Page 25 of Don’t Love the Boy Next Door (Hotties Next Door #2)

I shake my head. “It was an act.”

“I’m not an actor.”

My lips clamp shut as I look into his eyes. They’re still hard to read, but they seem sincere enough. Still, it can all be an act. He claimed he’s not an actor, but I think he is. And he shares his brother’s genes—Eric is so talented as Beast.

I lift my chin. “Why didn’t you ever tell me the truth? You claim you made the fake name to help me out. Didn’t you think I deserved to know Liam wasn’t real?”

His cheeks puff up as he intakes another breath. “Of course you deserved to know the truth, but I couldn’t tell you. I was…glad we were talking.”

My mouth snaps shut again. What’s he saying ?

He sweeps his bangs out of his eyes, averting his gaze.

“And then you thought I was trolling you and you hated me even more. Of course I couldn’t tell you then.

And…and after you explained and apologized, I was torn.

I knew I had to tell you, but I was worried I’d upset you and you’d never want to look at me again.

” He glances at me. “Which is exactly what happened.”

I regard him for a few seconds before throwing my hands up. “This is too much. I need space.”

Peering to my right and left, I remember I can’t leave because he’s got me closed in some makeshift cage. “Can you let me go?”

He backs up a little, but not enough for me to escape to safety. “Are we okay?” he asks. “I’d really like for us to put all this behind us and be friends. Maybe we can even game together again.”

“No. I can’t…I can’t handle this right now. I need space. Let me go.”

He nods, dropping his hands and stepping back. I dart down the hallway toward history, turning back to glance at him. He lightly bangs his head on the wall, as if punishing himself.

I continue on to class. I don’t get it. Why would he care if some jerks were bothering me online? I mean, this is the guy who refused to let Katie in the band. The guy who called me fat and said I yelled too loudly during his football game.

Stopping in my tracks, I turn around. He’s still banging his head on the wall. Why is this so important to him? He defends me online, comes to rescue me on his royal horse like my knight in shining armor. And I can’t forget he saved me from embarrassment during our presentation.

This weird, strange, warm feeling seeps into my limbs. Is he…maybe not such a jerk after all?

No, of course he is. I’m being silly, swept along in his lies like all the other girls he woos. Ethan tricked me, lied to me, embarrassed me.

But he also apologized, and from what I can tell, it was a genuine apology. Then there’s the fact that he wants us to be friends.

Friends? Me and him? Impossible.

His head lifts, eyes catch mine, and that’s when I remember I’m standing in the middle of the hallway like an idiot. I should be back in class by now, but my legs are like cement. It’s like my brain doesn’t want to move or look away from him.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I won’t fall for his charm. No way.

But once I’ve finally made it to class, I can’t stop thinking about him and what he said. He’s not…such a jerk, is he? I never asked him to defend me, never asked him to take me home that night. Yet he still did.

What does it mean? What do I do about it? Do I do anything about it?

When he returns to class a few minutes later, his eyes immediately spring to mine and I get that same weird, warm feeling all over my body.

Time freezes as we stare at one another. I can’t read his expression and have no clue what the heck is going on in his head.

“Ethan, take a seat.” Holden breaks the trance or whatever it is.

Forcing his eyes away from me, he slides into his seat.

***

Katie’s mouth drops during lunch when I tell her everything that happened during history. “Wait, he apologized?”

I nod, poking at my food. It’s pizza this time and I guess it tastes somewhat decent. Somewhat. “And he explained it all. I don’t get why he cared so much. I mean, I was his enemy.”

She stares at the spot before her, thinking. Then her eyes widen as she fixes them on me. “You don’t think…could it be he likes you?”

I nearly choke on my food. “What?! Are you insane?!”

She holds up her hands as shields. “It’s not that crazy. You guys have hated each other since the beginning…”

I lift a brow. “Yeah, hated , not liked. Last I checked, those two are antonyms.”

“But you’ve heard of people who like each other pretend to hate each other because they’re scared to face their feelings.”

I frown at her. “That’s totally not the case here. And Phoenix isn’t scared of anything.”

She doesn’t say anything as her eyes flit in the direction of the center table. Ethan is sitting with his friends and the cheerleaders like usual. “Maybe I’m crazy, but it doesn’t look like he wants to be there.”

I glance in his direction. He’s laughing along with the others, but his smile doesn’t reach his eyes. And he’s barely touched his food.

“Whatever,” I mumble.

She pries her gaze away, focusing on me. “You know, Liam does exist. Sure he might have a different name, but it’s still the same guy.”

I’m about to say something, but she continues, “And you had a good time with him.”

I lean back in my seat. “That’s what he said.”

“See. Maybe he was pretending to be someone else, but you were talking to someone, gaming with him, having fun with him.”

“But he’s a jerk.”

She lifts a brow. “Is he? Maybe Liam’s the real Ethan and the guy you’ve hated since the start of school is a fake. Maybe he puts up a front, or maybe you guys just had the wrong impression of each other.”

I rub my chin as I think it over. I mean, she does have a point. People could be fake behind the screen, but at the same time, they could be more real than they would be face to face. And I can’t forget the times he saved me—virtually and in real life.

I turn back to his table and find his eyes on mine. I quickly twist away. “But Katie, he lied to me. Tricked me. Am I just supposed to forgive him like nothing happened?”

She holds out her hands helplessly. “I’m not saying you should forgive him yet, but you should at least give him a chance to show you he’s a good person.”

But I kind of know he is. It was important for him to come clean, to apologize…that says something about him, doesn’t it?

Still, I can’t ignore the fact that he fooled me. But maybe Katie’s right. Maybe I should give him a chance. That doesn’t mean we’ll be best friends or anything, but I can at least be decent around him…I guess?

And if he hurts me or tricks me or upsets me one more time, I’m done with him.