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Cress stiffened. “Noah’s been sick.”

She’d responded so awkwardly that I wondered whether Noah was truly unwell. Either way, Veronica seemed to accept Cress’s reasoning, and she placed a hand against her chest in dismay. “Oh, the poor thing. I better go check on him. See if he’s okay.”

“He’s resting. I’m sure he doesn’t need or want your help,” Cress replied.

“No. If I know Noah, he’ll need someone to care for him right now. And I know all the best ways tocarefor him.”

My nails dug into the palms of my hands as my fists clenched tighter. I didn’t even want to think about what Veronica was insinuating.

She didn’t give either of us a chance to respond before she turned to the front of the classroom, lifting a hand in the air. “Mr. Wagner, I need a pass for the school nurse. I have a terrible headache.”

The teacher barely opened his mouth to answer her when Veronica gathered her things and started for the front of the room. She looked back in my direction when she reached the door and gave me a knowing smile before disappearing from the room.

“Noah’s going to kill me,” Cress murmured.

“Is he really sick?”

“Uh, he’s actually—”

“You know what, I don’t want to know. The less I know about Noah, the better.”

I didn’t want to think about Noah, but he remained on my mind for the rest of class. I kept wondering if Veronica had found him. If he was letting her look after him like she’d said she would. I knew I shouldn’t let her get to me, and I was probably a hypocrite for being hurt he was moving on. But I still cared for him. I just wondered when it was going to stop.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

“Sawyer has demanded your presence at his soccer game tonight.” Wes was standing at my bedroom door, a hopeful expression on his face. “He told me to tell you he, and I quote, ‘he will be very disappointed if you miss another of his matches.’”

"Oh no, really?”

“Yep.” Wes sounded remarkably positive considering my response.

I’d been avoiding Sawyer’s matches for one very good reason. I didn’t want to watch Noah play. I’d been trying to purge him from my life, and going to his games seemed an unnecessary torture. I was working on moving on now, so it was probably time I stopped using him as an excuse. Still, it was cold this evening, and the idea of freezing my butt off as I sat in a soccer stadium wasn’t that appealing.

“Sawyer won’t even know if I’m there or not. Isn’t the presence of the rest of the school enough for him?”

“His need for adoration knows no bounds.”

I laughed. Sawyer did seem to enjoy soaking up the attention he got during his games. He wasn’t even the star player, but he certainly acted like he was.

“Also, he’s decided you’re his good luck charm. He didn’t play very well at his last game, and since you weren’t there, he’s decided you’re to blame.”

“He can’t be serious. Is he really that superstitious?”

Wes shrugged. “I might be his brother, but not even I understand Sawyer most of the time.”

“I’m not going to his game just because he played like crap last week.”

“He also promised to stop calling you sis if you come.”

“Ugh, he told you about that?”

“Oh yeah. He’s already planning our wedding.”

I groaned. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Wes grinned. “I am,mostly. He’s very team Wesobel.”

“Oh no, not the couple name. Has he been talking to Cress?”