Chapter 52
1 clamp my eyes shut, my heart thundering wildly beneath my rib cage as I thrash wildly against the grip on me.
The fear running through me is akin to the one I felt when Professor Lincoln tried to assault me in the coffee shop, which feels like ages ago. This time, I’m determined not to let any more sleazy bastards get the best of me.
A low grunt reaches my ears when my heeled foot comes in contact with a shin.
The hand slips from my mouth, and the weight on me lifts slightly.
“April!” a familiar warm voice hisses in pain.
My eyes fly open then, and the fear rushing through me comes to a screeching halt.
Nathan.
My lips wobble, and I can’t stop the sob of relief that escapes me.
Nathan pauses, his attention shifting from his–most likely–bruised shin to me. His eyes widen when he takes me in, no doubt noticing the terror plastered all over my face.
“What the fuck?” My voice comes out as a choked sob as I clutch my chest. “Why would you do that?”
Nathan gapes, clearly stunned by my reaction. “I’m sorry, I…I wanted to talk to you, and you were avoiding me, so-
“So you corner me in the hallway like some sort of predator?!” I snap. Thankfully, my heart rate has calmed down, and the fear has receded.
Nathan isn’t Lucas. He wouldn’t hurt me.
At least, I truly hope so.
“I’m sorry,” he says quietly, looking genuinely remorseful. “Fuck,” he swears softly, stepping back. “Why can’t I do anything right when it comes to you?”
I blink. “What?”
He shakes his head, and one curl detaches from the perfectly gelled hairstyle and rests on his forehead endearingly. “I came out here to apologize to you, and all I succeeded in doing was making you madder.”
I cock my head slightly. “You want to apologize?” What the hell?
Nathan nods, biting his lower lip in a way that does terrible things to my comprehension of what is happening.
“What could you possibly have to apologize to me for?” I ask, forcing my gaze on his eyes and away from his plump, soft–looking lips.
He sighs and gestures between us. “Right now, for example.”
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Chapter 52
I shake my head. “It’s okay, I thought you were…someone else. I’m okay.”
Nathan’s eyes narrow. “Who?”
1 stiffen. “What?”
“You thought I was someone else. Is someone making you scared?”
I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.
“You looked uncomfortable during the dance earlier,” he says lowly. “Did Lucas do something?”
Nathan’s green eyes search mine, and they look so much like his brother’s that I can’t keep his gaze.
He glances at the bathroom door beside me. “I followed you out as soon as you left the ballroom. You spent a lot of time in there, and you sounded…odd.”
Ah, shit.
“April.” He sounds increasingly worried. “Talk to me.”
I could tell Nathan about what Lucas said—and did. Maybe he could help me stay away from him, maybe even set his brother straight. But then I remember what happened that night after he caught me watching Lucas and Sarah.
I know you have questions. You will not voice them. Not to me or to anyone else.
He didn’t try to have a conversation explaining what I’d seen or calming me down.
Now he wants me to talk. Back then, all he cared about was keeping my mouth shut.
So that’s what I do. I clamp my mouth shut and shake my head. “It’s nothing. I was just startled because I didn’t know who was grabbing
me.”
Nathan looks unconvinced, but when he speaks again, it isn’t to press further. “I’m sorry.”
My eyebrows furrow. “For what again?”
“For that time in your room. You were so kind to make me the knee brace, and instead of thanking you, I lashed out at you. Valerie was the one in the wrong, not you, I get what it’s like not being able to speak out to right an injustice, and I should have never spoken to you the way I did.”
My mouth drops open, but Nathan, it turns out, isn’t done,
“I’m also sorry for last night. You were clearly in distress about your dress, and it was insensitive of me to suggest you wear another one when you’d put in so much work in it. I should have focused more on how you were feeling instead of trying to defend Valerie’s probable —or improbable–innocence. Furthermore, I should have tried harder to convince you to stay, and when you stayed up to fix your dress, I should have been there to help you.”
Nathan finishes with an exhale, suggesting that all that had been weighing on him for a while.
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Chapter 52
Meanwhile, I just stand there, my jaw dragging on the floor, stunned.
I glance back at the bathroom door, my brows furrowed.
“What?” Nathan asks, following my gaze.
“I’m trying to figure out how probable it is that your bathroom is a portal, and I stepped out into another dimension.
Nathan lets out a whoosh of laughter that draws my attention back to him. “Is my apology that incredulous?”
I shrug. “I just didn’t know rich people could be so…self–aware.” A small smile tugs at my lips. “That was a pretty good apology, Nathan, you should be proud of yourself.”
His lips pull up, too. “Does that mean you forgive me, Farrah?”
My heart skips a beat as an eyebrow raises. “Did you just last name me?”
Nathan chuckles, dropping his gaze. “Peter got to do it.”
A sharp burst of laughter escapes me at this surreal, giddy moment. “Touché.”
Then, Nathan Ashford holds out a hand to me. In the ballroom–which feels like worlds away from this moment–I hear the song change, signifying the beginning of another dance.
“Now that you don’t hate me anymore,” he says, “will you dance with me, Farrah?”
I can’t help the wide grin that spreads over my face as I take his hand, forgetting the awfulness that sent me rushing out of the ballroom.
It’s not exactly like my dream–but Nathan is here, we’re the only two people out in the hallway, and he’s asking me to dance.
“I’d love to, Ashford.”
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