Page 44

“I know this isn’t fairy tale,” I growled.

“Do you? The poor girl who works at a café finds out she’s truly a princess and is whisked away to a castle. Sounds like a fairy tale to me. But how are you going to feel when you find out your father is the villain in the story? That you may be a princess, but you’re the heir to a throne built on lies and betrayal.”

“What are you talking about, Noah? I deserve to know the truth.”

“Perhaps.” He nodded. “But I won’t be the one to shatter your fairy tale.”

I was shaking as I stood there. Noah was deliberately keeping things from me, and his excuse was that he didn’t want to shatter my fairy tale? He had no right to decide what was best for me. Especially after deciding we couldn’t even be in each other’s lives.

“This isn’t some fairy tale to me,” I repeated. “This is my life.”

“I’m sorry, Isobel. I shouldn’t have kissed you yesterday, and I shouldn’t have kissed you just now.” My heart felt like it was imploding all over again as he spoke. “You’re right; we need boundaries. This won’t happen again.” I could see from the resolution in his eyes that he meant it.

Seeing him so certain only angered me. He’d been the one demanding more kisses from me. He was the one making things so messy. I’d done nothing wrong, and yet he was acting like this was all my fault.

“You’re right. It won’t.” My eyes were cold as I stared at him, and anger drove my feet toward the door. It had been a mistake coming here. One I wouldn’t be making again.

“Isobel...” he called after me, but I walked through the door without looking back, closing it firmly behind me. I didn’t want to hear any more of what Noah had to say. I knew he wasn’t changing his mind about us.

I was certain there was no way I’d be able to follow my mom’s advice. I couldn’t wait for things between Noah and I to blow over because my self-control around him was feeble. More time only meant more opportunities to make mistakes. I kept messing up with him, and I hated to think what might transpire if he asked me to kiss him again. I liked to think I’d turn him down, but I clearly had no restraint when it came to his lips. My attempt at setting boundaries had ended disastrously too.

I felt a desperate need to be proactive. To do something,anything, to get over him. To give me the strength I needed so I wouldn’t be stupid enough to kiss him again. There was only one way I could think to do it, and I was probably going to regret it. But desperate times called for desperate measures. So, I was going to have to give Anna and Norma’s advice a go.

CHAPTERTWELVE

Iwas still riled with anger as I marched from Noah’s room and started down the corridor. What I had planned next was the worst kind of idea. But right now, I didn’t care. All I wanted was to erase Noah’s lips from my own, and no amount of scrubbing them was going to do the trick. No, I needed something stronger. Something drastic. Just like Anna and Norma kept saying, I needed a rebound. And I knew just where to find one.

Within a few moments, I found myself standing at Wes and Sawyer’s room. Without a second thought, I knocked on the door. My hands were shaking as I waited for a response, but I couldn’t tell if it was because of nerves, irritation, adrenaline, or a combination of all three. This was a terrible idea. Probably the worst I’d ever come up with. I really wasn’t sure what I was thinking. Maybe I wasn’t thinking at all. There was no way I’d be standing here if I was in the right mind. But maybe that was what I needed. I’d been dwelling on my breakup with Noah for too long, leaving myself vulnerable to falling for him all over again. It was time to stop thinking and start doing something about it.

I sucked in a breath as the door opened to reveal Wes standing on the other side. He was still dressed in his school uniform, but he’d removed his tie, and the top few buttons of his shirt were undone. His brow creased with confusion as he laid eyes on me. “Isobel? I thought we were meeting in the library.”

I pushed past him and into the room. “Is Sawyer here?”

Wes shook his head. “He’s at soccer practice.”

I swore under my breath and started pacing the room. “When do you think he’ll be back?”

“He only just left so not for at least another hour.”

“Damn,” I muttered. I doubted I’d be this riled up in an hour’s time, and there was no way I’d have the guts to go through with my crazy plan then. I’d be right back where I started.

I was still pacing around the room as Wes came up and grabbed hold of my arms, forcing me to a standstill. “What’s wrong? Why do you need to see my brother so bad?”

I slowly released my breath, a little of my annoyance dissipating as I looked up and into his calming brown eyes. “You’re going to think I’m a terrible person.”

“Try me.”

I let out another slow exhale. “I need to do something to get over Noah. It’s too much, and nothing is working. I thought I might take Sawyer up on his offer...”

My voice trailed off and Wes’ frown grew deeper.

“What offer?

“His offer to help me.”

“Help...how?

“By being.... By being my rebound.” As I stuttered out my explanation, I felt my cheeks burning with embarrassment. It sounded so silly when I spoke the words out loud.