “A break?”

Aiden looked down at my lips but then clenched his jaw and looked past me. I wondered if he was imagining Christian’s mouth there. “I can’t be with you anymore,” he said. “Not after … everything. All the lies.” He shook his head.

“But—”

“It’s over. I’m sorry.” He wouldn’t look at me.

I didn’t want to cry in the middle of the hallway, but I felt like I needed to defend myself. I wanted Aiden to understand. “We started SOS with good intentions, Aiden. They were cheating. All those guys were cheating, don’t you see that?”

He snapped his green eyes to mine, pulling back his mouth in a sneer. “And you were spying, sneaking around. Why was it your business? It wasn’t. You had no right.”

Ouch. There was a pain growing in my chest, getting deep and heavy. “I still love you, though.”

Aiden blinked and sniffled once before looking away. “Yeah, well. It’s not just about you anymore.”

“Don’t,” I said, but when I reached for him, he stepped back. Away from me.

I blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears from spilling. I needed to go home now. My life had just been thoroughly thrashed. Aiden didn’t want me. The boy didn’t want me anymore.

“I’ll see you around, ba … Tessa,” he murmured.

I felt absolutely defeated. Aiden turned and slowly began to walk down the empty hall, dragging his sneakers on the linoleum. I stared after him, no longer needing to hold back my tears. Just as I closed my eyes, they leaked down my cheeks. I wasn’t sure how to do this. How to properly grieve for him. Cookies and ice cream couldn’t solve this problem. I wasn’t sure anything could.

Christian started calling my cell, but I didn’t answer. He didn’t deserve that satisfaction. I deleted his messages before listening to them. I was sure that the Smitten Kittens were trying to keep SOS alive without me, especially Leona, but I’d given up all control. I’d barely been showing up for practice. I’d even missed last week’s game.

Aiden didn’t sit at our lunch table anymore. He sat with Darren and the team. I stared at him sometimes, but he didn’t look back. He just kept his head down and chewed his food. He looked as sad as I felt.

He really was taking a break. He wouldn’t take my calls. His mother had begun chatting with me on the phone, though, mostly about school stuff. She didn’t ask if Aiden and I were officially over; she probably didn’t need to. Obviously he didn’t want to talk to me.

Christian and Chloe kept quiet about SOS. I wasn’t even sure Chloe knew the whole story. But if she did, she was keeping her pouty mouth shut. Maybe she was embarrassed. Embarrassed that Aiden didn’t want her. Even without me in his life, he still didn’t want her scowling face.

One afternoon, I sat in the lunchroom, half dead from exhaustion. I’d been having all sorts of nightmares lately—ones where I was running around desperately, trying to finish impossible missions. The squad was with me, but my table was without pep. It was lonely.

I looked across the buzzing cafeteria at Aiden. At the same moment, he picked up his adorably blond head. His mouth opened as our eyes met, but then he dropped his gaze, staring down at his tray. Did he still love me? Did he miss me?

Right. He couldn’t even look at me. I felt seriously dejected. Alone.

Kira cleared her throat from across the table. “Tess?” she asked cautiously. “We’ve been getting texts. Ones for SOS. But … things haven’t been going well.”